Stanley’s PowerLock tape measure, one of the first reviews I did here at ToolGuyd, is a great basic tape measure. I have a couple, and was looking to buy some more this holiday season.
Stanley used to put together a 4-pack for the holiday shopping season, featuring a USA-made 25′ tape measure with 3 smaller PowerLock-style tapes with 16′ and 12′ sizes. I remember that the 25′ tape was made in the USA, and the smaller tapes were imported.
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For the 2019 holiday shopping season, Stanley put together a new 2-pack where you could buy two PowerLock 25′ tape measures for the price of one.
Around Black Friday 2019, I believe it was that Saturday or Sunday, I tried to find the Stanley PowerLock tape measure 2-pack deal at my local Home Depot, but was not successful. It didn’t sell out early, it was just that nobody could find the sales floor display.
I was bummed out. I tried again once more but still couldn’t find the deal, so I gave up.
A couple of weeks later, while documenting the situation with Stanley, FatMax, and Dewalt quietly and all at once transitioning to new “reach” marketing terms over “standout,” I found it!
But… where was the “made in USA with global materials” labeling on the packaging? The flag on the tape measures themselves?
So I looked at the back and… Made in Thailand.
Frankly, I might have still bought the 2-pack, but it was still a bit disappointing. The fact of the matter is that I don’t need more tape measures, and the “these are imported?!” surprise canceled out the deal appeal and I put the 2-pack back on the shelf.
If I’m spending on $10 on imported Stanley Black & Decker tape measures, I’d rather get the hi-vis 4-pack.
So, the regular PowerLock 25′ tape measure is made in the USA, and the 2-pack tapes are made overseas. Not a big deal, right?
There are two possibilities. First, it’s possible – but very unlikely – that Stanley has shifted production of these tape measures overseas. Second, the more probable explanation, is that Stanley needed to produce these tape measures overseas to achieve the volume and price point needed for the 2-for-$10 holiday season deal.
Maybe it’s possible that Craftsman tape measure production made USA production of sufficient quantities difficult or impossible, presuming that Craftsman and Stanley tape measures are produced or assembled at the same Stanley Black & Decker USA facilities. But, I think it’s more about lowering costs.
Stanley isn’t the first brand to change things up COO-wise for holiday shopping season deals, but this was very surprising nonetheless.
Last year, I noticed that Milwaukee was bundling imported utility knife blade packs with their FastBack tape measure bundles. That makes sense from a volume and cost standpoint but also keeping in mind where the utility knives were made and where everything was bundled together.
But here, I wouldn’t have expected for the main product origins to have changed.
Ah well, just a reminder to keep an eye on things. Country of origin is more important to some tool users than others, and that’s okay.
Thom
I’ve bought some promo deal stuff from ChannelLock that truned out was made overseas so I know how you feel… But sometimes the manufacturer has to hit a price point. For an occasional low priced item I can deal with that.
MF Suspect
Continued demand for low pricing helps force these items to be outsourced. Two 25′ tapes for $10 is not a realistic price if they are produced domestically. If consumers continue to demand US-made gear it only stands to reason it will cost more. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Toolfreak
This is a false argument presented by the companies as the reason for sending production overseas.
In reality, they are generally charging the same retail price as the formerly USA-made product (in some cases even MORE than the USA-made product), but sending production overseas to reduce materials/manufacturing/labor costs and pocket the difference as PROFIT.
I’d agree that two of these for $10 isn’t a reasonable expectation if they were to be made in the USA, but Stanley has a LOT of other models of tapes they could have used for this promo, not the usually-US-made Powerlock.
It was the choice of the employees of SBD to have these tapes made overseas and put together as a 2-pack for Black Friday. It was not the choice of consumers for them to do that. Rather, as the post shows, most people were unaware the Powerlock tape was produced anywhere but the US.
If anything, this is near-unethical behavior by a company, taking a signature USA-made product, producing it overseas, then hoping consumers just buy it based on pricing and don’t notice where it’s made has changed. Will that happen on Black Friday? Of course it will, tons of people buy gifts or just grab stuff during the chaos.
rob
The outsourcing of manufacturing for products sold at big box stores is waaaaaaaaaaay mostly driven by the corporate buyer’s demands to lower wholesale prices in order to increase their margins. The major retailers are brutal about this. Additionally, you’ll also see lower quality products that a company slaps their brand on to meet these demands but they aren’t an actual catalog item that they sell elsewhere.
Scott
Saw a 1979 magazine ad, where Stanley was offering their 12ft Powerlock tape measure for $6.85, which equates to $25 today. Yet today, that same tape, made in China, or Thailand, or wherever, can be bought from Ace for under $10, which would be worth just under $3 in 1979. If Stanley, (and don’t get me wrong they want to make profit) didn’t reduce their prices, that $10 dollar tape measure would cost over twice as much.
Joseph
I found them picked them up, noticed the COO, and put them back.
DC
Probably it was made for Black Friday special for Home Depot and the only way to get it down to $10 was to make them in Asia. If I really needed a tape measure I would buy them as I prefer anywhere but china.
fred
In trying to understand what gets made where, I think that we (the consumers) sometimes lose sight of who’s making the decision about price points and COO. I suspect that the tool buyers for SBD’s customers (Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart etc.) might have more to say than the buying public. I’d hope that the buying public’s proclivities get interpreted by HD et. al. based on sales data – but if they figure that they cam make a better profit selling cheaper tapes made in Thailand or elsewhere – compared to a USA-made tape – then that’s what we’re likely to see on the shelf. As Stuart intimated – maybe for last year’s BF promotion – Home Depot’s required wholesale price – forced SBD to move offshore.
We live in interesting times.
Tom
Seems like the best of both worlds to me. Those who care about made in USA can buy the regular version on the shelf, and those who just want a better deal can get the two pack during the holidays. If it’s been a few years since they’ve done a made in USA promotion, there’s probably a pretty good reason they’re not doing it. I agree with other posters that two tape measures for $10 made in the USA doesn’t add up. Not with people making them that want to earn a decent living wage, anyway.
Wayne R.
Is $5 a realistic price for such a thing (a lot of metal there) even if made overseas?
I’ve gotten what appear to be pretty well-made LED flashlights of milled aluminum direct from China at absurdly low prices, but that was partially due to the weird deal the USPS gave China (some such finagling anyway) to get them to us.
Can’t really expect good stuff from a race to the bottom, right?
Stuart
Yes, plenty of tape measures at $5-$10 pricing. They’re basic, but do the job.
A couple of years ago, Sears had a $5 off $5 coupon. I bought an Empire 25′ tape measure for $5 (free after coupon), and gave it to my electrician brother in law. He loved that tape measure and got a lot of use out of it.
Toolfreak
I still have my free $5 Empire tape. The yellow sure gets dirty, but it has outlasted many other tapes. Should have got a lot more of them.
Chris I
It seems weird to me that anyone shops at a giant big-box store like HD and then is frustrated/outraged when inventory is made overseas.
Do American consumers really not understand how little manufacturing we have anymore? Honestly, if COO really is important to you, then stop giving a single penny to HD. This is what consolidations, conglomerates, and unfettered global trade brings.
It’s also weird to me that the wealthiest nation on the planet needs bargain-basement prices on everything.
hangovna
Because our culture is a throwaway society that doesn’t take care of anything anymore. Germans are much more careful with their tools than we are.
Stuart
I’m not surprised at finding imported products.
I thought I was clear, but allow me to clarify:
The Stanley PowerLock 25’ tape measure is made in the USA. It’s been touted and celebrated as being made in the USA. Why would anyone assume otherwise for the 2-pack?
Single tape measure is made in the USA. 2-pack is not. It’s unexpected.
Let’s say you’re at a bakery. This is like individual loafs of bread being made on-premises and 2-packs being made at a completely different bakery.
MT_Noob
Dang it, now I want fresh baked bread… I gotta stop surfing when hungry.
: )
Kevin
we had an issue with a local vineyard, they imported grapes, grape concentrate and even some wine. They were blending, and mixing in the local stuff with the imported stuff, I think only 15 percent of the product they were selling was actually from grapes grown on the site, but it was sold as “locally grown/made”.
Koko the Talking Ape
I will never look at a bakery the same way again. I’ll see some croissants in a counter, and say loudly, “Well that’s your ‘standout,’ but what about your ‘reach,’ you Chinese baked goods???”
Jim Felt
Proving, of course, that “we” are not. Though clearly the .0001% might well be.
Kevin
When I grabbed a Stanley 5 pack at HD one holiday season maybe 4/5 years ago, I noticed around 3 out of the 5 tape measures were made in the USA, the smaller tape measure 16 foot thru the keychain size were made overseas.
This season I noticed certain companies doing similar things mixing it up , the Klein screwdriver/wirecuter combo I got from HD had a made in China screwdriver.
John
It looks like these tapes both have the same 33-425 item number on the product label. Isn’t this a bit deceptive to consider these the same thing?
Corey Moore
Not really given that it clearly states the alternate coo. There’s no false advertising going on.
Toolfreak
I wonder if the chrome shell is even metal. The shell on the USA Powerlock was always metal, which set it apart from the common plastic tapes.
I’ve noticed the SBD Craftsman tapes with the ‘chrome’ shells are plastic.
Also, I’d gladly pay the full $10 for a real, all-metal, 100% USA-made without-any-‘global-materials’ Powerlock tape, or whatever it really costs to make it in the USA and pay everyone involved a fair wage.
I doubt there are people demanding 2-for-$10 Powerlock tapes on Black Friday. There are plenty of other tapes to use for bargain BF pricing. This is just something the large companies do and then try to justify by claiming it’s the fault of the consumer for buying it.
Gino
Totally unrelated subject but did anyone notice the new Milwaukee deal ($30/$299+)($80/$299+)($150/$399+) available at many places. However, Home Depot, unlike other places like toolnut, raised their everyday prices on many items just as they presented the sale!!! For example the Compact Blower 0884-20 was selling everyday for $79 now $119 ($89 @ ToolNut), the cordless vacuum 0880-20 from regular $99 to now $119 !!! Really Home Depot!!! Totally misleading… The problem is this sale will go on for a while, meaning that the Home Depot inflated prices for many items will not go back to their norm as long the sale is on.
Blocky
I bought the Stanley hi vis 4 pack in 2018, use them in steady rotation, and all of them are still good.
End of 2019 I bought the craftsman hi vis 4 pack and its discernibly thinner metal, even the belt clips are flimsier, and the 25’ seems slightly off vs my other tapes when measuring spans greater than ~4’
My favorite new tape was the craftsman chrome 16’ wide tape, but I’ve used it daily for 2 months and the brake is already failing. That’s probably only a couple hundred stops on the brake in my estimation. The tape itself is still good.
On the basis of liking it so much tho, I bought the 26’/8m version that looks the same. However that one is also a thinner, cheaper tape.
Abe Washington
Guys, These mass retail buyers beat the hell out of the national brands to drop price so they can compete against each other mass merchant. They tell the national brands if they want to keep their space, they must provide some unbelievable “value” promotional items.
What bugs me is the sleezy national brands that say: “Made in the US with global components”. It is either made in the US with local materials or its not made in the US.
Be honest: “packaged in the US from stuff bought from China”, is still China!
Joseph
SBD made up that phrase to get around FTC rules that say “Made in USA” can only be used when a majority of non-incidental parts are sourced from America. I have always wondered what percentage of parts in these are actually from the USA. I bet it is next to nothing.
dstblj 52
Not really for something like that they would have to label it assembled in the USA, it’s mostly a clause to allow them to mix and match subcontractors and use recycled steel which has no trackable origin
rob
Speaking of tape measures, does Stanley offer either a Fatmax or Dewalt dual scale tape in the USA? I can only find the 25ft/8m Powerlock.
Dan
I always bought these tape measures . The fat max is too heavy. I was bummed to see the design change and country of origin!
I learned a good trick with the Stanley was to rub off the label to reveal all white. You can write on it with pencil ✏ (your dimensions / math ) and it would erase with your thumb. Like a white board.
Well. The made in Thailand one doesn’t do it! Wtf? Wish I knew… Never again