Based on quite a few signs, patterns, and industry shifts, I believe that a partnership between Lowe’s and SK Tools is in the works. Following are all the puzzle pieces that seem to go together in building this theory.
SK Tools’ Recently Changed Hands
SK Tools, a brand of USA-made tools, was recently acquired by GreatStar from Ideal Industries.
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Lowe’s recently brought in Ideal Industries hand tools to replace many different Southwire offerings in their electrical tools aisle. That’s not really relevant here, it’s just an interesting development with coincidental timing.
SK Tools went bankrupt a decade ago, and although they have a strong following, we don’t know why Ideal was seeking a buyer for the mechanics tool brand.
Ideal Industries closed Western Forge, a brand of screwdrivers, pliers, and other hand tools in early 2020.
Basically, SK Tools is changing hands, from being owned by Ideal Industries to being owned by GreatStar Tools.
There have been few communications from either company about their plans for SK Tools.
Here are several notable phrases extracted from GreatStar’s July acquisition announcement:
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We are excited to build on our foundation and gain all of the proprietary SK patents and designs to help us provide diverse products and new opportunities to our valued customers.
Supported by its patented products and valuable technologies, SK has been able to build strong lasting relationships with its customers across various markets, such as industrial supply, automotive repair, and hardware repair.
Combining all of our patents, technologies, and resources will allow Great Star and SK to deliver the best innovative and professional products to our customers on a daily basis.
All of this is very vague. Does it mean that GreatStar is interested in SK for their patents? It’s possible.
What Happened to Other Tool Brands Acquired by GreatStar?
Perhaps we can look for clues by considering what GreatStar has done with other brands they acquired.
GreatStar also acquired Arrow, an iconic brand of staplers, staples, and other such fastening tools, in mid-2017. Here is part of what they said in their original announcement:
Arrow’s President said that the acquisition will help them:
extend the Arrow brand into new tool categories, new channels and new geographic regions.
This sounds a lot like what GreatStar has done with the Pony and Jorgensen tool brands, bringing them to Lowe’s.
The acquisition announcement also said that:
Arrow will continue to manufacture and distribute its iconic T50 staple gun, staples, and other tools at the Saddle Brook, New Jersey facility.
They also announced plans to use the NJ facility as a distribution center for broader GreatStar products.
GreatStar acquired Shop-Vac after they closed facilities and were in the process of being liquidated. To my surprise, the Williamsport, PA plant had reopened (via Philadelphia Inquirer), and local reports talk about employees being rehired (via The Express).
So, GreatStar kept Arrow manufacturing in New Jersey, and they reopened a closed Shop-Vac facility in Pennsylvania.
Let’s Talk About Lowe’s and GreatStar
I recently posted about new Pony and Jorgensen developments at Lowe’s stores. The clamp companies suspended operations in 2016, and were later acquired by GreatStar.
Although sales floor promotional displays might not seem like a big deal, but they are. When you have a quarter or half pallet tool display placed in a high-traffic position at a retail store, and with similar displays at every location of that retail store, that’s not small arrangement.
With Pony and Jorgensen, their Father’s Day display was also noticeable because it included tools that aren’t part of the brands’ clamping product portfolios. Chisels? Hand Saws? Isn’t this Irwin’s territory? What could have happened here? Was Irwin – a Stanley Black & Decker brand – not competing for similar placement, or did GreatStar’s Pony and Jorgensen brands win the spot with a better deal?
Keep in mind, Lowe’s is the customer here, and it seems that the customer wanted more Pony and Jorgensen tool displays for Father’s Day promotional period. From what I saw, there were more tools than the same brands’ holiday season displays last year. Plus, most of the clamping tools in the main aisle were also Pony and Jorgensen products.
GreatStar seems to have applied a similar strategy to their Pony and Jorgensen brands, as the plan announced for Arrow.
Home Depot Plays a Part
Although this post is about GreatStar, SK Hand Tools, and Lowe’s, Home Depot plays a part in this too.
Home Depot has been changing up their mechanics tool section.
They’re still working on things at my local store, but there has definitely been a changeup in their mechanics tool section.
A few months ago, I noticed new Milwaukee mechanics hand tools at my local Home Depot, as well as a “try me” ratchet station.
Now, Home Depot has started bringing in more Gearwrench products, such as wrench and socket sets. Now, all of the Home Depot stores near me have Gearwrench mechanics tool sets.
What does Lowe’s have? Mainly Craftsman and Kobalt.
Lowe’s Mechanics Tools Department
Lowe’s is Craftsman’s biggest retail partner, and they revamped their mechanics tools department around the brand a few years ago.
Craftsman is soon coming out with a new V Series tier of mechanics tools, with lots of SKUs teased about so far. It has not yet been announced or revealed whether all of these tools will be available at Lowe’s stores.
With Craftsman as the predominant mechanics tool brand at Lowe’s, and Kobalt offerings lining secondary display areas, is there is room for more? Possibly.
We don’t know what led to Pony and Jorgensen having promotional tool displays at Lowe’s that could – and would – have featured Irwin hand tools in previous years. Did the GreatStar brands vie against Stanley Black & Decker’s Irwin brand to win Lowe’s business and highly valuable placements at stores?
Stanley Black & Decker could have worked with Lowe’s to bring a higher tier or pro-grade mechanics tools to stores, but they have not, at least not yet. Remember, Craftsman’s parent company also owns Proto and Mac Tools. Proto is more of an industrial brand, and Mac Tools more automotive, but they’re both upper tier tool brands.
Craftsman’s V-Series tools seem to bridge the gap between current Craftsman mechanics tool offerings and those from their pro-oriented sibling brands, but it’s also too soon to tell.
With all of these puzzle pieces in mind, I believe that Lowe’s will partner with SK Tools.
What Would SK Tools at Lowe’s do for the Brand?
Some of SK Tools’ users and customers have complained on social media about the company’s shipping speeds. Well, availability at Lowe’s could help with distribution.
Availability at Lowe’s stores would definitely give the SK brand greater visibility.
SK Tools at every store, even if we’re only talking about a couple of promo SKUs during holiday seasons to start with – that could also help with the brand’s visibility and boost their potential for growth.
With GreatStar continuing USA production efforts for the Arrow brand and possibly Shop-Vac as well (although the brand also had overseas operations before their closure and acquisition), that could serve as an indicator of their plans for SK Tools.
But What About Craftsman?
Digressing for a moment, let’s talk about wet/dry shop vacuums. Sears used to have Craftsman. Home Depot has Ridgid. Lowe’s has Craftsman, and before that they carried an aisle full of Shop Vac vacuums. In recent years, Shop-Vac and Craftsman seemed to share the sales floor at Lowe’s.
But, the takeaway here is that Lowe’s and Shop-Vac had a very strong business relationship, and GreatStar likely acquired the brand with hopes (and maybe even guarantees) of the same.
I would predict that we might see Shop-Vac reclaim some of their shelf and floor space at Lowe’s stores.
With Pony and Jorgensen, GreatStar could have potentially bested Stanley Black & Decker’s best offer for a similar Irwin Tools display.
GreatStar is also acquiring a tool box manufacturer. Might we see a new line of tool boxes sporting modern features and popular trends? The manufacturer that GreatStar is acquiring has also criticized Waterloo, the tool box manufacturer that Stanley Black & Decker acquired to produce their Craftsman tool storage products, for not innovating enough in the past. Once that acquisition is finalized, I bet we will see new Kobalt or SK Tool steel tool storage products take the place of select Craftsman offerings.
Lowe’s wouldn’t take a lot of space away from entry or mid-price point Craftsman and Kobalt mechanics tools to make room for higher price point SK Hand Tools, but I’m sure they can find a way to bring select SK Tools to stores.
Why Have They Been so Quiet?
A month ago, I wondered aloud whether SK Hand Tools will be made in the USA or China. We still don’t know, GreatStar and SK have been hush about the matter and really everything else surrounding the brand. Is this because they’ve got bad news for loyal fans of the brand, or because they don’t want to spill the beans prematurely? When companies are this quiet, it’s often to avoid cluing in their competitors.
It could be a stretch, but things can change until contracts are signed and tools are in physically delivered to stores.
Parallels to Lowe’s Cordless Power Tools and OPE Departments
Look at what happened with the EGO brand. Home Depot announced they were discontinuing EGO at their stores, preempting Lowe’s announcement of an exclusive partnership with EGO. I later speculated as to what prompted all this, and it seemed to me that Skil was also a part of things. Now, FLEX is also a Lowe’s specific brand. So, the EGO and Lowe’s partnership also extends to Skil cordless power tools, outdoor power tools, and also a new line of Flex premium pro-focused cordless power tools.
Is there space at Lowe’s for premium mechanics hand tools? Possibly. Probably? Consider the new Craftsman V-Series tools and their eventual USA-made offerings once their new factory is finally up and running. Flex offers a higher tier of cordless power tools compared to Craftsman and Kobalt offerings.
GreatStar now has a couple of their tool brands at Lowe’s, and that’s separate from any potential OEM arrangements they might have with Lowe’s Kobalt brand. There’s negotiating power in that, as we’ve seen with Chervon, parent company to EGO, Skil, and Flex The same could be said about Stanley Black & Decker, which supplies Lowe’s with tools from their Dewalt, Craftsman, Lenox, Irwin, and Stanley brands.
Additional Thoughts
Would SK Hand Tools improve Lowe’s mechanics tools selections? Absolutely. Will typical Lowe’s customers care? I think there is strong potential here. Look at Harbor Freight and their ever-increasing line of more premium (and higher priced) Icon mechanics tools. Aren’t Icon’s seemingly strong sales a good indication that shoppers are interested in being able to buy better tools at retail stores?
I could be wrong, but there are significant long-term gains that could arise from a partnership between Lowe’s and SK Tools. Such a partnership could be vastly rewarding to both companies, as well as to enthusiasts and more demanding users whose purchasing decisions depend more on quality than on lower price points.
There is some risk involved, but there are gains outside of direct sales alone. If new USA-made SK ratchets or wrenches landed at Lowe’s, would you not visit a store to check them out firsthand? While you’re there, what else might you look at or buy?
There is also the potential for a new line of SK-made premium Kobalt tools at Lowe’s, in case the executives holding the purse strings were worried about SK familiarity. But, I think GreatStar would heavily advocate for their own labels. Kobalt had premium origins, but that changed years ago.
GreatStar and SK want to sell more tools, and Lowe’s is in perpetual one-on-one competition with Home Depot.
They need to work out a deal, if they haven’t already. This is the kind of deal that would pay out huge dividends down the road.
I wonder – we have seen that Ideal Industries worked out a deal with Lowe’s to carry their electrical hand tools at all stores. If there was the potential for a lucrative partnership between SK and Lowe’s, would Ideal have been so eager to sell the brand? But, all parties involved could have realized the potential for this, driving up the acquisition price. Ideal would have gotten a higher payday, with GreatStar also being in a better position to ensure the success of such a partnership.
Remember, this was not a case of GreatStar acquiring a closed or bankrupt company – there were months of rumors about SK being up for sale should they find “the right buyer.”
If all this does come to pass, it’ll be a win for end users. But, other changes would need to be made as well. In my rose-colored optimistic fantasy world, any such SK-Lowe’s deal should also involve improved warranty exchange practices – maybe even a tool drop-off or verification process with replacements to be shipped to to customers.
What do you think about all this?
Do you agree? Disagree? Would you be eager to see a partnership between SK Tools and Lowe’s?
Jared
This stuff is fascinating. I hope it does work out like you say. SK makes some good stuff – but it is crazy hard to find in Canada and very expensive for what you get. I would be way more interested if it became available through a regular retail channel.
Plus, this could give Lowes an edge Home Depot doesn’t have – a pro mechanics tool line. Gearwrench is great, but Gearwrench isn’t Proto, Mac, Wright or even Williams.
fred
It would seem that enough of Lowes rack/shelf space is already devoted to mechanics tools with Kobalt and Craftsman brands. That also seems enough to compete with the Husky and Milwaukee sockets etc. at Home Depot. But maybe Lowes could extract a slotting fee from Great Star to provide space for some SK displays. Just doing that might also provide Lowes with some leverage for a better deal from SBD on Craftsman.
Jared
Maybe Craftsman, with V series and eventually USA-made tools, could push back against SK taking the pro space in Lowes.
fred
Funny how the world spins. Facom once owned SK. Now SBD owns Facom and SK is owned by Great Star.
Inventordude
Right on.
Josh
My local Lowes had a prominent display stand featuring several Tekton ratchet sets. The sets themselves looked rather nice, featuring normal and deep sockets, multiple ratchets, extensions, and no fillers, but were priced well above impulse buy territory. It may be an experiment, but it would seem strange for them to have multiple competing lines of “Premier” socket offerings.
Stuart
I haven’t seen Tekton anything at my local Lowe’s, only a few more Wiha SKUs aside from impact bits now available at several nearby locations. They could be testing for interest.
JoeM
*Snicker* So… Lowes is becoming where the COO goes to die for American-Made Tools… Then there’s the terrible treatment of their Employees, the poor training, the Imperialist demolition of the economy up North…
Oh yeah, Stuart… I can totally see why I should get over my bias against Lowes… You present such a valid argument for my Bias against them that I must be crazy not to drop everything and go give them my patronage immediately…
I wonder when they’ll start playing Duelling Banjos over the in-store speaker system as their regular shopping Muzak… That’ll just complete their image of being a Turbo-Charged Dollar Store hardware store… Like Harbor Freight, with less steel involved.
Jared
I don’t get it. Do you know that SK won’t be made in the USA?
Seems like that runs counter to the examples Stuart provided. So if it stays as a premium USA brand but becomes more widely available because of placement in Lowes… wouldn’t that be nice?
Stuart
Don’t mind Joe, he’s got a grudge against Lowe’s Canada.
Lynyrd
I own a significant amount of SK Tools. I appreciate that they are Made In USA, however they are far from Premium such as Snap-On and MAC.
A step behind, more comparable to Matco, GearWrench and defunct Armstrong and Craftsman Professional line. Recall that Western Forge made tools for both SK and Craftsman.
JoeM
Oh, hence the snickering. SK, even if it’s “MADE IN THE USA” will be owned by China’s major go-getter company these days. Buying up tool brands like crazy.
So… you walk into a Lowes, you have to toss out all your COO beliefs at this point. Now… I’m fine with COO being global. After all, my major brands are currently DeWALT(USA/Global Parts), Dremel(Once USA, Now German Design, Components Made in Asia, Assembled in Mexico.), and a bit of Stanley (See DeWALT.)… With much of the rest being Wiha bits(Germany), or LG Tech(Korea)…
But… there are a lot of readers and posters here who are real sticklers for COO. And a Lowes deal, even theoretical, means Lowes is pulling together an increasing number of Global Source brands, not USA Exclusive brands. And I find that funny as hell.
Stuart has literally come out on Facebook or Instagram and said “You really should get past your Lowes bias”… Days before posting his article about the workers at Lowes on Reddit… Which paints Lowes in a very bad light as a company in general, far beyond my own anger at them North of the Border here. So, I’m not rubbing it in Stuart’s face or anything like that… This is just… One of those jokes I have with him now. Like the EDC Scissors and the Pentel Graphgear 1000 incidents… Lowes Bias is now a joke… Hence all the sarcasm in my original comment… It’s just pantomime… Mocking my bias… I know, it doesn’t read well in text, and I’m sorry… And it’s probably not funny, and I should stop trying to be funny… but still… When a joke get stuck in my head like this, I gotta share it, or it’s like I’m gonna explode.
Ball_bearing
I hope it does happen, and I hope they keep them USA made. I think SK tools lacked a good marketing team. Their tools are good, but there is almost no advertisement. You see snap on, MAC and Matco trucks all the time, and there are advertisement and sponsorships on vocational and professional schools. But you only knew about SK if you happened to see someone with one of their nice mini ratchets or if you frequented tool focused websites, the r/tools subreddit, or had a Grainger catalog.
Jim Felt
I think the biggest potential outcome, based solely on my regional Lowe’s experience to date, is that they’ll manage to cheapen the image of any otherwise well regarded brand or line with their local tool “marketing” incompetence.
Phew. Long sentence. Probably longer then their actual training of their tool clerks*.
*”Clerks” in the nicest sense of the word. Not “associates” as that to me at least implies someone with management and longevity potential which they don’t seem to appear to offer.
Ian
2 thoughts.
Maybe Lowes are not getting the revenue and profit, and speed to market from B&D Craftsman they signed up for, so are looking to provide competition, to boost sales.
Secondly, given the trade relationships between the US and China right now, Great Star would not want to relinquish the profitable US market, and one sure way to keep sales up, is to produce tools locally in the US. That avoids import duties and shipping costs, but allows “made in USA” to help sales through patriotic buying.
X Lu
If you are correct, just another chaotic move by Lowe’s with a shelf life of a quart of milk left on the kitchen counter. Bereft of strategy, they lurch from offering to offering. Picking mostly dead brands won’t save them.
Stuart
Would you rather they maintained the status quo?
If I’m correct, such an arrangement would be ambitious and indicative of a complex change of strategy.
X Lu
Actually, Lowe’s is so irrelevant to my purchases at this point that it wouldn’t change my buying practices. That is to say, given their history of chaotic stocking and brand swapping like daily sock changes, I only shop there in a pinch when they are the closest open retailer. While not quite as bad as Sears as it was breathing its last gasp, it is close. Sometimes well stocked, others missing critical items and as to brands, tell me what day it is and we can guess what’s on the shelf.
When you no longer can count on a retailer to have the brands you expect, consistently stocked in depth, you move on and don’t return. And while I expect you are correct on the ambitiousness of the plan, history says it will last a year because the gross margin targets aren’t achieved (which is all that seems to be important at Lowe’s vs brand building to achieve sustainable margin) and on to the next vendor du jour. And I don’t want to be stepping over piles of overflow tools dumped on the floor because the staff just wanted to find a place to jam them.
Home Depot is dirty, dingy and generally an appalling shopping experience but they have a reasonably consistent AND predictable brand strategy. And that makes them a destination; Lowe’s is the choice of desperation.
Harry
i don’t see SK being sold at Lowes. Lowes’ plate is going to be full with the new Craftsman V series launching soon. Additionally, some day there might also be a line of US made Craftsman again.
PW
This is an interesting theory. I think it depends on what you mean by “SK Tools”. Do you mean their current US made mechanics tools, with commensurate pricing?
That seems way outside Lowe’s wheelhouse and customer base. Lowe’s isn’t where professional mechanics go to get that level of tooling. Not saying it couldn’t ever be, but that would require an investment in customer service, marketing, and so on that I just don’t see from them.
Now, could Lowe’s end up selling a bunch of rebranded Chinese tools with green handles and “SK” branding? You bet your boots! It would fit in right alongside the India-made C-Man wrenches and “Rockwell” power tools.
That is until people wised up, sales became a disappointment and Lowe’s moved on to a new brand like the ADD addled also-rans they are.
I know I sound negative…I just don’t regard Lowe’s well when it comes to strategy and follow through. But they do have great clearance sales, and their constant brand churn has stocked a lot of my garage!
Kentucky fan
Sk in my experience is really expensive for what you get.
Sean
Strongly disagree
Joe
As much as I hate to say it, I would welcome SK to Lowe’s. Anything to get some USA made mechanics tools in the store because Craftsman is sure dragging their legs… or flat out lying. The V-Series tools are looking more like a way to shut us up.
I don’t really believe anything Craftsman/SB&D say anymore… not that they’ve said much.
MFC
So I have to think that Lowes, or HD/Menards primarily make their money off of quantity mark up. Not specialty anything. However, tools must have a tremendous mark-up for everyone to be scrambling to land names/brands and sell them.
It’s not like it use to be though. In the past a name meant something (Craftsman users sneered at Chicago electric, Ryobi, etc.)
Now, most of the guys working in trades are just buying the cheapest level, drain auger, drill, etc. to get the job done. The money is made in finding the work and then subbing it to someone under you. You take your cut and don’t lift a finger and the guy under you isn’t making enough to buy a full set of Milwaukee tools, or chooses not to because he can get the job done with ryobi (and no one wants to steal them).
It’s all about speed and money. Not quality. I had to lend a tile guy my flexvolt miter saw today because he was going to install the shoe molding with an old sidewinder that I could see had a framing blade and broken teeth on it. I regularly have to teach the journeyman whatevers how to do things properly because their bosses are just lining up jobs and sending them to do the work.
I don’t care what company buys what brand. I just want people to care about what they’re doing again. Hobbyists like you Stu get the specs and the behind the scenes look at these things but the majority of the guys working in the field don’t know these names or care. If it’s cheap and works and looks cool, then it’ll sell.
I’ll clarify that I’m talking about workers in Austin, Houston and Dallas. Maybe somewhere else all of the tradies are sipping tea together talking about the latest tool brand acquisitions.
John S
It’s an interesting thought but I have a different idea.
Great Star has acquired a great stable of names. It’s what they do and they do well.
Eddie Lampert is close to completing the bankruptcy ofSHLD and can then do whatever he wants with the old Sears under its transformco brand. Eddie’s skill was spinning off the parts of Sears. So, why not sell just the Sears.com end of the business to Great Star ? They would have the rights to all the old “craftsman” tools (which ESL/Sears retained) and they would have a Marketing vehicle for the entire line of Great Star products including S-K.
Sears I all but dead but Sears.com still gets a decent amount of web traffic (and that’s with having no inventory) . Eddie could finally close the last 20 or so stores and the “transformation” would be complete. The only drawback is the other items they sold, but all we care about here is tools😉 so why not? Is it really that hard to imagine ?
Dave the tool
I don’t understand all the fuss about SK tools and the hopes they remain either made in the USA and/or continue to remain in existence. I don’t own any SK tools and
I have been purchasing tools since the early 1990’s. I have only ran across SK Tools for purchase in independently owned hardware stores typically in smaller towns or suburbs. Whenever I took the time to check out their lineup I wasn’t impressed vs pricing.
They didn’t seem any better than USA made Craftsman at the time so I continued to purchase Craftsman instead of SK and saved tons of money!
I am the last of the Baby Boomers in age and SK tools going away isn’t in the same ballpark as when Sears destroyed Craftsman. SK will be missed by only a very small percentage of people and those people are dying off.
Additionally, while both our Military and all US companies like Stanley Black & Decker are so extremely busy becoming “Woke,” tolerant, gender neutral and anti-discriminatory, China continues to rapidly buy up the world and her companies, property and even Terrorists regimes so in a decade or so who cares anymore what’s being sold and where it’s coming from as we will have MUCH greater problems from having our head in the sand like food and shelter and safety!
Stuart
The brand seems to have a very loyal following, perhaps at least partly because there is a shrinking number of options for USA-made mechanics tools today.
Sean
Sk has provided great sockets at a fraction of the price of other United States tools. A lot of retailers also provided deep discounts.
I think Stuart presents the best case situation for SK… a partnership with Lowes. If Great star is able to continue to make SK sockets in America, I think the volume sales might make them a profit, expose the brand to a wider audience, and save some American jobs. As far as Im concerned, that’s a win, win, win.
Inventordude
I think Great Star is trying to complete with Gear wrench. Whether Lowes picks them up is yet to be determined. They could be trying to replace the slow death of the Kobalt in brand. With Craftsman being so predominant, does anyone even give them a second glance?
Inventordude
This is not related but Snap-on is selling Gearwrench tools on its web site! What’s up with that?
Robert
Selling them at Snap-On prices, nonetheless.
OhioHead
What about Menard’s folks instead of Lowe’s?
Lowe’s could have a good, better, best with Kobalt, Craftsman & Craftsman V.
HD could have good, better, best with Husky, GW & MKE. Here in Cbus (I was in HD this AM), Husky, a few GW ratchets & wrenches, no MKE insight.
Menard’s has Masterforce which replaced Crescent/Allen 2 to 4 years ago, the average Menard’s area to add SK is significant larger then Lowe’s and IMO Menard’s does an excellent job of advertising Made in the USA stuff (unlike Depot or Lowe’s).
Just a different thought, opinions?
John S
Menards is probably too small a chain as they are only located in the Midwest with about 300 stores and their website ranks around #6400 in traffic (Sears is around #2100, Lowe’s and HD much higher both in the top 500 of websites for engagement) but anything is possible!
Rich
I think if S&K Tools where sold at Lowes they would drop the quality like they did with kobalt, multi million dollar companies don’t care about selling a better product they want a established name that’s already profitable, once they have a name they will make enough money off of it before people realize they have been dooped. This has happened for along time, for example MonsterCable use too be the best audio cable on the market but quality dropped off and years later no one wants to sell it. So if a tool company makes better tools then they sell less of them because they don’t break, if they do break then they loose more money by having to replace it for free. So companies want established tools at medium quality. Say you want a decent ratchet a store is going to charge $25 to $100 for a great quality. That same ratchet they make 100,000 of them will probably cost them ¢15 each to make after labor and packaging
Maps Bam
Just more proof IMO that SK will move manufacturing to China. Lowe’s isn’t going to want to stock top shelf stuff with top shelf prices.
Nathan
I think it’s just a rumor going because Lowes sells Ideal brand electric tools and they sell all the other great star brand names – all made in china I might add.
Stuart
This isn’t a rumor, it’s my theory/prediction about what could happen. I based this on my own observations and suppositions.
As far as I am aware, nobody else has put Lowe’s and SK Tools in the same sentence before.
Gregory Klofak
Stuart,
I think you are blowing smoke out your butt. I am an avid SK tool owner since the seventies, so this acquisition is painful. In 50 years I only had 2 tools fail; a chrome socket on a head bolt and a ratcheting box wrench I dropped when I was up in a bucket. Did you bother to read the August 2021 Acquisition Update posted on their website. GM Jim Davidson states “it has been decided that the Sycamore, IL SK manufacturing facility will be moved to Williamsport, PA by the end of the year. ” and “the production of SK Hand Tools will continue to have a USA presence. We will continue to manufacture product categories in the Williamsport facility.” “The significance of the Williamsport location is that it will provide the ability to utilize shared services with our sister company, Shop-Vac” ” we will be utilizing the experience of our parent company, GreatStar Industrial, to help us manufacture, procure, and introduce new product innovation that aligns with the SK brand heritage on a global basis.” Definitely sounds a lot like double-speak; will the tools be made from US steel or assembled from global components? I do know Great Star is renting Sycamore facilities til the end of the year and Ideal will continue to manufacture Ideal tools in that facility after that date. So starting in 2022 God only knows what the quality of SK Tools will be. Thank God for Wright, Channellock, Mayhew and Wilde.
Stuart
I heard rumors but didn’t see about the move to Shop-Vac’s facility – and I have been checking.
Regardless, the way I see it, there are three paths for the SK Tools brand.
1) They continue with distributors and direct-to-consumer sales.
2) Their IP is leveraged and you start seeing WorkPro or Kobalt X-beam ratcheting wrenches and the like, or SK branding on GreatStar tools.
3) GreatStar and Lowe’s both seek to benefit from wider distribution of the brand.
Tekton has done a great job with their direct-to-consumer business model, and they also sell via Amazon and other dealers. GreatStar isn’t experienced with direct-to-consumer sales, and from what I’ve read, SK wasn’t that good at it. GreatStar brands usually appeal to budget-minded shoppers, and so they don’t have experience marketing a premium tool brand at Amazon or elsewhere.
SK coming to Lowe’s makes sense for both parties involved. It would be risky and maybe even difficult, but it’s the BEST possible scenario for SK, Lowe’s, and end users.
Okay, you think I’m wrong in my theory/prediction. So what do YOU think will happen?
Norm
i think SK will continue to manufacture sockets, ratchets, and wrenches in the US. However, i have my doubts about american steel. i think pliers, screwdrivers, etc will be green WorkPros. That being said, SK strength has always been sockets and wrenches. I am a huge SK tool fan. i have their pliers and screwdrivers, but they are nothing great. Sockets, ratchets, and wrenches….best out there. i hope they make wrenches here…i still want a set on long patterns. I hope their core product does go to lowes…so long as quality remains high. i am cautiously optimistic for their future.