My message to woodworking tool retailers

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
You cannot sell tools if you don't have the stock.
Why have a store if you not going to stock it.
Or have display cabinets with loads of empty locations.
Is the consumer expected to imagine what the item looks like.
Humans are still feely touchy animals and the web and free shipping is great but not if you want to see and touch before you buy.

Rant over . no point having a supposedly great tool store near one if its as bad or getting worse than HD.

I don't want to wait till August to be able to buy from you because somewhere along the line someone screwed up for whatever reasons in buying stock which has a long lead time.

Sorry rant over. One of our favorite stores just lost a sale or three. Duh.


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
Rob, if you haven't sent this to the specific store you are ranting about, nothing can be accomplished with this rant. You are preaching to the choir so to speak by only posting it here. With your knowledge, maybe you can be of logistics help to them?
 
I remember an old Yellow Pages jingle:

Let your fingers,
Do the walking,
Through the Yellow Pages . . .

If its that important, call ahead and confirm availability :). It is an unexpectedly complex set of logistics and financial commitment to keep shelves stocked. First to decide what will be in the layout, Then financing that inventory and ultimately getting product to the stores and on the shelves and keeping it there while constantly adjusting for consumption and customer whim.

I have repeatedly suggested to the local Rockler that they use their email list to survey locals and see what they wish was in the store that wasn't. Apparently these decisions are made for them by headquarters. This is why I walk into a hardware store in San Diego and find SNOW SHOVELS!!!! Good rant though and I can completely understand where you're coming from :thumb:
 
Last edited:
This is why I walk into a hardware store in San Diego and find SNOW SHOVELS!!!!

:rofl: Not quite as bad but the HD in Maui only sold trash cans that were larger than the trash service would pick up! :doh: One of the local stores actually carried the right size, the HD ones were what were shipped out by corporate.

More hilarious was the dogfood story. One small local store up country sold a premium brand of dog food. A friend of mine had been buying it from them for a while and it seemed really popular, then one day he went in and it wasn't there. Not "out" but "no longer available". He asked at the counter and the clerk responded "Oh yeah man, we had to stop carrying that one, it was always sold out. We just couldn't keep it in stock". :eek: :huh:
 
Rob,
Your story sound like every Woodcraft store I've ever been in.

The story is always "We can order it for you." If I want it ordered, I'll go online and order it myself.
 
Most of what I need from tools to supplies, I tried to get first at the local brick and mortar stores. We have a really good Woodcraft, but it is 35-40 minute drive. Once I have a list of things I looking for, I will drive over and if they have it there I will buy it from them. They always offer to order anything on my list they don't have but it always takes longer to get. So I have said many times to them, if you have in stock, I will buy from you today, if not I will order it online from the lowest price source. This gives them first shot at my business, even if it isn't the cheapest.
 
Yeah guys i know about writing the company and have done more than once on a variety of topics.
Here is my point. I check online, my store as a couple of what i want. I go to the store. I am not as "planned" as everyone else, there are things such as "impulse" buys (tell me every tool you have was carefully planned and you never bought anything not on your list), part of going to a store in my view is to browse, but you cannot browse empty cabinets.
Then there is the harsh reality facing us, we are a dying breed. The stores need to stock what i call $10 gadget junk where the margin is as greater than most of the good tools we would like to buy but dont in quantities large enough for us to command majority of the store.

As a consumer I don't care at end if the day if the store survives.
I give you an example though of comparison

Joe Woodworker online does not carry garden tools or kitchen implements, he does not sell himself as a tool store, but if i want something to do veneering, i can buy everything and some of what i need to do it online from Joe at very competitive prices. Including , stain, kits to make tools like vacuum pumps and even economical designs to make a decent vacuum pump.
In short he covers the category as a specialist both in stock and skills since he will advise as well.
Now if my brand loyalty to my local store is going to drive me to buy online well its the end of the days i visit the store.

Just for the record this is not my first experience of what i am referring to in terms of empty cabinets.
In my view these once stocked cabinets which have a single dedicated location for each item should never be raided for sale. No matter who the customer is. That would permit a customer visiting the store to do something i believe is one of the primary reasons for going to the store to do the feely touchy testing thing with a tool before buying it. Then if its not available in stock at least i can order it for delivery. And if the store don't have it in stock delivery to me should now be free so i do not have to come back to collect it when its in stock.
That would be a huge improvement in my opinion.


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk
 
a few years back when I was doing the commission for the church I knew I was going to need a pair of long clamps capable of clamping an 8 foot piece so i decided I would just get a pair of 3/4' pipe clamps and two 10 foot pieces of black pipe. If didn't need em afterwards I could always cut em down to 6 footers. I always try to help out the small guys and i know the owner of the local true value and went in there go get a pair off clamps and two lengths of pipe. I only saw one of the 3/4" and one of the 1/2" on the shelf. I really didn't want a one of each size and felt that 1/2 for what I was trying to do would be too small. I went to Russ the owner and asked if he had more in the back. He looked on the computer and said no one of each was all that was recommended by true for stock of each size. I laughed and said well unfortunately most people will need at least a pair of clamps not just one. He looked at me smiled kind of sheepishly and said that might explain why they don't sell very well. I went to HD and the had plenty on the shelf. Sorry Russ I tried.
 
I'm with you Rob on a lot of what you said. Because I am in the boonies, the closest town of any count to me is Weatherford, Texas. They have a despicable HD and a semi decent Lowe's.
There was a Woodcraft on the west side of Fort Worth which took about 45-50 minutes to get to. They were getting where I never knew what they would have. And, when the store owner told me Watco's Teak Oil could only be used on teak wood, and he really believed that, I decided I didn't need to go there any more. The vast majority of my turning tool and supply buying is done online now, unless it is something larger. But, like you when I am buying a power tool and the like, I want to hold the thing in my hand. If that store cannot accommodate me on that, too bad. I'll go else where.
 
I'm pretty sure you are talking about Lee Valley. When I stop in, they usually have what I want, because the big board listing out of stock items and expected delivery times doesn't contain anything I'm looking for, so far. Shopping at LV is a bit weird anyway. I have compared it, and often heard others make the same comparison, to the old Ontario liquor stores where you had to fill in a form, take it to the desk and the clerk would go and fill your order. Sometimes I would like to hold the item in my hand, but unless I get to drive it into t piece of wood, that doesn't tell le anything. NOnetheless, LV should be more foresightful in making its stock orders.
 
Top