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Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

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Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#31

Post by legitster »

delichon wrote: post #18

> Ryobi handles DIY at Home Depot. Milwaukee handles pros. The two brands don't eat each other. They serve different people at different price points with different expectations So market fit is driving both worse and better products at the same time. Cheap DIYers like me are buying the cheapest stuff we can find, and complaining that it's as cheap as its price. My neighbor the contractor buys the expensive stuff and…

I don't think there's anything to apologize for.

Buying a professional tool with tens of thousands of hours of potential runtime and 1000lb+ of torque is wasteful.

A Ryobi tool will realistically last for the many decades you need it for and do everything you ask of it.

Lower price points doesn't just mean something is junk. It can also be engineering efficiency.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#32

Post by randcraw »

senordevnyc wrote: post #16
jmclnx wrote: post #11

Good example of what Private Equity did and doing to many industries. I also notice once a PE Firm takes over a Company, kiss quality good bye. They mentioned Eye Wear is next, I think the author can guess where that is going. No reason to doubt the same will happen to that industry too.

I feel the same, but I do wonder sometimes if that’s true. Are there PE firms out there quietly operating great businesses that they’ve acquired? If not, why not? Surely in the long run that’s a better ROI, and private capital should be able to take a longer view, right?

> Surely in the long run…

And that's the rub. PE is all about short term ROI at any price. Their business model doesn't take product superiority or brand loyalty into account. If a widget can be made cheaper, you do it, damn the collateral damage.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#33

Post by jeffbee »

sedawkgrep wrote: post #27
flanked-evergl wrote: post #12

I recently decided I will go for the cheap Chinese store brand power tools for most things. It's about 1/5 to 1/3 the price of Ryobi, gets really good reviews, have been sold for more than 10 years now with the same batteries, and comes with a 5 year warranty which is 2 years more than ryobi. It's maybe not going to last 10 years, but at 1/5 the price it does not have to.

I think the rule of thumb for non-professionals is: Buy cheap and if you use it enough that it breaks, buy expensive the second time.

By following this rule you could easily end up with a tool that lasts forever but strips out all your screw heads.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#34

Post by infecto »

senordevnyc wrote: post #16
jmclnx wrote: post #11

Good example of what Private Equity did and doing to many industries. I also notice once a PE Firm takes over a Company, kiss quality good bye. They mentioned Eye Wear is next, I think the author can guess where that is going. No reason to doubt the same will happen to that industry too.

I feel the same, but I do wonder sometimes if that’s true. Are there PE firms out there quietly operating great businesses that they’ve acquired? If not, why not? Surely in the long run that’s a better ROI, and private capital should be able to take a longer view, right?

For every one public headline failure there are hundreds of profitable executions that never get mentioned.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#35

Post by infecto »

randcraw wrote: post #32
senordevnyc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel the same, but I do wonder sometimes if that’s true. Are there PE firms out there quietly operating great businesses that they’ve acquired? If not, why not? Surely in the long run that’s a better ROI, and private capital should be able to take a longer view, right?

> Surely in the long run… And that's the rub. PE is all about short term ROI at any price. Their business model doesn't take product superiority or brand loyalty into account. If a widget can be made cheaper, you do it, damn the collateral damage.

In reality that absolutely is part of the equation though.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#36

Post by happytoexplain »

zulux wrote: post #2

For us US folks, Amazon.jp will send you the unobtanium Makita tools you know you want.... like the Makita battery-operated microwave. Shout out to TTI for keeping Ryobi cheap, cheerful, and a good value. Not my cup of tea, but their stuff is reasonably fine for the price.

I had no idea I was missing out on anything - their product line is big even in the US. Our battery tools are 100% Makita (except the lawnmower - I forget what made me decide on EGO, but I've been happy with it).

Anyway, I'm glad to see an article claiming that Makita has still resisted enshittification.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#37

Post by zdragnar »

hyperbovine wrote: post #9
zulux wrote: post #2

For us US folks, Amazon.jp will send you the unobtanium Makita tools you know you want.... like the Makita battery-operated microwave. Shout out to TTI for keeping Ryobi cheap, cheerful, and a good value. Not my cup of tea, but their stuff is reasonably fine for the price.

The Makita US product line seems ludicrously big to me. I don’t really get what this article is throwing down when it comes to Makita.

My (not battery) Makita chainsaw is fantastic, and I have definitely put it through its paces.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#38

Post by DeathArrow »

>These companies prove the same thing from the opposite direction. You don't have to get acquired. You don't have to take the PE money. You can just keep making good products and telling everyone else to go to hell. It's harder, and it's slower, and the growth chart won't impress a Wall Street analyst. But the tools last. And the brand means something 50 years from now instead of ending up in a clearance bin.

How can we convince business owners to take this path? It seems in a future everything will be owned by a few megacorps and crappyfied.

Re: Power Tools Got Worse on Purpose. Who Owns DeWalt, Craftsman, and Milwaukee?

#40

Post by ike2792 »

jmclnx wrote: post #11

Good example of what Private Equity did and doing to many industries. I also notice once a PE Firm takes over a Company, kiss quality good bye. They mentioned Eye Wear is next, I think the author can guess where that is going. No reason to doubt the same will happen to that industry too.

I think he means "eyeware is next" in the sense that it's the industry he'll be covering next. Pretty much every brand and every layer of the eyewear industry has been owned by Luxxotica for a long time.
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