The vanishing tool companies

Very interesting video, thank you for posting,

Sad but true… those three brands are a few of the many tool brands that have gone, or changed dramatically. Walker-Turner, Boice-Crane, Dewalt saws, Black and Decker, Stanley, etc. He mentioned a few names that hit home with our generation and interests Porter-Cable, Delta, Craftsman but the situation is the same everywhere in every industry. Life goes on, things change and it is very hard for companies to stay on top through generational cycles.

As for the “pattern” that a small group of entrepreneurs come up with an idea and turn it into a huge company …. peculiar to tools ??? Ummm… how about Google, Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft and dare I say it ….. Amazon, Facebook, Twitter.

Just as he said, when companies get too big and start thinking wider than their core strengths, they begin the downward slide.

Believe it or not, one day Amazon, Facebook and Twitter will go the way of the dinosaur as well..

Steve,
I would be happy to ready the tar pits.
Service companies are quite different than product manufacturers. But time moves on and if you don’t keep up with the times you could very well be left behind.
Daryl,
Thanks for posting that. It is a shame we no longer have the tools/brands available that helped build this country and our craft. Thank goodness for people like Lie-Nielsen and others.
I always thought it was Skill who introduced the first portable circular saw. I guess they were responsible for the worm-drive.

Many companies forget what business they are in. A classic, railroads thought they were in the train business and never thought they were in the business of moving people and things. They never got into the airplane industry which moves people and things around.post office is another.

Ha! So I was right. Well, I was wrong that I wasn’t right but right that I was… Where was I?

The other-other example is Harley Davidson. They have stuck to their guns, and are literally losing customers due to age. Then they try to do something new and take flack for not sticking to their brand! Quite the double edged sword.