Being on the inside of the tool business we can tell you there is one common enemy most power tool brands share, Hilti. This is because Hilti has done 3 unique things that really separated them from the competition of Bosch, Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, etc. Those 3 things are going direct, selling the “complete solution” and locking in customers with leases which are very hard to leave. In the 2000’s Hilti was on fire but with the downturn then relatively flat economy, the going direct option has become a somewhat shaky proposition. The practice of locking customers in with leases that can cost 2-3+ times the price of the competitor’s tools has absolutely backfired in many cases.
What remains a solid business model everyone else has tried to copy and what keeps Hilti in business at all (in our opinion) is selling the system. They have done it so well that not only do they sell the tools, the accessories and the fasteners they go well beyond that and get their SKUs speced into the architect blue prints! So how can Stanley and Dewalt learn from this model and bring it to their basket of brands? Acquiring Powers Fasteners sure would be a good start!
It is not clear what the full story is yet, so far just a lot of message board chatter or what this could mean for Stanley and the Powers Fasteners brand but it is not hard to imagine them wanting to sell some fasteners along with that new yellow rotary hammers drill or vis-versa. It does look like Powers has started recommending Dewalt Tools on all their PDFs which was Hitachi as of a few days ago. Will they go direct and cut out the construction supply houses all together? Maybe Mac Tool (another Stanley company) Trucks will be making construction site deliveries here soon? If this is more than just an elaborate web of rumors we will certainly know more next week.
UPDATE: the official announcement video, click the picture below.
