ToughBuilt industries $TBLT March 14, 2024 Shopping Trip
We took a focused shopping trip today heading north out of Chicagoland and into Wisconsin (and the northern part of Lake County, Illinois) to see what ToughBuilt products are selling at Lowe's, Menards and Ace Hardware. Here is what we found.
Lowe's in Kenosha, Wisconsin
We saw a shift to lawn and garden, and much less emphasis on tools today. The tool department selling area had gaps where products were out of stock, and generally less inventory for sale. It looked a little run-down, slow, with employees standing around having group conversations (I was uncomfortable to interrupt them).
Modular storage:
We saw many brands still in the store. We saw Flex, Kobalt, and Craftsman generally on sale and not looking great. We saw Klein, in two locations, at a new low price. We saw ToughBuilt StackTech TM in a full bay, but no 'new' products and the inventory was a little light.
ToughBuilt soft goods:
They were mostly out of tool belts and ClipTech TM tool totes, with three totes and two belts on the shelf. There were four SKUs of knee pads, still on sale from February. Someone had incorrectly put a tool in one of the knee pad boxes. There was a good selection of rolling bags.
ToughBuilt hand tools:
We saw 6 SKUs of saws, one manual and one pocket level, no tape measures, no saw horses, and no 'big stuff.' There were two hammer SKUs, one StockStop TM framing hammer and one regular framing hammer. They are down to a set of standard ToughBuilt knives and one screwdriver set (for $39.99). In total, maybe a 15-20 SKUs.
Again, the hand-tool area looked pretty empty with gaps in the displays. Klein looked pretty full in the electrical area. Power tools looked well stocked, but it is hard to tell as most are behind lock & key. There were very few marketing or sales displays in tools. Looks like Lowe's is de-prioritizing tools, or maybe just reducing inventory levels there.
We saw a shift to lawn and garden, and much less emphasis on tools today. The tool department selling area had gaps where products were out of stock, and generally less inventory for sale. It looked a little run-down, slow, with employees standing around having group conversations (I was uncomfortable to interrupt them).
Modular storage:
We saw many brands still in the store. We saw Flex, Kobalt, and Craftsman generally on sale and not looking great. We saw Klein, in two locations, at a new low price. We saw ToughBuilt StackTech TM in a full bay, but no 'new' products and the inventory was a little light.
ToughBuilt soft goods:
They were mostly out of tool belts and ClipTech TM tool totes, with three totes and two belts on the shelf. There were four SKUs of knee pads, still on sale from February. Someone had incorrectly put a tool in one of the knee pad boxes. There was a good selection of rolling bags.
ToughBuilt hand tools:
We saw 6 SKUs of saws, one manual and one pocket level, no tape measures, no saw horses, and no 'big stuff.' There were two hammer SKUs, one StockStop TM framing hammer and one regular framing hammer. They are down to a set of standard ToughBuilt knives and one screwdriver set (for $39.99). In total, maybe a 15-20 SKUs.
Again, the hand-tool area looked pretty empty with gaps in the displays. Klein looked pretty full in the electrical area. Power tools looked well stocked, but it is hard to tell as most are behind lock & key. There were very few marketing or sales displays in tools. Looks like Lowe's is de-prioritizing tools, or maybe just reducing inventory levels there.
Menards in Kenosha, Wisconsin
We entered a very busy and very large Menards. ToughBuilt soft good products were almost all on sale. Some items were $3.00 off, and others $9.00 off. Prices were so good that we bought two tool belts and two tool totes for a total of $45.00.
Inventory stock was still solid, but the Clip Tech TM extra clips and accessories were out of stock already. A man bought a set of tool totes and belt right ahead of me.
We did not check the knee pads (MasterForce branded).
There are no hard goods or electronics by ToughBuilt in the store. They have room for them in their assortment, and this continues to be an opportunity for ToughBuilt sales teams.
We entered a very busy and very large Menards. ToughBuilt soft good products were almost all on sale. Some items were $3.00 off, and others $9.00 off. Prices were so good that we bought two tool belts and two tool totes for a total of $45.00.
Inventory stock was still solid, but the Clip Tech TM extra clips and accessories were out of stock already. A man bought a set of tool totes and belt right ahead of me.
We did not check the knee pads (MasterForce branded).
There are no hard goods or electronics by ToughBuilt in the store. They have room for them in their assortment, and this continues to be an opportunity for ToughBuilt sales teams.
Ace Hardware, Zion Illinois
We entered the store and asked a sales associate for help finding ToughBuilt. She said, do we have that...then checked her tablet and found the section. She said to me that she thought all that stuff was DeWalt.
Their stock was pretty great for an Ace Hardware, having some tool belts, tool totes and tote bags. No hard goods nor electronics.
However, someone had covered up some of their products with other products, and someone mixed in some DeWalt products on the same pegs. It was completely surrounded by Milwaukee, Craftsman, and DeWalt products, but at least it was there. No sales, all full retail prices.
We entered the store and asked a sales associate for help finding ToughBuilt. She said, do we have that...then checked her tablet and found the section. She said to me that she thought all that stuff was DeWalt.
Their stock was pretty great for an Ace Hardware, having some tool belts, tool totes and tote bags. No hard goods nor electronics.
However, someone had covered up some of their products with other products, and someone mixed in some DeWalt products on the same pegs. It was completely surrounded by Milwaukee, Craftsman, and DeWalt products, but at least it was there. No sales, all full retail prices.