They go up to 1″.

These sold out over a year ago.

I bought my foose set at a trade show in Vegas over a year ago by Stanley Works, not mac tools. Reading this post, I got quite a deal - not $699.99 like one post said, I only paid $369.00. They had about a hundreds of sets and I learned they sold even cheaper on the last day so they didn’t have to ship them back.

The advantage I had over other distributors was my retirement check from the Army and I didn’t finance my truck though Mac’s insane program. Yet, getting up a 4:30 AM to return home by 7:30 PM to unpack a stack of boxes by the barn door, restock and clean the truck, research tools for the customer often had me up past midnight and working through the weekends. Not to mention that unreliable MBA program they leave with you. Yes, I was pulling in the money and even put the local matco guy out of business while placing a huge hurt on Snappy. Heck, Snappy even offered to buy me out twice as did Matco! Yet the money I made didn’t offset the time lost from my family as my kids would say… “daddy’s always working”. Before it was “daddy’s always gone” (deployed).

The thought of going into business and not make a profit for 2-3 years is absurd in today’s declining economy. That’s beyond risk. I will guess you’re in an area of the country that’s doing well and you’re well established. Therefore, you’ll perceive this is a potential lucrative market based on your frame of reference and I’m knocking you for that. We all view the world based on our life history and judge accordingly.

But when I had three DM’s in a row constantly telling me the overall industry has been on a steady decline, confirmed by my Snappy competitor, and with gas continuing to creep to the $4 and beyond mark, dealerships converting to contracting tool stock through Craftsman corporate and SnapOn industrial, and employers who can’t afford to have their techs browse the truck on the are signs that the industry is in serious trouble. Besides, my first DM moved to another division of Stanley and we still stay in contact. The info he tells me know would make your hair stand on end. I’m really glad that I jumped when I did.

Agree, Mac’s training and support was simply nill and since they’ve made no change over the years, well then they don’t care or it’s how they intend to do business. Remember the old but true saying – actions speak louder than words.

For Mac to make any changes that would be well received amongst the technicians across the US. For them to turn this around would require them to do a complete overhaul and outside the box thinking that would drastically separate them from the competition. Frankly, even with a new president, I seriously doubt this will happen. If anything, they will continue to merge their corporate folks with the rest of Stanley until they no longer exist.

On a related line I think the state of the mobile tool sales industry would be a great story for Toolmonger. I would like to get a idea of what other brand distributors have to say about their company and what company reps. have to say about the future.

What hand tools do MAC still make in the USA? When i use to purchase from SNAP ON and MAC i found there tools to be of a similar quality although i must say i do prefer SNAP ON.

I gather from reading forums now that a lot of there tools are made abroad and the quality is not as good which is a shame as i used to get excellent service from my MAC dealer.

Maybe the way forward for them is to become an independent company again like SK Tools.

Kind Regards,

Gareth

I’m glad I stumbled on this. As a prior mac man, I’d run as fast as I can away from Mac, or any other mobile company. I lasted three years and fully agree with the previous posts…I was the only surviror from an initial “Tool School” class of 27 people. Yes, more than half of my classmates went out of business in the first year. I would gather to say mac loses more people each year than they recruit; and the numbers they recruit are alarming. Then again, the District Managers (DM) get a bonus (form the money the distributors financed of course) so they’re eager to sign on as many as they can each year.

All they want is to get you through their initial 16 week training program and then it’s do or die from there. I had a great DM that helped me along but he eventually quit. I then went though two other DM’s in two years and could see that things were not well up in Ohio. I sold my route in Dec 07 and fortunately, didn’t loose my hiney. But it’s very long hours and high stress for the pay with no benifits. Even as a “GOLD” distributor for three years running, the pay was still not worth the time and effort.

Mac’s “Here today, gone tomorrow” image is well known for years in Mac corporate but rather than analyze how to turn this around, they continue to ignore and keep recruiting. Their staff is clueless of the needs of the distributors and always behind the curve of the competition.

I agree with Bill, selling off a truck is a dying market. Many shops no longer want tool guys vistiting during business hours so that limits you to early morning and late evening stops. Early morning doesn’t work since most techs arrive just on time and by late evening they’re tired and want to go home.

The internet, along with Lowes, Home Depot and other stores also sell lifetime warranty tools and since many mechaincs are not as well paid as they should, they’re rather spend less so they can have more money like important things…rising fuel prices, food, and to support their family. They’re finaicially smarter and realize that name brand is not as important as their finances. The also see right through the “interest fee credit in the form as a truck account” knowing that our inflated prices already include the assumption they’re going to put it on a truck account.

So Sean, I may not have the crystal ball for the future but having traveled this road a bit, I began to see that this market is on a downward spiral so I jumped before I got sucked in. Unfortunately for many in my class, they held on ended up filing for bankrupcy. Fortunately for me, I’m back to an 8-5 job with a salary and benefits and enjoy the time with my family each night and weekend.

Smart move. At this day and age, I’d avoid the mobile tool industry all together. Even though I’m pretty well established, the sales are on a steady decline and even my Snappy and Matco guys are experiencing the same. I’m planning to sell out from under after this year and looking forward to a 8-5 M-F job with bennies.

I wish Mac would make this set again or something like it!

To All - Offshore production is not just making the CEO richer, it’s also about keeping up with the competition to produce more stuff at lower prices because we Americans like to buy in quantities. From buffet bars to shopping clubs, we view value by “savings” when making purchases. Heck, I’m saving when I don’t purchase but it’s the world we live in and unfortunately someting made in the US, with US wages, benefits, and insurance costs, quickly becomes unaffordable.

To Jake - Yes, I’ve been aware that the lower end Mac tool boxes come out of Canada and make the same line of boxes for both Mac and Blackhawk. I’ve had the opposite, lift the cardboard box off a MB4220BK and there is an 8-Drawer Blackhawk bolted to the pallet instead of Mac. I’ve even opened up a brand new shrink wrapped out of the box set of sockets and found them all to be branded with PROTO in the Mac Tray.

Its the changing times…

I also bought a set of Craftsman mini-pliers last year. At the time, I thought the price was pretty low for a C-man product and they were actually cheaper than the mini pliers at Lowes sold under the Kobalt name and comparable to those sold as Task Force name. If Sears was making a Chinese product and charging a “premium” price, it wasn’t around here.

For what reason do people think a company moves production overseas? And the tired old line of “So CEO’s can make millions and share holders can get rich.” isn’t it. Plus if you have an IRA or other retirement plan, you’re probably one of the shareholders. Are you getting rich?

It would be interesting to hear a company explain why they are moving manufacturing overseas. Half my family worked in the steel mills around Pittsburgh before the mills went under. It’s clear why those manufacturing jobs left the USA but we don’t need another fight over that on this forum.

As for offshore manufacturing you can bet most Mac district and regional managers hear about the made in China problem every day, but Stanley only considers the bottom line. I will say that some of the Taiwan made tools are very good and I have had very few returns on these items. More important than where tools are made is how they are designed and manufactured. Also pride in work makes a big differance in quality. Some of the best tools in the world are made in Germany, England and Japan, and techs have no problem buying them. My biggest issue with any offshore tools is the loss of U.S. jobs.

I do think tool truck salesmen offer a great service for technicians. I research new tools and technology for my customers. I show up every week at the shop so that they don’t have to waste time on the weekend driving to Sears. I tell them about the latest and greatest time saving tools, which means money in their pocket. I also extend interest free credit in the form of truck accounts which allow a customer to pay for a purchase over several weeks. Try that at Sears.

The Foose Box is gone but something else is coming but I can’t say what. It will be Made in China but with all the Jesse James, S&S, and Foose box sets I’ve sold, I’ve had far less warranty returns from them versus our Mac branded (and made in the USA) items. Maybe it’s the illegal aliens we hire to keep the cost down at the Dallas, TX plant while trying to keep the Made in the USA brand?

Yet the days of the mobile tool industry has been on a steady downward spiral. The avereage Mac distributor lasts only two years, and over half that complete our “tool school” will fail in their first year. The Internet has taken over and younger mechanics can’t afford the price that comes with service. And frankly, I can’t blame them.

I’ve been a mac man for 8 years now and seen the steady decline in quality coming out of Mac. I wouldn’t blame Stanley since they consider us the red headed step child and pay little attention to us. I blame those at Mac HQ who resist change and think selling on the streets is just as it was in the 80’s. I’ll close my “shop” next month, I’m the last in my part of TX that once had 6 mac men when I first started.

Rich Allen
Concord, CA