Stanley Strikes Again

Home Channel News announced today that Stanley is selling Goldblatt to Finish Pro Tools. The article tells the age old tale of Stanley buys company. Stanley reduces skus. Stanley not happy with business and sells unit. Somebody buys unit and re establishes full product line.

Don't you wonder when they will learn from their own history?

Aggregation has been a factor in this industry for a long time. Sadly, the track record is not good. The idea is to create a market basket of products to take to market and provide one stop shopping for large wholesalers and retailers. What happens is that strong brands and broad product offerings get reduced in the process. What really happens is dilution. There is a dilution of focus, a dilution of the brand and consequently a dilution of customers. This opens the door to low cost offshore competition when no one is minding the product offering and the brand.

Think about it. What is happening to great brands like Lufkin, Plumb, Crescent, Vice Grip and others? It is almost impossible for an umbrella brand to provide the focus and the brand support for all the products in the basket. When that happens it is easy to see how no name or private branded products from offshore can make great inroads into the U.S. Hardware Market.