MessickFarmEqu
Super Member
aesanders said:Nah, I doubt if it changes Echo at all. Their are many companies that have consumer models at The Home DeCrap. Deere for one. They haven't gone to pot since marketing their L series their. They just sell more low end L series.
I'd disagree. I sell Cub Cadet and their quality has declined since going to the box stores. If you listen to the companies supplying the box stores there is an increadible amount of pressure placed on them to lower costs every year. Infact, its written into many of the supplier agreements. Homelite chainsaws are a great example. 25 years ago it was them and Stihl. Homelite started selling to Walmart who forced the product to be cheapened to the point that it became trash, the company recently sold to the Chinese for a fraction of their market value. Plumbing fixtures and lighting are hit hard by this as well, its almost all Chinese imports now. Any "Honda" sold at the Depot is actually a Chinese import with a Honda sticker.
What happens is that companies become a slave to the box store. They ramp of production to meet the additional demand. Once they've made that investment they have to either meet the box stores demand for lower prices or loose their contracts and let the manufacturing capacity go idle.
Was it Murry that just filed Chapter 11? Think it had anything to do with being dropped by a box store??? Echo might not have lost their soul yet, but give them a few years and see what happens.