Status of Everything Attachments

[CloverKnollFarms]

Yesterday I was using my EA rear blade thinking what a shame. I first bought a tractor supply blade that bent within a few minutes use, then got this EA one that's been fantastic, adjustable in every direction and 600+ pounds.
Why would they even need a 100K+ sq.ft. building when all they needed would be a large storage shed for product?
Such a shame. It looks like 1 Timothy 6:10
has been correct all along...View attachment 854217View attachment 854218

Amen

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Yes, my 20 hp Massey bent the heck out of my TSC blade rated for 35hP.

 

[rbstern]

I’ve heard that and wonder how the store that invented home shopping was not able to complete.

That's an easy one.

I used to write software for the retail trade. Went to Sears HQ to pitch it to one of their category managers. Mind you, that's a low-to-mid level managerial position. Was told by his secretary (in a day and age where few people had secretaries any more) to address him as "Mr." so-and-so. Luxury, highrise offices, too.

Walmart HQ in that era? Completely different environment. You could tell they valued a dollar and didn't waste 'em. Far more focused on productive business choices.

Which is why they ate Sears' lunch.

Long standing organizations often fall prey to classic organizational behavior traits: Bloat, loss of focus on the mission, abuse of authority, wasteful spending habits. Great leaders can put it off for a while, but it seeps in eventually.

 

[masseyrider]

Box of 24 shirts was invoiced at $30. Shirt on the wrack price was $40 on sale/shirt. So, $960 retail for the box and they went broke.

They went broke because their built in overheads like employee pay and benefits cost as well as rent and other overheads, exceeded the amount they were marking their stuff up at.

Myself, I'm very careful about how I price both my products as well as my shop services because anyone in business has those built in overheads. Consequently, if a customer (especially when it comes to shop work) wants to lo-ball me, I just tell them not interested, have a nice day but under my breath I'm thinking something else.

Where else are they gonna go in the middle of nowhere.

 

[rbstern]

Haven't been on the site much lately, was surprised to catch up to this thread.

I've never done business with EA. Looked at them a few times before choosing something else. Watched many of their videos over the years. Came away with the strong impression that they cared enough to build quality products and provide good service. The testimonials I read/heard/saw were further evidence of that.

Something must have happened along the way. It's tough to build a business based on high quality and good customer service, and sustain it for an extended period. If your morals are shoddy, it shows up sooner rather than later.

People do not lead static lives. Illness, tragedy, divorce, depression, plain old fatigue, monetary downturns, entitlement. Circumstances and behaviors do change over time. It's always surprising when it seems to come from an unlikely source.

Overall, a sad development for the industry, and those of us who enjoy these products as part of lifestyle and hobby.

Hope everyone here with dollars at stake get made whole.

 

[Oaktree]

Walmart HQ in that era? Completely different environment. You could tell they valued a dollar and didn't waste 'em. Far more focused on productive business choices.

Which is why they ate Sears' lunch.

Long standing organizations often fall prey to classic organizational behavior traits: Bloat, loss of focus on the mission, abuse of authority, wasteful spending habits. Great leaders can put it off for a while, but it seeps in eventually.

Interesting you reference Walmart here. They too have seem to have lost sight of the very things that made them successful in the first place. While they were a relative latecomer to New England (don't think I ever saw one of their stores before the mid-ish 90s), the stores were always clean and well-stocked compared to many of their competitors. Now I see lots of empty display cases, employees blocking aisles stocking during business hours, and prices on their store-brand items higher than name brand equivalents.

They're still successful, but having eliminated most of their competitors in many places they're the only game in town now.

Sears began to lose their way in the late 70s/early 80s, not being sure what they wanted to be. For a while they seemed to be marketing themselves as a semi-upscale womens' clothing store that also happened to sell tools and appliances. And the business mistakes just kept on coming, no matter what they did, they just managed to dig themselves in deeper.

 

[Sid Post]

If end users REALLY knew what the markup was on retail goods sold to the general public, I'm sure they would all be amazed and PO'd at the same time.

For example, back when I delivered steel for the outfit I retired from, one of my regular deliveries of slit coils of hot rolled was TRW steering division near Grand Rapids and I got to know the employees as well as the plant management pretty well and one day I spied a full wire basket of finished tie rod ends waiting to be shipped out and I asked the assistant plant manager what the cost to produce them was and he told me about 50 cents per unit. I didn't say anything but thought to myself, those tie rod ends look just like the ones on my Ford F350 diesel pickup truck and I had just replaced the no grease ones with a set that had grease fittings and I paid at the local discount auto parts store (Autozone), 130 bucks for a set of 2 and I'm sure at a dealer they would have been even more.

When you take the 50 cent per part build cost and look at the Autozone 'discount' price and compare, that to me is one huge markup from the maker, in this case TRW to the retail price. Scary isn't it?

Comparisons like that can be a bit deceiving because they don't include some really high dollar costs like stamping dies and other manufacturing gear plus the time to develop it all which is money in sunk costs as well.

50 cents of raw materials is only a small part of the picture.

 

[Sid Post]

Interesting you reference Walmart here. They too have seem to have lost sight of the very things that made them successful in the first place. While they were a relative latecomer to New England (don't think I ever saw one of their stores before the mid-ish 90s), the stores were always clean and well-stocked compared to many of their competitors. Now I see lots of empty display cases, employees blocking aisles stocking during business hours, and prices on their store-brand items higher than name brand equivalents.

They're still successful, but having eliminated most of their competitors in many places they're the only game in town now.

Sears began to lose their way in the late 70s/early 80s, not being sure what they wanted to be. For a while they seemed to be marketing themselves as a semi-upscale womens' clothing store that also happened to sell tools and appliances. And the business mistakes just kept on coming, no matter what they did, they just managed to dig themselves in deeper.

The Walmart of Sam Walton and the Walmart of today don't have a lot in common IMHO.

First, it was Amazon and online retail. Then there were various labor issues along with political and societal pressure to change how they did business to protect "mom and pop" local stores and provide better employee benefits along with things as mundane as traffic flow problems when they opened a new store in some small town.

Now, they are affected by Wall Street stock pricing and business numbers reported in the business news just like Tesla and Amazon.

Yes, that $1 Chinese flashlight looks like a bargain but, with a manufacturing cost of a few pennies, it too has a huge markup to ensure all the palms get greased from local town politicians to state and national politicians. Then there are the Wall Street payouts to owners there and the Walton family as well.

That is why Walmart $15 polo shirts are about the same thickness as single-ply toilet paper and only last a little longer!

 

[rbstern]

Interesting you reference Walmart here. They too have seem to have lost sight of the very things that made them successful in the first place. While they were a relative latecomer to New England (don't think I ever saw one of their stores before the mid-ish 90s), the stores were always clean and well-stocked compared to many of their competitors. Now I see lots of empty display cases, employees blocking aisles stocking during business hours, and prices on their store-brand items higher than name brand equivalents.

They're still successful, but having eliminated most of their competitors in many places they're the only game in town now.

Sears began to lose their way in the late 70s/early 80s, not being sure what they wanted to be. For a while they seemed to be marketing themselves as a semi-upscale womens' clothing store that also happened to sell tools and appliances. And the business mistakes just kept on coming, no matter what they did, they just managed to dig themselves in deeper.

That's why I wrote "Walmart in that era". Walmart is headed in the same direction, but at a slower pace than Sears. In fairness, Sears was founded much earlier, and Sam Walton has only been gone for a little more than 20 years. Walmart is trying to adapt, but the challenges are many.

You can find case after case, in many different markets, where companies follow similar trajectories. Generally, the more prominent/dominant in a given category, the more spectacular the implosion, because the prominence and comfort of success creates a more insulated environment that stops hearing what's going on outside the echo chamber. Management tends to wake up when the stock goes into freefall, and by then, the fatal wounds have usually already happened.

 

[steve tym]

If end users REALLY knew what the markup was on retail goods sold to the general public, I'm sure they would all be amazed and PO'd at the same time.

For example, back when I delivered steel for the outfit I retired from, one of my regular deliveries of slit coils of hot rolled was TRW steering division near Grand Rapids and I got to know the employees as well as the plant management pretty well and one day I spied a full wire basket of finished tie rod ends waiting to be shipped out and I asked the assistant plant manager what the cost to produce them was and he told me about 50 cents per unit. I didn't say anything but thought to myself, those tie rod ends look just like the ones on my Ford F350 diesel pickup truck and I had just replaced the no grease ones with a set that had grease fittings and I paid at the local discount auto parts store (Autozone), 130 bucks for a set of 2 and I'm sure at a dealer they would have been even more.

When you take the 50 cent per part build cost and look at the Autozone 'discount' price and compare, that to me is one huge markup from the maker, in this case TRW to the retail price. Scary isn't it?

Sure, but there is a lot of steps left to add from a wire basket full at the manufacturing plant to ending up in your hands. Rule of retail? Sell it for twice what you paid.