Another sad day for woodworking in my area

[Ben Cadotte]

Another sad day for woodworking in my area. Yesterday I had the issue with the China Ply sold at my main "real" lumber yard.

Today more bad news. The only real woodworking store within 80 miles of me has closed its doors. :( Western Tools and Supply. I went over first thing this morning to get some nails for my air nailers. Windows were taped over with white paper. Big lettering printed on them "STORE CLOSING". I had already missed the closing while I was overseas. Place was already cleaned out. Just some shelving to take out.

Not a very good April fools joke. :(

[Bill Stoffels]

Unfortunately this is a sign of the times, more and more are closing
Here in Illinois there is a small number of shops left went to get some hard maple for some new vise jaws and the stock at the store was down to 20% of normal.
Owner stated that he has to pay interest oon all of the wood in the shop so thisis why the inventory is so low.
It was a sad sight , widest piece of Hard maple was 7"

hard to work wood when you do not have any???????????????????

Need to feed the machines and planes I have , concentrating on getting 4-600 bd feet of wood now before it all disappears.
Bill

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Bill...Paying taxes on inventory is nothing new. Having lower sales due to the poor economy means less business and thus he's reduced his inventory to reduce his tax expenses.

[CPeter James]

Which store was it? They closed the Auburn store ove a year ago. Have they closed another one?

[Ben Cadotte]

Which store was it? They closed the Auburn store ove a year ago. Have they closed another one?

The Bangor store. Next closest store according to Rockler and Western Tool is Augusta, and then Portland (80 and 120 miles for me).

[CPeter James]

Well, Ben don't feel too bad about driving to Augusta. We drive up to Auburn (100 miles each way) to get my wife's sewing machines serviced. Have been doing it for several years. We had a little scare last fall when we thought the shop was going to close. The only one around who really knows what he is doing and sewing machines are a high maintenance item.

CPeter

[Daniel Shnitka]

Western Tool is closing because of the combination of management error and to a lesser degree lack of capital. All this coming from the head of the operation. The error in judgement by the owner has impacted the operations in Canada in particular British Columbia.

[Rick Fisher]

House of Tools in Canada, a company owned by Western Tool, is closing every store in British Columbia. The closest one to me is 40 minutes away.

I bought all my General stuff from them. I know some of the guys at the store, pretty depressing.

Its part of the natural course. More business will be spead amongst those who survived. Its survival of the fittest right now.

[Scott Coffelt]

The Borg's really have killed the mom and pop, then through in the economy many just can not handle it anymore. Too bad.

Around here, it is hard to find domestic ply anymore. Sucks for sure.

[Dave Bureau]

Western tool in manchester Nh is having an inventory reduction sale going on. Dont know if they are going the same route.

[Bill Blackburn]

The Borg's really have killed the mom and pop, then through in the economy many just can not handle it anymore. Too bad.



Edited --- WE killed the Ma and Pa stores with our buying patterns.
I know with 100% certainty the BORG's did not make us
buy from them. Just a phrase play with words but one many like to deny. Not saying you are Scott but saying many will. The big places killed the .... Nope. We did!

We sometimes did out of necessity but mostly desire to have the most for the least. The countrys not going back either so take all the pictures you can to preserve the memory of what was.
Yes-to bad and to sad it all is.:(

I grew up in a small town of about 450 that was close to a larger town of about 1200. "My" town (Delhi) has 5 people today in it - a bar that's actually in a mobile home about 14x32 that caters to the few remaining farmers. The rest sold out to corporations years back. The building and homes either all burned or in shambles. That other "town" that was near is now a small city of 8,000 or so. Some of you may know it as the birthplace of Sears-Roebuck way way back. Redwood Falls,MN.
I don't belive there is even a catalog outlet for them in town anymore, nor JC Penny, and Wards long gone. Local stores flourished there as did everything else. Then the cheaper "BORG-ish " stores arrived and we know the rest of the story.
Beautiful country and rich in history. But dead in the ways and traditions of even 40 years ago. All dead. Makes me dang near wanna cry to think of all that been lost everywhere. In Europe and other places they try to preserve things. Here we just want bigger and cheaper

[Ben Cadotte]

I am not so sure the Borgs caused the WTS in my area to close. As neither Borg carries the majority of what WTS did. About the only thing they had in common were some nail supplies. But WTS carried about 4x the Borgs. If you had a gun they had the nails for it. Also they carried shop grade machinery. Neither Borg in my area sells anything larger than a contractor saw, or smaller DP, and Bandsaws. I know the economy in my area has been in the dumps for longer than the current economy conditions. But I would think the way Griz is selling out of stuff. The local stores would have a better chance.

I admit I went to Griz first to buy a lathe. But once I found out they are 4-5 months backordered. I said well, might as well support a local store. And was going to pay quite a bit more for basically the same thing. But unfortunately they had already shut down.

We are heading south tomorrow for a shopping trip. My truck will be making at least 1 stop where I want to go. ;) Not sure if I will get a machine or not. But the backseat of the truck is cleaned out, ready for her pile of stuff. And the bed of the truck is reserved if I need it. :D

[Loren Hedahl]

Well, Ben don't feel too bad about driving to Augusta. We drive up to Auburn (100 miles each way) to get my wife's sewing machines serviced. Have been doing it for several years. We had a little scare last fall when we thought the shop was going to close. The only one around who really knows what he is doing and sewing machines are a high maintenance item.

CPeter

Looks like an opportunity to me!

I've also seen how the small operators were pushed out by the large chain stores in our area. This isn't just the woodworking/hardware conglomerates, but runs the gamut from clothing outlets to photography stores to drug stores, even to optometrists. You can get your glasses or contact lenses at Sears or COSTCO. What's next, colonoscopies?

[Joe Aliperti]

Western Tool Supply in North Conway, NH shut down also about a year ago, shortly after we got a Home Depot and Lowes.