WoodCraft Fountain Valley California closing

[Mike Henderson]

I saw the post about the Rockler closing and thought I should post about this WoodCraft store closing. I've known Ingko (the owner) for many years. He's getting older and has wanted to sell out for a long time but never could find anyone to take the business.

His lease is up at the end of the year and the landlord wanted a big increase in rent and a minimum of a five year lease. So Ingko decided to close the doors. I know he's been having sales trying to clear out some of the merchandise.

If you live in the area, stop by. You might find a deal or two.

10770 Talbert Avenue
Fountain Valley,CA 92708
714-963-9663 (tel:+17149639663)

Mike

[Richard Coers]

It's really rough for Woodcraft franchise owners. They have to compete with corporate sales and catalogs, plus continue to pay franchise fees on items sold in the store that sell on a price match. They do make good money on items in the center of the stores, but really get hurt on sales and low mark up items like power hand tools.

[Jim Becker]

I agree with you, Richard. It's honestly rough for any kind of retail franchise these days because of the intense online competition and slim margins. And for something like woodworking, which has fewer "new" hobbyists due to other distractions than "back in the day", getting enough of the market share to cover costs while providing a quality shopping experience is just darn tough.

[Pat Germain]

You know, I was going to order a Starrett combination square from Amazon, but I think I should drop by my local Woodcraft instead. It will be a few more bucks, but I like support local retailers.

[Michael Burnside]

Yea I try to buy most of my hand power tools and some consumables from our local Woodcraft or Rockler when I can. Festool's fixed price makes it pretty easy to do. I even sometimes buy wood for smaller projects.

I've even purchased a couple of my larger Powermatic (jointer) and Laguna (14BX) power tools from them. Seemed to take a little longer getting to the store, but shipping there was free and they just loaded up my truck. I have a hoist mounted to a 10" I-beam so it's easy to lower from truck to the shop floor but in talking with them it doesn't sound like they offer any home delivery so I don't know what you'd do with a 700LB jointer that's basically one piece in the back of a pickup LOL.

[STEVE BARRY]

Nearest woodcraft and rockler are an hour and a half from me. There’s also an exotic woods lumber yard nearby, all within a mile and a half of one another. When I need a few things I hit up all three for tools and lumber.

Always like to pick up a tool before I plunk down my hard earned. As far as woodcraft goes, I’ll buy there first because it’s not corporate, but if rockler has it in stock that day, I’m not going home empty handed.

I’m not a fan of online shopping, but I can’t totally avoid it. For the most part I espouse Amazon and only use them as a last resort when I can’t find the item I’m looking for elsewhere

Money wise it’s not very smart on my part, but I just don’t care. Rather spend my money with some small businesses than give it to Bezos

I’ve bought a bunch of tools from woodcraft, powermatic jointer, 19/38 drum sander, fourteen inch bandsaw and some others. Easier and cheaper to throw in the back of my truck, than trying to coordinate freight delivery with renting a forklift to get item off of truck

[Derek Meyer]

The nearest Woodcraft to me is in Spokane Valley, WA, about 90 minutes north. I get up there about once a month, and usually come out with something. Last trip I ended up with a Forrest blade for my miter saw. I've also bought some Festook stuff from them, as well as tools that the store I work in doesn't handle (I work in a local hardware store/building supply).

I'm looking at getting a drill press and bandsaw in the near future, and will likely order them from Woodcraft and have them shipped to the store, and pick them up to save shipping. I'm also dreaming of getting a jointer/planer unit, either SCM or Hammer, but I haven't researched where I can buy or order them locally.

Derek

[Clint Baxter]

It would be nice to have a Rockler or a Woodcraft somewhere close. Nearest Woodcraft is 450+ miles and Rockler is further away than that. We do have an Acme Tools in town that allows me to do local purchases on a good variety of power tools. Pretty much most of the other woodworking specialty stuff has to come from online ordering.

I tend to spend a lot of time in Acme Tools, and they know me, (and my dogs), by name. Home Depot has a pretty good selection of the same stuff Acme does and they offer me a 10% military veteran's discount, but I try to avoid HD for what I consider those smaller entities, (if you can consider Acme to be a smaller entity).

Hopefully, you'll still have those stores to collect your hard earned shekels for many years to come. Sad to hear of these frequent closures.

Clint

[Jim Becker]

Woodcraft and Rockler stores "near" me are about 50 driving miles...in opposite directions. The former is up in Allentown PA and the latter is in Moorestown, NJ. Neither is a pleasant drive and a drive to Rocker is "the worst". I did visit the new Rockler when it first opened, but I doubt I'd drive there again because of the traffic and tolls. If I need something from them, I'll just order online when something is on sale or I have a decent coupon code. For me, after three plus decades of woodworking, wandering in a retail store doesn't really float my boat like it did back in the beginning when there were actually local stores. (Woodcraft and independent) I do feel bad when a business closes, but location really has played into my patronage over time.

[Donald G. Burns]

Woodcraft and Rockler stores "near" me are about 50 driving miles...in opposite directions. The former is up in Allentown PA and the latter is in Moorestown, NJ. Neither is a pleasant drive and a drive to Rocker is "the worst". I did visit the new Rockler when it first opened, but I doubt I'd drive there again because of the traffic and tolls. If I need something from them, I'll just order online when something is on sale or I have a decent coupon code. For me, after three plus decades of woodworking, wandering in a retail store doesn't really float my boat like it did back in the beginning when there were actually local stores. (Woodcraft and independent) I do feel bad when a business closes, but location really has played into my patronage over time.

I live in the Mid-Hudson region of NY and there's nothing near me. Big box or Harbor Freight are it. The only "good" old fashion hardware store near me burned down a few years ago and rebuilt as a strip mall store front with none of the charm of the original store. So I too visit the Allentown Woodcraft store, it's a good 3+ hour drive for me. Per Woodcraft's store finder the Manchester, CT or W. Springfield, MA locations are closer, but the S-in-L lives in the Allentown area and I can double up on shopping along with a family visit. Otherwise, going east into CT is a nightmare of traffic plus higher sales tax compared to going to PA. Nearest Rockler would require an overnight trip to Buffalo or going south deep into NJ and that might trip my pacemaker from all the stunts seen while driving in NJ.

[Jim Becker]

Don combining an occasional trip to the Allentown Woodcraft with visiting family is a great way to get that occasional "fondle the goods" fix for sure. The days of specialty retail for things like woodworking in "every town" are long gone, so we just have to do the best we can.

[Rod Sheridan]

Clint, any store that knows your dog by name sounds like the kind of store I like to patronize.

Regards, Rod