Lee Valley no longer selling Festool

[natedawg9999]

That's too bad they wont be selling Festool anymore. They are the only stocking dealer in town.

 

[JCLP]

interesting thread this is. Festool is going through what many other large corporations have gone through many years ago. it's part of growing up. Companies such as Dewalt ( Black & Decker ), Ryobi, Milwaukee, Freud, Nikon, Canon, Apple, etc tried the same approach that Festool is presently using to sell into Canada but found it to be to costly and needed to change by setting up shop here. Now I do believe Festool has a service depot outside of Ottawa and has such is registered with the government and has a Canadian bank account. Now has Tim mentioned, there are a lot of approvals and headaches dealing with the Canadian government but Festool is already getting CSA approvals for their tools, already dealing with the french language issue as they presently sell into Quebec. As this is a very simple look at things, it reminds me so much of my experience, and other resellers across Canada, when I sold CAD software for a living. Our software ranged in price from $3500 to well over $100,000 all in CAD$. When we forced the company to setup shop in Canada, we dealt in CAD$ and wrote cheques to the Canadian company. Festool should seriously re-think the way they do business in Canada and deal with their resellers. They need to understand, as many US corporations seem to forget, that resellers are in front of the client and are the ones that that build the client base and loyalty.
Festool, all you need to do is stock items at your service depot and accept cheques is CAD$ from your resellers. It's worked for other US based companies, it will work for you. You build the best tools in the world, in my opinion, now spend a little money and build the best reseller network possible. Keep your resellers happy and you will be happy. Sales 101.
JC

 

[mouppe]

Canadian dealers are squeezed both ways because as well as losing out from a weak dollar, if the Canadian dollar gets too strong, many Canadians go to shop in the US and take advantage of the exchange rate, and the dealers lose business here.

 

[gnlman]

hmmm this does not sound good for use canucks.....how long will it be before other canadian dealers take the same route.....how will we get consumables as the us dealers are not allowed to ship to canada.....will have to think about future festool purchases for sure...are you listening festool.....you need to level the playing field for our canadian dealers.....

 

[Dan Clermont]

Ultimate Tools will be more than happy to supply you with all your Festool needs.

It is a difficult time for us Canadian Retailers but we are there for our Fellow Festool users. Give us a call at 604 291 9663 or www.ultimatetools.ca

Dan Clermont

 

[gnlman]

That is great news thank you Dan. You guys have shipped me items in the past (both festool and other bands) your knowledge and customer service is outstanding....thank you, that is very reassuring. I still can't help thinking that festool should be allowing canadian dealers some leeway to make a profit when selling their products...don't get me wrong i love a good deal, but when you cut profits for business eventually those products get replaced by another brand....it's business...
Greg

 

[landowner]

Poop!.... I've been saving the loonies to drop by Lee Valley in Ottawa and buy a Kapex in the sale... Initially caught the green addiction at Lee Valley and they remain my enabler....With the Euro taking the same kind of beating as the Canadian $ and with the equipment being manufactured in Germany, I didn't see this exchange problem coming. If the source and destination currencies have fallen similarly and Lee Valley has been selling at a loss.... somewhere in the middle the margins must be out of wack..... I hope Festool can make it right so I can continue to feed the addiction at my local store....
Regards
Doug

 

[Dan Clermont]

That is great news thank you Dan. You guys have shipped me items in the past (both festool and other bands) your knowledge and customer service is outstanding....thank you, that is very reassuring. I still can't help thinking that festool should be allowing canadian dealers some leeway to make a profit when selling their products...don't get me wrong i love a good deal, but when you cut profits for business eventually those products get replaced by another brand....it's business...
Greg

Thanks Greg!

Our store is predominantly Festool so it sucks right now but we gotta keep plugging away to keep our customers happy and loyal

At this time we are still offering free shipping on orders over $150 (excluding kapex promo which has a small surcharge but we may have to revisit the shipping over the next couple of days

Dan

 

[peter halle]

I imagine that Festool is looking at options.  They have spent years and lots of $$ building a market and also a dealer market in Canada. 

Godspeed.

Peter

 

[mikegandy]

I too have ordered from Dan in the past even when he was a "rumrunner" in Canada and the only reason I haven't been to his store as much is because I live on Vancouver Island and Lee Valley is 10 min door to door.  I'm glad your able to keep things going and look forward to making purchases soon.

 

[jplemons]

Aren't we in the U.S. now overpaying for Festool with the Euro drop and now price decreases?

 

[BMAC]

That's a bummer, as Lee Valley was on my way to many of my job sites in the City and was convenient (sometimes too convenient...) to drop into to pick up consumables and new..tools...

But having in my past life run large operations I fully understand their reasoning in making the business decision they have. It doesn't make sense to keep doing something that doesn't probably even keep the lights on...

Our Canadian Government is VERY slow to get with the new global reality of international trade and importation directly from Europe is an onerous task I'm sure. Things are unlikely to change with respect to our CAN$ for a long time and I hope that we don't lose other avenues for access to Festool in the long term. Hopefully, Festool is brainstorming a business plan to address this reality in the making, that is, if the Canadian market is large enough for them to invest the time and energy to do so (I hope they do!).

It would be difficult for some of us to go to the US to pick up supplies now that we are in Alberta. I used to live in Aldergrove BC and we were 10 minutes away from the US border. In fact, on a Monday morning it was about the same travel time to go to the Costco in the US than it was to the one in Langley, BC. We'd rarely pay any duty as the groceries and other US goods are exempt and as long as other offshore non-nafta goods were under a couple of hundred bucks the border person would almost always wave you through as they don't like to be tax collectors.

 

[Yukonal]

I live in the Yukon, Canada and have been buying all my Festool and some other items from Dan. I have found him very personable and knowledgeable to deal with. Dan has provided me with excellent service over the years.

On another note, I have been buying from Lee Valley for many years and are very happy with their service. However, I kept purchasing Festool tools from Dan because he was selling Festool before Lee Valley and of course as I mentioned above his knowledge and service.

Both Ultimate Tools and Lee Valley have provided excellent service to me in the Yukon.

 

[thedude306]

Our Canadian Government is VERY slow to get with the new global reality of international trade and importation directly from Europe is an onerous task I'm sure. Things are unlikely to change with respect to our CAN$ for a long time and I hope that we don't lose other avenues for access to Festool in the long term.

It is amazing the federal restriction put on business in regards to European trade.  Heck we don't even have a free trade agreement with China and levy a 17% duty on goods from them.  Even getting goods across the US border is ridiculous.  I just got cheaper shipping out of the UK for some goods vs the US.  NUTZ.

But I digress and hope that Lee Valley and Festool can figure out a business plan together, competition is always healthy.

 

[SittingElf]

I would say that this is very likely a somewhat temporary situation regarding the US$ vs other currencies.

Right now the USD is being strengthened by a herd mentality all trying to jump aboard a rising bandwagon, but the piper has to be paid eventually, and there are some VERY smart people in the financial world who are predicting that the USD is going to crash in the not too distant future. When it starts down, the same "herd" will all be trying to exit as fast as possible, causing an accelerated crash.

We Americans should be enjoying the strength of the USD while we can.  Take a vacation to Europe. Spend some time shopping in Canada. Take advantage while you have the opportunity, because I agree with the Bears... It ain't gonna last!  (Same goes for Oil Prices....stock up on your gas now!)

I have purchased products from Lee Valley, and their lines and customer service is simply outstanding. I will continue to buy, and hope that they are prepared to re-enter the Festool market at the moment the CAD jumps back to somewhere near par with the USD.

Cheers,

Frank

 

[tiralie]

Your comment implies that Canada gets aid from the US.  I would be very surprised if that were true.

No, sorry I didn't want to imply that.
We don't get any financial aid from the US but they are our largest trading partner. We export 77% of our goods and services there  of course we also import 52% of our total. We are very dependent on the US and any swings in the US economy are reflected in ours.
This of course is both bad and good.
In some respects it is easier to trade with the US than with some of our own provinces.
Tim

 

[tiralie]

Spend some time shopping in Canada.

Yes, please buy your Festool's from a Canadian dealer. Apparently Festool is making them sell you their tools at a discount to what you would be able to buy it in the US.

Take advantage while you have the opportunity, because I agree with the Bears... It ain't gonna last!  (Same goes for Oil Prices....stock up on your gas now!)

What are you doing to hedge this...?

I have purchased products from Lee Valley, and their lines and customer service is simply outstanding.

Agreed.

the moment the CAD jumps back to somewhere near par with the USD.

The low CAD is good for you guys and well, it's good and bad for us as we can export more but prices will increase.
Tim

 

[SittingElf]

Take advantage while you have the opportunity, because I agree with the Bears... It ain't gonna last!  (Same goes for Oil Prices....stock up on your gas now!)

What are you doing to hedge this...?

My pension fund with my current company is held and managed in Guernsey, UK. We are paid in USD, and the funds are initially held as USD, but they allow us to manage the currency in which our funds are held.  I converted my entire Pension Fund to Euros last week at €1.13  That's a FAR cry from last year when we were still stationed in Germany and the Euro was at €1.39!!

So that's my hedge. When the dollar does what I expect it to do sometime in the coming months, I'll revert back to USD, hopefully at the bottom.  I also invested in West Texas Crude ETF's (UWTI) because there is NO way that oil is going to stay at these levels for any great length of time!

I have some Festool purchases in mind if, and when my expectations come to pass!! [drooling]

Cheers,
Frank

 

[tiralie]

My pension fund with my current company is held and managed in Guernsey, UK. We are paid in USD, and the funds are initially held as USD, but they allow us to manage the currency in which our funds are held.  I converted my entire Pension Fund to Euros last week at €1.13  That's a FAR cry from last year when we were still stationed in Germany and the Euro was at €1.39!!

Hmm, Euros? I have never been a big fan of the Euro. Too many freeloaders to figure out where it's going. It seems Germany is the key for the Euro's value and they know it, but their economy is not growing.

Hopefully you can take any losses as a tax deduction. [wink]

So that's my hedge. When the dollar does what I expect it to do sometime in the coming months, I'll revert back to USD, hopefully at the bottom. 

We'll see...I am terrible at predictions of this kind.

I also invested in West Texas Crude ETF's (UWTI) because there is NO way that oil is going to stay at these levels for any great length of time!

That sounds wise, at 45$ +/- a barrel in relative terms it's not gonna stay there too long. The drop has been painful for those experiencing the drop.

 

[kfriesen]

It's sad to see Lee Valley drop Festool, even temporarily as the visibility of the product was great, the more sales of Festool the better as it will only increase the availability of products and supplies in Canada.

Lee Valley has been awesome for me personally over the years, the quality of the product lines and the service is great.  They've tracked down orders and sent me refunds and product parts for items that I had purchased months before.  One check went to a neighbour on the street with the same last name, it went back and forth until they tracked me down.

That said, the Festool line is/was poorly served locally, Lee Valley mostly had a single item in stock (i.e. a shoe for a Carvex) and they only had one guy that actually knew anything about the product.  In some cases, even he was poorly informed and provided misleading info (i.e. domino strength).

The only other local dealer was great but had limited hours and again only a single person knowing the product.  He's single threaded so if there was more than one customer in the shop you'd have to wait excessively long to get any service.

I've ordered from Dan and had great service and would highly recommend especially given there isn't any difference in prices.