Rocky at Rockler

[HowardH]

I went in there today at lunch to see if they had their Festool display set up.  They were working on it so I visited a while with the store ee's and got their opinion on what they thought so far.  The response was underwhelming at best.  Everyone of them felt the tools were way overpriced (where have we ever heard that before) and that the customers who have seen the small setup at the back of the store came away scratching their heads and saying the same thing about the price structure.  The only tool they seemed to like was the RO 150 FEQ due to the dust collection.  Not really the domino or TS series, routers or the MFT.  Their customer demographics must be much more hobbyist than Woodcraft.  Their lack of enthusiasm about the line will definitely carry over to the customer base.  It's hard to sell anythng you don't believe in.  One guy told me he had a customer who needed to make several hundred M/T joints and asked what was the best way to accomplish that task.  Of course the answer was DOMINO!  That's at least what I offered the sales guy.  He too mentioned it to the customer and when the subject of price came up, the sales guy just hung his head and mumble something about it being $700 and never made the sell.  I asked him why he didn't say something about how much the customer's time was worth. This customer was evidently someone who was doing this project for profit.  I didn't get a good answer.  The subject turned to the routers and how they integrated with the guiderail system and what I got back in return was "I can do that with a shop built plywood jig".  With that kind of attitude a lot of good products are going to sit on the shelf collecting a different kind of dust.  You can lead a horse to water but...

 

[Dan Clark]

Howard,

I've been to the Seattle Rockler.  It's definitely a different set of demographics.  I find the place a bit depressing.

Dan.

 

[kgregc]

I usually visit the one in south Seattle (Tukwila) and kinda like it...  Different store, different folks...?

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Howard,

Your Rockler's experience comes reasonably close to what I experienced the first time I inquired about the Festools on display at HartVille Tool (NE Ohio) about nearly 3 years ago.  The sales representative admitted he did not know anything about Festool, except that he had heard good comments from others, and he did know about the 30 day return and 1 yr + 2 yr guarantees.  But less than 6 months later, that stocking dealer had a Festool factory rep on hand to demonstrate many Festools, and they have repeated that type of demo 2X per year since.  And they have sent some of their sales staff to Festool for training.  Of course, Domino did not exist then, and the TS 55 had not been released yet, nor the update to the RO 150.  But even then, the MFT, Vacs, and older model 55 saw and RO 150 were impressive - but only to those who understood what they could do that competing brands could not.  I have not visited my nearest Rockler's (Cleveland, Ohio) in several months, but plan on doing so in the next few months.  I'll try to remember to report on what I observe.  I don't expect much because their store is starved for floor space.

Dave R.

 

[greg mann]

I am also one who doesn't see this as a particularly good marriage. I am sure some stores will do just fine, if they have a can do attitude about learning and promoting the tools, and, if their customer base has less choice about going to another ISA. In my case Rockler has a store 3 miles from another Festool dealer on the same street. The customer demographics is radically different as is the attitude within the store. The other dealer serves an overwhelmingly pro market and has rapidly made Festool the centerpiece of their store. They are doing very well and are constantly upgrading their knowledge of the line. For them, the Festool line may very well be critical to their survival, as they get bent over trying to compete with the borgs on their other lines, such as Bosch, Porter-Cable and Makita.

OTOH, I was in the Rockler store two days ago and commented to a clerk about them picking up the Festool line, "Great stuff!!" I said. He acted like he didn't even hear me. Oh, well. I am guessing, in their case, the vaunted Festool dust collection will manifest itself on the tools themselves as they set on the wall untouched.

 

[HowardH]

They do carry some pretty good equipment (Powermatic, Jet, Delta) over there and some of the ee's are moonlighting cabinet makers so I'm a bit puzzled at the lack of enthusiasm.  Maybe I should make a few domidrawers and bring them down there for them to see! 

 

[bolson]

Woodcraft isn't much better and my woodcraft store is actually a pretty good store with lots of knowledge.  They basically didn't have a clue about any of my Domino questions, Vacuum questions nor Saw/MFT questions. 

I guess this is part of the Festool model that you go with the dealer that gives you the service.

 

[Bob Childress]

Our Woodcraft is about the same as far as Festo knowledge, but they are getting better. I think picking up a line like Festool with little or no training for ee's is a recipe for sluggish sales. I am constantly amazed at the tradies who do not know about Festo, let alone the rest of the market. 

 

[woodshopdemos]

I am the exception. My Woodcraft store (RI) is excellent and has a sales crew that do pretty well demoing the goods.

 

[Trevor H]

I came from a lets build the house and buy new tools on the next job type of mentality until it came to having to do intricate wood working. Now i can't get away from the Festool line. The folks in this area complain about prices but once you put it in their hands they go nuts. I know a lot of guys that buy 3-5 (yellow tool) batteries in one year.  Thats almost the equivalent, if not more than buying the c-12 or the TDK and having the security of the warranty.

Hopefully more people out there can get todays younger generation to appreciate fine woodworking and good tools like the generations that came before mine. Time is money and Festool saves me a little of both!

I have only worked with Festool for a couple of years now. But I can assure you I am going to Festool training!

 

[bruegf]

The Woodcraft Festool dealer in Merrillville IN is very knowledgable and helpful. 

Fred

 

[Dave Rudy]

It seems to me I've read a lot of posts about internet vs brick and mortar.  The real advantages of brick and mortar (and the reason I frequently --too frequently!) shop at Woodcraft is technical knowledge, help solving problems, etc (all of which you may generally lump as "support").

I have bought some Festool and still buy some accessories at Woodcraft, and I really like the guys at my local store.  But ironically, it is not the brick and mortar where the best customer support is but online.  Bob Marino is always available to answer questions by phone, accessible by email, works hard to deliver under the best circumstances, and is probably as knowledgeable as anyone on the planet about the tools, accessories, what goes together, what application is best served by what, etc.  So the support is better online not to mention that the shipping is always free (because I always buy so much stuff) and I save the tax (adds up considerably).  What am I missing?  Why would I go to Rockler (even if there was one next door to my house) to buy Festool?? Why pay more money for the same tool at brick and mortar with less support?

Dave

 

[bruegf]

The only reason I went to Woodcraft is that I wanted to inspect and try out the tools, especially the first couple Festools I bought.  I needed to actually see them and try them because I was still not entirely sure they would be worth the cost and that DC was a good as claimed.  After using the time and expertise of the Woodcraft dealer I would not have felt right to leave and then buy online even though I would save money.

Fred

 

[Tinker]

I bought my first FESTO tools, not for their price.  Rather i saw immediately the advantages of the entire line working together as a system. that was what Festool has pushed as long as i have been interrested. 

I do buy a lot of things from Rockler, but I do not see them as a great outlet for the Festool system.  I find myself looking in their catalogues when i want something that i may not need too often and do not want to spend a lot of money (more like very little)  They have a lot of hardware items that i cannot find anywhere else without a lot of research, but their sales of tools seems to be least expensive.  i bought one of their router raisers and discovered their deal with the manufacturer was a whole lot like sears.  Redesign so replacement parts must be bought thru Rockler.  I ran into problems with upgrading that i won't go into here.  I am sure they would not be able to work something like that with Festool, but i can believe the reluctance to push the line.  when buying good tools that need to be depended upon day by day, I found out a looooonnnnggg time ago that "Cheep ain't cheap." 
Tinker