Woodcraft in Libertyville Illinois going out of business.

Yes, so they've got a few tools on display at discount but not many. And all consumables are 20% off. In store pickup only. Wish I lived in the Chicago area.
 
I talked to a store employee yesterday. They just never had enough volume of sales in this store to keep it going.
This leaves Rockler out in Schuamburg with the closing of Woodcraft in Libertyville unless you want to drive to Wood Ridge for something.  I will miss being able to look something over in the store in person instead of just on-line shopping.  [sad]
 
Berlands and Wood World are both excellent Festool dealers still in Chicagoland.  Woodwerks as well.

The move from Palatine to Libertyville plus the financial crisis did Woodcraft in.  They had a really good staff but no store traffic.

No doubt Lowes, Home Depot and Amazon and other online resources put pressure on establishing a new and inconvenient location as well.

Neil
 
neilc said:
Berlands and Wood World are both excellent Festool dealers still in Chicagoland. 

Agreed, and I'd like to add that the Woodcraft in Woodridge is great as well.  Chip at Wood World and Karl at Woodcraft are extremely knowledgeable about the entire Festool line and very responsive to customers.  Top notch!
 
It is sad to hear or a good retailer or supplier going out of business. As small businesses, the owners and employees depend heavily on in store sales to stay in business. If you feel their knowledge and help is important please support them, even if there is a small increase in price or longer delivery time, because without the local sales these businesses will close and you will end up ordering from a minimum wage call center rep who may have no idea about what products you need. They may also be a good source or a referral source for local jobs that you can provide. I think you will find many of the employees are more knowledgeable about high end tools, finishes, and exotic woods than most of the local big box store employees.

If you want to keep these type of businesses in your neighborhood please support them even if you can order from home it is more helpful to the neighborhood franchise or sales point to place the oder there directly, by phone, or email. Also encourage others to support the local brick and mortar store. The staff will be grateful for the support.
 
Agree with the comments about other Festool dealers, but my main concern was losing all the OTHER brands that Woodcraft stocked in addition to whatever Festool products they had on display. It was very helpful to have store displays of competing products from Jet, Delta, Powermatic etc that allowed me to make in-person comparisions instead of just relying internet comments and posts.
Actually, I almost never bought anything Festool from either Rockler or Woodcraft since my dealer is 5 minutes from my house. [embarassed]
So in that respect, they aren't losing any money from me.
 
I think it's a good thing that they're 6+ hours away. Otherwise it could be hazardous to my wallet.

[eek]

As it is I picked up a 10' Rail at 7 Corners last week for 10% off. That coupled to my 8' Holey Rail made a nice rail for trimming off the edge of a beam I made for my shop. It was ALMOST long enough - the beam is just over 20' long.

If they still have a 16' foot rail when they get to 40% off I may just have to pick one up. Wouldn't that be sweet?
 
Wow - yeah I heard 7 Corners was going out of business.  Never made it to the store but always heard it was an excellent hardware and tool store.

neil
 
neilc said:
Wow - yeah I heard 7 Corners was going out of business.  Never made it to the store but always heard it was an excellent hardware and tool store.

neil
. I bought some stuff from them on-line right after talking to Chip at Wood World that they were closing.
The only real bear is that you have no way of telling what is still in stock until after you place your order, as there doesn't seem to be any inventory count until they inform you what they can't ship.
None of the minor items I tried to order went through. Already gone.

 
This is the 3rd Woodcraft I have heard about in the last few years. Fort Wayne, IN lost their and one in Tennessee closed.

Sad to hear whenever a good local franchise or personal business closes.

Those in Chicago should just move to Atlanta! only a few inches of snow which shuts the city down and allows for a few extra days of work...err woodworking. Woodcraft here is the best in the nation: carries Lee Nielsen, Brese, Benchcrafted, Vesper, Knew Concepts. And you can not beat Highland Hardware.
 
ShawnRussell said:
This is the 3rd Woodcraft I have heard about in the last few years. Fort Wayne, IN lost their and one in Tennessee closed.

Sad to hear whenever a good local franchise or personal business closes.

Those in Chicago should just move to Atlanta! only a few inches of snow which shuts the city down and allows for a few extra days of work...err woodworking. Woodcraft here is the best in the nation: carries Lee Nielsen, Brese, Benchcrafted, Vesper, Knew Concepts. And you can not beat Highland Hardware.
  yeahhhh, Rub it in Shawn.... You have Highland Hardware minutes away..... [mad] [mad] [mad]  [wink] [wink] [wink]
  Probably better on my budget that I DON'T live near them.. [scared]
 
So I made it to the store this morning . Aside from some assorted accessories and abrasives, the real tool left was a Planex and its auto- Vac as a package deal that I think was 15% off as noted by someone with a better memory than me [ [big grin]]. Several Maxi-Systainers with Planex Abrasives stocked in them.
Too bad I didn't have a spare $1800 for the Planex Combo which included the harness that you wear for taller ceilings and  5 packs of abrasives. [tongue]
Bought lots of small items. They still had a Powermatic Drill Press sitting up front, along with some other machines that were of mixed manufs.
Wished Bob and John for better times and a job somewhere, and walked out of packed store.
 
leakyroof said:
neilc said:
Wow - yeah I heard 7 Corners was going out of business.
. The only real bear is that you have no way of telling what is still in stock until after you place your order, as there doesn't seem to be any inventory count until they inform you what they can't ship.

Items are now disappearing from the website when they are no longer available. I'm not sure how quickly they update - since their system is all manual - but I do know I got the last 10' rail that they had. They still had a number of 55" rails on the floor when I was last there, but I don't know if any were Holey Rails as I didn't look.
 
Well I stopped up there on Sat night around 4 and there was not much left for festool stuff some sand paper and the planex deal with the vac it was 15% off from what I remember.

Also, picked up some blades for my carvex, will never need any more after today, found 2 maxi systainers always nice. Also picked up a circle cutter and base set for the carvex as well.

Not too bad. Store closing are always sad for me and the people seemed really nice.
Wish all of them luck

PS John was really nice.
 
I was  there at 3:00. Picked up bunch of stuff 50% off. Also got a new in the box circle cutting jig OF-FZ 1300 that was discontinued in 2005 for $6.99. Had a price tag of $195 on it! Fits my OF 1010 so now I can toss my shop made one out.
 
foxvalley63 said:
I was  there at 3:00. Picked up bunch of stuff 50% off. Also got a new in the box circle cutting jig OF-FZ 1300 that was discontinued in 2005 for $6.99. Had a price tag of $195 on it! Fits my OF 1010 so now I can toss my shop made one out.
. Do you have a picture??!!  I'll have to look up that part number in the meantime.
 
Stopped by today, and there wasn't much left...pretty much down to the bare walls.  Prices on everything were cut to 75% off, so I picked up the last couple of boxes of paper (90mm Granat) that they had.

If you don't live in the immediate area, I wouldn't recommend going.

 
promark747 said:
Stopped by today, and there wasn't much left...pretty much down to the bare walls.  Prices on everything were cut to 75% off, so I picked up the last couple of boxes of paper (90mm Granat) that they had.

If you don't live in the immediate area, I wouldn't recommend going.
  I called again on the Planex Package, they weren't going any lower, so I passed on it.  Can't blame them, 15% WAS better than list at any rate. I think with tax it would have been $1940 or so out the door, if I got the tax rate right for that area.
 
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