So, 8000 dealers wasn't enough, huh?
Good ole Stihl has done it again, despite how they will try to spin this to some of my Stihl dealer friends. The way I read this, Stihl will pretty much be in every John Deere store. (I could be wrong) Yes, they are already in many of them, but there will be MANY instances where an existing Stihl dealer will now be crowded by having the line in a nearby Deere store. I can think of a few in my area that will be none too pleased about this. And they will have the whole line in there too, not just a handfull of SKU's as we have with Husky in TSC or Lowes.
Another thing I wonder is if the Deere dealers will be ordering from Stihl or from Deere.
Dealer loyal my arse. What a scam.
No scam my friend. If you look closely at what John Deere is saying its obvious whats going on. John Deere is getting rid of all small power equipment that bares their name but made for them. Other words they are getting rid of the junk and have decided to carry Stihl as they're preferred supplier of small power equipment. The big differance is the product will carry the Stihl name, not the John Deere name. This is a win win for Stihl all the way. Read the fine print from John Deere:
For over 170 years, John Deere has remained committed to providing its customers an exemplary experience in the form of durable, high-quality products and service solutions," said Bob Barbour, Group Director, Marketing Operations and Customer Support for the Worldwide Commercial & Consumer Equipment Division. "Partnering with STIHL, a recognized brand that shares a proven quality record within the powered handheld equipment industry, enables us to provide our customers a complete portfolio of outdoor product solutions."
The existing John Deere-branded handheld power equipment will soon be substituted with the STIHL portfolio at qualifying John Deere servicing dealers across North America. Barbour said, "This decision will enable us to better support growth strategies and offer our customers an industry leading brand of property owner and commercial grade portable power products." Joint marketing efforts will take place between John Deere and STIHL to increase awareness of both brands' product offerings at
qualifying John Deere dealer locations.
It appears Stihl has knocked out the previous makers of JD small power equipment in one swift punch. Looks like they have knocked out other brands of small power equipment from other makers sold at JD dealers as well and gained a huge network of JD dealers.
Seeing how JD is removing all their brand name small power equipment and replacing it with the Stihl line up it appears JD was the one looking for a better product line to sell. They chose Stihl and if you were Stihl you would have to see this as a sweetheart deal.
Note too both Stihl and JD are saying the Stihl line up will be at
qualifying JD dealers. Seems Stihl is well aware of the point your making Spike. Qualifying means some JD dealers will not get the Stihl line up. Most likely due to some big Stihl dealer located too close to the JD dealer.
We have a JD dealer about 11 miles from us. They carry Echo. I assume they will go Sthil now and Echo is out the door since Stihl will be JD's perferred brand of small power equipment now. Should be interesting to see how the other manufactures react to this partnership.