Stihl now at JD Dealers

[wkpoor]

Went in yesterday to get oil and filters for the 5400 and noticed a nice big Stihl display. I asked when they got that and they said its only been in the store 3wks. Stihl definitely has the biggest dealer network. Question is who at a tractor dealer would know how to work on that product or do they send there mechs to school? With as many Stihl dealers as there is around I would have thought either Husky or Dolmar would have tried to get in their door. In fact we just lost our local Husky dealer. That would been a good place to add them back to the area.

 

[Lakeside53]

Each JD dealer has to qualify independently, and part of that is tech training..


Yep... Would have been a great move for Dolmar or Husky, but... you snooze you loose...

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

John Deere dealers do two things well and that's selling you a John Deere and charging you a pile of money to service that John Deere.
They charge 90$ an hour when local shop rate is 60$ an hour. Previous to this deal with Stihl most of local JD dealers sold Echo products and continue to sell Troy Bilt and Scag. In general they do a poor job with anything that isn't green and yellow, and doubt they will do much with Stihl at least with the JD local dealers. .

 

[jorge016]

JD Dealer Prices

Our local JD dealer recently got his Stihl display up and stocked. With a blizzard looming I ran in to get some tractor parts and noticed the display. I grabbed some oil, a spare 16" chain and a 3 pack of files and headed home without looking at prices. Prices were high-compared to another local Stihl dealer, 6 pack of Stihl oil was $4 higher, Chain $8 higher, and get this a 3 pack of files was $39. I brought the files back-they thought it was a pricing error. I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with other Stihl dealers and let my JD dealer do what he does best-keep my green and yellow machines running.

 

[wkpoor]

I didn't take into consideration that maybe Sithl had deep enough pockets to get in there. Hard to tell what the arrangement might be there and who paid who for that to come together. JD Equipment has 5 big fancy showroom stores in central Ohio and might actually have charged Stihl for the floor place rather than the way it is usually done the other way around.

 

[csx7006]

I have a feeling that this will be another Homelite issue

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

This whole arrangement comes down to longevity and the future of the Stihl company.
The average age of your local OPE dealership owner is over 50 years old, and many are sole proprietors with less than 5 employees.
So Stihl took a look 10 years down the line when these owners are 60+ years old they will want to either retire or sell their dealerships.
What they found was there is very few people of my age bracket 20-30's coming into the industry, and in 5-10 years there is a strong
likelihood that a lot of the current dealerships will going out of business.
And I have to agree with what Stihl found, at dealer meetings and engine updates schools, almost no one is under 40. Of the 20-30
dealers in the Rochester area, there are 2 people turning a wrench, selling, equipment, or working in anyway in dealerships under 35 myself included.
So Stihl in order to secure their future, they realized that most JD dealers on average are larger more financially secure than your average mom and pop OPE dealership.
And in order to secure their future both companies have been in talks for about 5 years to reach this point. Husky or Stihl were the only companies considered,
and Husky wouldn't let the JD dealers only carry hand held equipment so JD went with Stihl.

 

[THALL10326]

This whole arrangement comes down to longevity and the future of the Stihl company.
The average age of your local OPE dealership owner is over 50 years old, and many are sole proprietors with less than 5 employees.
So Stihl took a look 10 years down the line when these owners are 60+ years old they will want to either retire or sell their dealerships.
What they found was there is very few people of my age bracket 20-30's coming into the industry, and in 5-10 years there is a strong
likelihood that a lot of the current dealerships will going out of business.
And I have to agree with what Stihl found, at dealer meetings and engine updates schools, almost no one is under 40. Of the 20-30
dealers in the Rochester area, there are 2 people turning a wrench, selling, equipment, or working in anyway in dealerships under 35 myself included.
So Stihl in order to secure their future, they realized that most JD dealers on average are larger more financially secure than your average mom and pop OPE dealership.
And in order to secure their future both companies have been in talks for about 5 years to reach this point. Husky or Stihl were the only companies considered,
and Husky wouldn't let the JD dealers only carry hand held equipment so JD went with Stihl.

Good post. Seems Husky has a thing about wanting dealers to carry more than just their handheld power equipment. The two dealers near me dropped Husky over that. One of those dealers I know well and he said the man from Husky just walked in one morning and said you will have to carry our mower line to keep our handheld products. This dealer sold Husky for over 20years. Long story short he told the rep to get a truck in there and load up his products and get em out of his store. They carry Stihl now.

Samething happened at the other dealer I knew nearby. Same deal, getem outta here, they carry Stihl now. Must be more profit margin in mowers and such than handheld power equipment...

 

[Paul001]

Good post. Seems Husky has a thing about wanting dealers to carry more than just their handheld power equipment. The two dealers near me dropped Husky over that. One of those dealers I know well and he said the man from Husky just walked in one morning and said you will have to carry our mower line to keep our handheld products. This dealer sold Husky for over 20years. Long story short he told the rep to get a truck in there and load up his products and get em out of his store. They carry Stihl now.

Samething happened at the other dealer I knew nearby. Same deal, getem outta here, they carry Stihl now. Must be more profit margin in mowers and such than handheld power equipment...

A number of years back I interviewed for a TM position with Husky. That is their corp position and it's not going to be changing anytime soon. Their feeling is they could put their saws in any corner gas station and it would do 50K per year in saw business...add to it their 10 year outlook puts the lawn mowers as a higher priority.

Hence the big box stores...

 

[THALL10326]

A number of years back I interviewed for a TM position with Husky. That is their corp position and it's not going to be changing anytime soon. Their feeling is they could put their saws in any corner gas station and it would do 50K per year in saw business...add to it their 10 year outlook puts the lawn mowers as a higher priority.

Hence the big box stores...

Thats something. What I found odd was the dealer I know well that carried the Husky handheld line for over 20 years and they sold a bunch of it. He told me the rep wasn't taking any of that into consideration as if to say that doesn't matter. He told me there were some fireworks going off in the place that morning,LOL

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

Good post. Seems Husky has a thing about wanting dealers to carry more than just their handheld power equipment. The two dealers near me dropped Husky over that. One of those dealers I know well and he said the man from Husky just walked in one morning and said you will have to carry our mower line to keep our handheld products. This dealer sold Husky for over 20years. Long story short he told the rep to get a truck in there and load up his products and get em out of his store. They carry Stihl now.

Samething happened at the other dealer I knew nearby. Same deal, getem outta here, they carry Stihl now. Must be more profit margin in mowers and such than handheld power equipment...

It's funny that Husky forces it's dealers to carry mowers, where Stihl won't import Viking mowers and power equipment to the states. I have people come in " I like my Stihl saw and blower do they make mowers?, Well yes they do but they're only sold in Europe and Australia."

 

[Austin1]

Good post. Seems Husky has a thing about wanting dealers to carry more than just their handheld power equipment. The two dealers near me dropped Husky over that. One of those dealers I know well and he said the man from Husky just walked in one morning and said you will have to carry our mower line to keep our handheld products. This dealer sold Husky for over 20years. Long story short he told the rep to get a truck in there and load up his products and get em out of his store. They carry Stihl now.

Samething happened at the other dealer I knew nearby. Same deal, getem outta here, they carry Stihl now. Must be more profit margin in mowers and such than handheld power equipment...

It's true! that's why My dealer went to nothing but Jred according to him. But then Jreds are the most sexy saw's made so I don't mind! Now if you served a glass of Brandy to customs I might reconsider!
Funny since Jred is owned by Husky but I guess they don't have Jred labeled mowers?

 

[flxblx]

I have a feeling that this will be another Homelite issue

:agree2: :agree2: :agree2:

 

[THALL10326]

It's true! that's why My dealer went to nothing but Jred according to him. But then Jreds are the most sexy saw's made so I don't mind! Now if you served a glass of Brandy to customs I might reconsider!
Funny since Jred is owned by Husky but I guess they don't have Jred labeled mowers?

J'red isn't owned by Husky, J'red is a Husky with a different paint scheme and different handle bar. I think they are a better looking saw than the solid orange Husky but beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

Tant serving no Brandy, pepsi or coffee only. If that doesn't work I got a ball bat in the back room for those buyers that aren't buying, they will,LOL

 

[pickwood]

Our local JD dealer sells Husky and Sthil. Husky took away the dealership from my old dealer because they did not want to sell Husky mowers- they wanted Toro mowers and will be expanding the Jonsered line of saws. They can still get Husky parts for now and I continue business with them.

 

[THALL10326]

Our local JD dealer sells Husky and Sthil. Husky took away the dealership from my old dealer because they did not want to sell Husky mowers- they wanted Toro mowers and will be expanding the Jonsered line of saws. They can still get Husky parts for now and I continue business with them.

Welp I just don't understand it. I mean lets do the math. Ya take a dealer selling say 100,000 worth of Husky handheld power equipment and they walk in and say nope, we don't care, you sell our other stuff or else. I guess that 100,000 is pocket change to them.

Seems to me if they want to sell those mowers so bad they would give those dealers a few and see if they could move them instead of forcing them to carry them. Something like a trial, if you can't sell it we'll come get it.

My Stihl rep came in during the summer with a new 880 saw on his truck. He goes ya wanna do me a favor. I said whats that. He goes see if you can sell this thing. I said where'd ya get it. He goes from a dealer that couldn't sell it. He goes I won't bill you for it untill you call me and tell me you have sold it. I said fair enuff. Sold it a month later. Called him, he billed me for it and all was done. Seems Husky could do the same with those mowers..

 

[taplinhill]

Nothing better than a smooth running Deere .

Looks like a smooth running Yanmar to me.



___________________

 

[Paul001]

Welp I just don't understand it. I mean lets do the math. Ya take a dealer selling say 100,000 worth of Husky handheld power equipment and they walk in and say nope, we don't care, you sell our other stuff or else. I guess that 100,000 is pocket change to them.

Seems to me if they want to sell those mowers so bad they would give those dealers a few and see if they could move them instead of forcing them to carry them. Something like a trial, if you can't sell it we'll come get it.

My Stihl rep came in during the summer with a new 880 saw on his truck. He goes ya wanna do me a favor. I said whats that. He goes see if you can sell this thing. I said where'd ya get it. He goes from a dealer that couldn't sell it. He goes I won't bill you for it untill you call me and tell me you have sold it. I said fair enuff. Sold it a month later. Called him, he billed me for it and all was done. Seems Husky could do the same with those mowers..

Actually I had a customer make a very astute observation last week. Something along the lines of "not sure there is room out there for two Stihl's". Honestly, that was the impression I got from Husky several years ago...they want to go in a totally different direction. The Walmart mentality if you, and based on who now owns them, I think we know where that mentality is coming from.

In the long run I guess the consumer will decide who was smarter. Does the consumer want cheap disposable units or do they want quality, service, and support. I'm honestly not sure which direction the average American will go.

 

[wkpoor]

This whole arrangement comes down to longevity and the future of the Stihl company.
The average age of your local OPE dealership owner is over 50 years old, and many are sole proprietors with less than 5 employees.
So Stihl took a look 10 years down the line when these owners are 60+ years old they will want to either retire or sell their dealerships.
What they found was there is very few people of my age bracket 20-30's coming into the industry, and in 5-10 years there is a strong
likelihood that a lot of the current dealerships will going out of business.
And I have to agree with what Stihl found, at dealer meetings and engine updates schools, almost no one is under 40. Of the 20-30
dealers in the Rochester area, there are 2 people turning a wrench, selling, equipment, or working in anyway in dealerships under 35 myself included.
So Stihl in order to secure their future, they realized that most JD dealers on average are larger more financially secure than your average mom and pop OPE dealership.
And in order to secure their future both companies have been in talks for about 5 years to reach this point. Husky or Stihl were the only companies considered,
and Husky wouldn't let the JD dealers only carry hand held equipment so JD went with Stihl.

Good post. As I see it the reason there aren't any 20-30 somethings starting new dealerships is easy.....its the start-up cost. No one can any longer afford to start such a business. The Husky dealer that went out near me said it would cost a 1/2MIL up front to get started. Now I may be dense but if I had a 1/2mil why would a blow it/risk on a chainsaw/mower business. I would just keep it and live happily ever after. All those old ma and pa shops started when things where priced right for the times. Then they made money in good times and got established. The whole climate for business has changed and those same very people who started years ago couldn't ford to all over again now if they had to...I'll bet. I would love to start up a small shop for hand held power equipment. Just ain't in my future.
One last thing...As for Husky selling mowers...they should stick to chainsaws. There are other companies out there that make quality mowers and that is there specialty.

 

[THALL10326]

Actually I had a customer make a very astute observation last week. Something along the lines of "not sure there is room out there for two Stihl's". Honestly, that was the impression I got from Husky several years ago...they want to go in a totally different direction. The Walmart mentality if you, and based on who now owns them, I think we know where that mentality is coming from.

In the long run I guess the consumer will decide who was smarter. Does the consumer want cheap disposable units or do they want quality, service, and support. I'm honestly not sure which direction the average American will go.

Who does own them now, I thought Elux cut them loose a few years ago. Do you mean stockholders now??