Makita taking over Dolmar brand in the USA

[bwalker]

Absolutely NOT! Why should they pay for a multimillion dollar brand recognition sheme when they can get the same for free!

Sorry a little late for your question, but to make it quick, NO Stihl and Husqvarna are the same dominent players here(1.Stihl and 2. Husqvarna), as far as I oversee it, in the german speaking Europe.
Since Solo was sold to Alko no one that I am aware of has seen new developments, although there are numerous rumors out there.
Dolmar is over here THE brand with by far the highest price/value. In the german forums I frequent Dolmar is about always one of the number one recomended brand for the average firewood guy. So slowly but surely I believe that something is going to change. As far as the distrubution network, it is the same as in the US. Everything is slowly but consistently being changed over to Makita. For me, I couldn't care less. Actually I prefer having Makita headquaters Austria in my town. Make's getting spare parts much easier...
Echo, Efco or Hitachi are almost non existent for the average user, pretty much the same as in the US. Echo doesn't have the 490 or 590 models here available for a similar price point as in the US so no chance in making a dent in the market. For Efco / Oleo Mac I can get everything I need across the boarder or from dealers I know from a german forum without any problem. Hitachi / Tanaka also has their headquaters in my hometown, so again not anything to worry about...

What has showing of problems to do with being a fan boy? With this argumentation it should be clear that your constant critisicm, after your negativ experience of not being able to aquire the correct spare part, obviously shows you are a fan boy of some other brand...

Not sure but do you believe that the cat might have something to do with it? Saws running under high load should heat up the cat pretty much. No idea if that heat has any impact on the rest of the saw.

7

Makita has nearly zero brand recognition as it pertains to OPE.
What makes it a fan boy post is we are talking about Dolmar and the person in question brings up Stihl to deflect criticism.

 

[Philbert]

Nut shell- Dolmar doesn't sell well anywhere. Won't change with Makita rebrand.

Can't sell them if they don't market them.

Philbert

 

[bwalker]

Can't sell them if they don't market them.

Philbert

Right.
Dolmar would be smart to mimic Stihl's marketing. They are very good at it.

 

[Justsaws]

I used see way more Makita chainsaws and MPS saws than Dolmar in the central Ohio area. The main reason was availiblity, now I see almost none of each. Still see more used Makita saws than new Dolmars, most the folks that we're getting the Makita MPS switch to Husqvarnas when the retail sources of Makita went away.

Most of the large tool dealers were Husqvarna dealers but stocked the Makita line as well, might as well have the drills,hammers and saws all be blue. If Makita did it right Husqvarna would lose a great deal of the contractor market for MPS and chainsaw. Stihl has the brand loyalty, not so much with Husqvarna.

Dolmar make a ring saw?

 

[fordf150]

What makes it a fan boy post is we are talking about Dolmar and the person in question brings up Stihl to deflect criticism.

 

[Justsaws]

Are the Wacker brand of MPS still Dolmars? Is that going to continue?

 

[7sleeper]

Just incase someone like me doesn't know what OPE & MPS means, I looked it up.

OPE Outdoor Power Equipment
OPE Offre Publique d'Echange
OPE Operator Product Expansion
OPE Overseas Processing Entity
OPE One Pion Exchange
OPE Other People's Experience
OPE Out of Pocket Expense
OPE Other Payroll Expenses (accounting)
OPE Optical Proximity Effect
OPE Other Plant Equipment
OPE Overall Production Efficiency
OPE Operational Preparation of the Environment
OPE Orange Park Elementary (Orange Park, FL)
OPE Outside Plant Engineer (various companies)
OPE Open-Point Expanding
OPE Office of Procurement Executive
OPE Oregon, Pacific, and Eastern Railway Company
OPE ORU Protective Enclosure
OPE Outdoor Product Exchange
OPE Office of Physical Education
OPE One Person Enterprise (business designation)
OPE Office of Performance and Evaluation (Idaho)
OPE Open Pulmonary Embolectomy
OPE Office of Personnel
OPE Office of Planning and Evaluation
OPE Office of Postsecondary Education (Department of Education)
OPE Operational Planning Element
OPE Oshkosh Placement Exchange (University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh)

MPS Metropolitan Police Service (London)
MPS Milwaukee Public Schools (Wisconsin)
MPS Minneapolis Public Schools (school district; Minnesota)
MPS Medical Protection Society
MPS Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena (Italian bank)
MPS Meters Per Second
MPS Master of Professional Studies (degree)
MPS Microsoft Provisioning System
MPS Master Production Schedule
MPS Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
MPS Mucopolysaccharidosis (enzymatic disorder)
MPS Myofascial Pain Syndrome
MPS Mesa Public Schools
MPS Managed Print Service
MPS Mazda Performance Series
MPS Ministry of Public Security (People's Republic of China)
MPS Mail Preference Service
MPS Metaframe Presentation Server (Citrix Systems, Inc.)
MPS Megabits Per Second
MPS Microsoft Product Support (reporting tool used to report diagnosis information)
MPS MPOA (Multiple Protocol Over ATM) Server
MPS Mathematical Programming Society
MPS MicroProse (game company)
MPS Miles Per Second
MPS Making Pregnancy Safer
MPS Mission Planning System (US Air Force)
MPS Marginal Propensity to Save
MPS Main Propulsion System
MPS Patriotic Salvation Movement (Chad)
MPS Military Postal Service
MPS Mobile Positioning System (Ericsson)
MPS Muscle Protein Synthesis
MPS Macular Photocoagulation Study
MPS Mercury Payment Systems
MPS Maritime Prepositioning Ship
MPS Mononuclear Phagocytic System
MPS Mitsubishi Power Systems (Lake Mary, FL)
MPS Mathematical Programming System
MPS Multi-Processor Specification
MPS Mittelpunktschule (Germany)
MPS Material Product System
MPS Machine Protection System
MPS Motion Picture Studio (Pentax)
MPS Motivating Potential Score
MPS Minimum Passing Score
MPS Multiple Personality Syndrome
MPS Message Passing System
MPS Manual Pull Station (fire alarm)
MPS Mean People Suck
MPS Message Processing System
MPS Myocardial Perfusion Scan
MPS Minimum Performance Specification
MPS Mission Planning Station
MPS Malmin Palloseura (Football Club in Helsinki, Finland)
MPS Microsoft Proxy Server
MPS Member of the Pharmaceutical Society (UK; now called the Royal Pharmaceutical Society)
MPS Mission Planning Software
MPS Majlis Perbandaran Seremban (Serembian Municipal Council, Malaysia)
MPS Medium Pressure Steam
MPS Merit Pay System
MPS Main Producing (Sub)system
MPS Myocardial Perfusion Study (cardiology)
MPS Miss-Path Scheduling
MPS Midwest Payment Systems
MPS Most Probable Symbol (statistics/ probability theory)
MPS Mechanized Propulsion Systems
MPS Mobile Personal Server
MPS Merged PIN/Schottky (semiconductor junction structure)
MPS Multi-Page Signal
MPS Mayflower Primary School (Singapore)
MPS Meridian Project Systems, Inc.
MPS McPherson Struts
MPS Modular Production Systems
MPS Master Program Schedule
MPS Medical Products Sales (journal)
MPS Magnet-Physik Dr. Steingroever GmbH (Cologne, Germany)
MPS Maheshwari Public School (Jaipur, India)
MPS Musicians Placement Service
MPS Multiple Protective Structure
MPS Modular Power Subsystem
MPS Meridian Primary School (Singapore)
MPS Mission Planning Subsystem
MPS Macpherson Primary School (Singapore)
MPS Multiple Parallel Synthesis
MPS Message Processing Subsystem
MPS Maritime Pre-positioned Ships
MPS Malvern Preparatory School (Pennsylvania)
MPS Maritime Prepositioned Squadron
MPS Multipurpose Ship
MPS Modular Printing System
MPS Marsiling Primary School (Singapore)
MPS Multi-Phase System
MPS Multi Program Support
MPS Mobile Profiler System
MPS Mild Plow Steel
MPS Mission Payload Subsystem
MPS malaria parasite smear
MPS Machining Prediction System (Boeing)
MPS Medical Practitioners Survey (Australia)
MPS Microwave Pressure Sounder
MPS Materials Procurement System
MPS Modeling and Planning System
MPS Medex Practice Solutions, Inc (Oakdale, CA)
MPS Master Process Sheet
MPS Mono Pulse System
MPS Mounting Point Standard (LANTIRN)
MPS Map Planning System
MPS Mission Planning Shelter
MPS Major Partial Sum
MPS Modernized Production System
MPS Material/Materiel Planning Study
MPS Medicaid Program Specialist
MPS Matson Photo Service
MPS Master Propagation System
MPS Material Pull System
MPS Mobilization Planning Schedule
MPS Monster Power Sports (online)
MPS Menston Primary School (UK)
MPS Model Publication Scheme (education; UK)
MPS Medical Professional Services, Inc. (Middletown, CT)
MPS Merchant Processing Service
MPS Member of the Professional Staff
MPS Merchant Payment Solutions (Costa Mesa, CA)
MPS Montgomery Public Schools (various locations)
MPS Master in Political Science (Indira Gandhi National Open University; India)
MPS Matrix Product State (physics)
MPS Managed Portfolio Service
MPS Multicultural Programs and Services (various locations)
MPS Media Publishing System
MPS Mathematical & Physical Sciences (various organizations)
MPS Maximum Packet Size (computing)
MPS MacLean Power Systems (various locations)
MPS Master of Public Service
MPS Microphone Power Supply

Hope it helps someone more than me...

7

 

[fordf150]

Are the Wacker brand of MPS still Dolmars? Is that going to continue?

The last new Wacker saws I seen weren't dolmar but I didn't look closely enough to see who did make them. Rental place said they were making their own now but I find that hard to believe

 

[Philbert]

Just incase someone like me doesn't know what OPE & MPS means, I looked it up.

Also, here on A.S.:

'OPE' = 'Original Poster Exited'. (we scared another guy away by drifting so far away from the original topic).

'MPS' = 'Must Post Sarcasm' (breaks the monotony of oil threads). I have no idea what it means in this thread.

Philbert

 

[Justsaws]

The last new Wacker saws I seen weren't dolmar but I didn't look closely enough to see who did make them. Rental place said they were making their own now but I find that hard to believe

Thanks, would be surprising if they were making there own.

MPS= multiple purpose saw, portable solid disc cutoff saw. Everybody probably just calls them cutoff saws these day, that would have brought out a power head attached to a base with a clamp by a pivot, which if a person was asking for a MPS would have resulted in yet another trip to the truck. Makita sold a nice 14" cutoff saw as well.

 

[Chris J.]

For folks who use power tools quite a bit, seeing the Makita name on a chainsaw might influence them to buy it. For chainsaw folks, not so much (but it's not like chainsaw guys are buying a lot of Dolmar branded saws, either).

If the above is accurate, using the Makita name might help sales in box stores and tool shops, but not in shops catering to sawyers.

---------------

MPS--Must Post Syndrome. It hits all of us at one time or another.

 

[opinion]

For folks who use power tools quite a bit, seeing the Makita name on a chainsaw might influence them to buy it. For chainsaw folks, not so much (but it's not like chainsaw guys are buying a lot of Dolmar branded saws, either).

If the above is accurate, using the Makita name might help sales in box stores and tool shops, but not in shops catering to sawyers..

I doubt it. Makita is in Sears and Home Depot. The people that want a chain saw from a box store will either get a Husqvarna or Echo. People that are familiar with Makita for power tools will generally only use them for that. Same goes for chain saws, most will seek a Stihl or Husky, for line trimmers, another brand and so on. Whatever the brand is known for is what customers seek out. Makita OPE has been in box stores and independent dealerships and can't make a dent. They may as well get out of the OPE industry altogether.

 

[Justsaws]

The thing that will be curious is how far into the line they can convince retailers to stock products. If the string trimmers and blowers were availible like Echos and priced right then the bleed blue Makita fans would drop Echo like it was on fire. The problem being that the major retailer for both is Home Depot. The tool supply shops did not seem to do much with Echo but Makita was huge in all of them, however they will be reluctant to give up display space for string trimmers.

There are a lot of serious Makita loyal customers in the contractor world, I always enjoyed the lunch time debate between Makita and Milwaukee nuts, eventually somebody would mention Dewalt and everybody would have a good laugh. Sound familiar.

 

[fordf150]

Idk how it will play out but do think there is allot of potential in the makita changeover. The added marketing of makita brand should increase sales for the individual dealers. I doubt the box retailers will be much interested in adding space for chainsaws and such simply because home depot has had them this whole time and didnt see the need to try retailing them

 

[tallguys]

Makita has owned Dolmar since the early 1990's and for whatever reason has not opened their purse strings for proper marketing.
I just think they would've done better having done so rather than spending all this effort and money on re-branding.

 

[Justsaws]

Idk how it will play out but do think there is allot of potential in the makita changeover. The added marketing of makita brand should increase sales for the individual dealers. I doubt the box retailers will be much interested in adding space for chainsaws and such simply because home depot has had them this whole time and didnt see the need to try retailing them

It could work out very well, it could open up a huge market if they introduce the full line to the huge market, but they got to be blue and scream Makita.

Editing to add that I did read that the saws will be marketed in Dolmar red with the Makita name. That is a mistake, it will work about as well as the yellow tools that were branded Makita. Odd thing about branded customers, they like one name one color, it matches the free hats and the stickers on the trucks. They do not like having to explain why their Makita is somebody else's color and constantly having to correct people that call them Husqvarnas.

 

[Philbert]

I doubt it. Makita is in Sears and Home Depot. . . .Makita OPE has been in box stores and independent dealerships and can't make a dent.

HD will sell you a Makita chainsaw, if you already know that, and if you beat it out of them. They sell Ryobi, Homelite, and ECHO in their lawn and garden aisles. That is not the same as marketing them. I only really knew about Makita chainsaws from seeing them in the Home Depot rental departments.

I don't think that Home Depot, Sears, Lowes, etc., sees a 6400, 7900 series saw as a profitable position, and they certainly don't want to support those saws with accessible parts and service. If they did, they could already be stocking commercial Makita, Husqvarna, Poulan, and ECHO models on their shelves. They have 'dumbed down' a lot of their professional tool offerings in all categories, and some MBAs figured out how to make more money selling mid to lower priced tools. I almost puked when I saw what has been done to the 'Porter-Cable' and 'Delta' brands on a recent visit to Lowes.

Makita has a strong name recognition within the professional contractor community, and strong international sales in those markets. Around here, I see their professional tools sold in those outlets, and their consumer grade stuff in hardware stores and home centers. They chose, several years ago, to close up their network of factory service centers around the country, an focus on a different business model.

If they would provide strong dealer support, brands like Makita/Dolmar would provide a strong option for customers and independent dealers looking for an alternative to the STIHL and Husqvarna brands. Their reputation among guys on this site, who are pretty fussy, is that they are a durable saw and a good value. So, I see Makita competing more against ECHO (also in HD!), and creeping up on STIHL and Husqvarna, rather than taking the latter 2 head-on.

Philbert

Makita . . . for whatever reason has not opened their purse strings for proper marketing.
I just think they would've done better having done so rather than spending all this effort and money on re-branding.

Same thing with Husqvarna and Jonsered. Somebody just was not interested.

 

[Justsaws]

Makita has owned Dolmar since the early 1990's and for whatever reason has not opened their purse strings for proper marketing.
I just think they would've done better having done so rather than spending all this effort and money on re-branding.

Perhaps as part of the original contract Dolmar was allowed to survive and see if it could thrive under it's own name. Why would Makita pay to advertise a product under someone else's name? They are all about the blue.

In some circles that buy loooooots of tools the name Atlas Copco is way more familiar than Dolmar, Makita is a gold label name in those circles. AC air/petrol/hydro breakers and Stihl/Husqvarna saws/blowers, Makita electrics. Get a full line of Makita branded petrol equipment easily availible and start chipping away at Stihl and Husqvarna. They key being that the tools have to be off the shelf easily availible. Nobody's driving 45 minutes each way to purchase a $1000.00 saw, a $5000.00 breaker, yes and while they are there they will grab a $1000.00 saw or 5, depending on how bad the day started.

If it is a planned in advance purchase it is getting delivered because it was ordered online, Hello Makita. Not so much with Stihl and Husqvarna, although Husq is much easier.

 

[tallguys]

P Why would Makita pay to advertise a product under someone else's name? They are all about the blue.

Why? Only for that company to succeed and therefore make more money for whoever owns it, which in this case is Makita.

 

[Justsaws]

Why? Only for that company to succeed and therefore make more money for whoever owns it, which in this case is Makita.

Yeah, in the land of unicorns and pixies maybe. Personally I would rather guess it to be the a case of allow them to float on their own if they can until this contract expires and then brand them as Makita. If they are sticking with red for a few production runs then they are being very polite in my mind. It seems to be taking along time to turn blue. Perhaps a preferential bow to exsisting dealers and loyal customers. Which is better than a typical "eat this" shift in branding.

I do not know, just surprised that Makita was willing to wait to unify the US market under one name, one color. They have been competing with themselves and spending extra money to do it this whole freaking time, not very Makitaish.