Another [Dolmar Dealer] bites the Dust

[mikefunaro]

Hope everyone's doing well. I think a lot of us are getting snow right now. Everyone in the North East at least.

Anyways, the last dolmar dealer in my area (Lebanon, NH) is closing its doors. There were originally three within about 20 miles, and now there are going to be none. They are liquidating their inventory at cost so there are some good deals and I am going to stop by when I have time (at least to get some mix and b&c oil), but I'm curious--is this happening elsewhere?

It was basically impossible to know that they were where they were...way down below a huge embankment so you couldn't see them from the road. Anytime I was in there they were not doing much business and it was mainly run by some woman who had no idea what she was talking about.

I realize that this is less than optimal for dealer success (between the location and the sales staff), however, have people seen more and more dolmar dealers closing? They have a twitter where they talk about all the new dealers they are opening...I'm wondering if the closing list is at about the same rate?

 

[showrguy]

business is tough everywhere.....really tough right now !!!!!!!

 

[Hedgerow]

business is tough everywhere.....really tough right now !!!!!!!

It IS tough!!! But something tells me chainsaw sales will be picking up in the coming year... "Call it a hunch"... We are supposed to have a Dolmar dealer open his door for business real close to me soon. When he does, I'll try to patronize his biz. as much as I can. We know they make a good product, now it's up to them to try and get back as much market share as they can when sales pick up. I hope they do well.

 

[JustinM]

In answer to the original question: i am not sure that Dolmar dealers specifically are being hit harder than anyone else - as someone else mentioned, its tough all over right now. Within a stones throw of my office i have seen 6 businesses close within the past 3 months.

Definitely the story you told about poor location & perhaps poorer sales staff wouldnt help this particular store, but I suspect that a good dealer who understands some basic marketing etc would have the same chance as anyone else. You could possibly argue that a dealer selling Stihl or Husky would have a better chance simply because the product is marketed better (and job-homeowner knows the name) but I still think Dolmar is well respected within the industry, and provides a quality product at a price-point the other 2 cant match. With proper business skills, a Dolmar dealer should be able to make a go for it the same way a Stihl does.

I still believe the 'requirements' to become a Dolmar dealer seem to be lower than the others (this is pure speculation based on my own experiences, mind you) so I wonder if the reason more Dolly dealers are going has something to do with this. Again, this is no slight on ANY good dolmar dealers (as there are some great ones out there) just an observation on some of the 'fringe' ones.

 

[mikefunaro]

JustinM, I guess I'm curious if they have a higher likelihood to drop the line because they are perhaps less qualified to begin with. Again, nothing against good dolmar dealers. It seems like a lot of them here have been like a side item for another shop (two other dealers were snowmobile and alternator shops), and they decide that it is more trouble than it is worth. It seems like most stihl/husky dealers who also sell dolmar decide sooner or later that the dolmar really isn't bringing them more sales, but rather just taking sales away that would otherwise have been stihl and husky sales.

 

[Guido Salvage]

I'm wondering if the closing list is at about the same rate?

Sorry to see a business close, but the first axiom is LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. If you can't see or find the business there is little chance of success. Add to that not having knowledgeable, caring staff and any enterprise is probably doomed.

Back to the closing rate list. Reminds me of the GEICO commercials where they tout how many people switched last year. Always made me wonder how many went out the door as I do not recall a big shift in market share.

There may be fewer barriers to entry with a less known brand, so you may end up with shop owners that are undercapitalized or lack business acumen. For example, the last time I checked you needed a net worth of $1.5M in order to be considered for a Harley dealership.

 

[WACutter]

.....have people seen more and more dolmar dealers closing? They have a twitter where they talk about all the new dealers they are opening...I'm wondering if the closing list is at about the same rate?

In Washington, two of my local Dolmar "dealers" have closed, with another staying open but dropping Dolmar. I believe that a number of things have contributed to their decline. Obviously, the economy has hit many businesses hard. Dolmar dealers that I've seen were mostly very small operations, and probably didn't have a lot of depth to withstand the downturn.

Second, Dolmar has had very large price increases, like 25-30% over the last 3 years. Here a 390XPW or MS460 is now cheaper than a 7900, and the 5100/5105 and MS261 are within $30 of each other; both of these are more than a 346XP. Dolmar's bang for the buck factor has gone done considerably. It is not exchange rates causing this either, as they have been in a fairly constant range over the last 3 or 4 years.

Third, what new saws have they brought out recently? What's going to replace the 7900 series?

If they want to stay in the market, they'll have to develop some newer saws and improve or completely change their channel marketing.

I vote for them to go internet sales! :soldier: Hook them up with Baileys and some large internet retailers, and try to gain market share that way. Let the flames begin!

 

[JustinM]

JustinM, I guess I'm curious if they have a higher likelihood to drop the line because they are perhaps less qualified to begin with. Again, nothing against good dolmar dealers. It seems like a lot of them here have been like a side item for another shop (two other dealers were snowmobile and alternator shops), and they decide that it is more trouble than it is worth. It seems like most stihl/husky dealers who also sell dolmar decide sooner or later that the dolmar really isn't bringing them more sales, but rather just taking sales away that would otherwise have been stihl and husky sales.

Indeed, I share your interest. The local dolmar dealer is frankly a hack-job and seems to know less about chainsaws than any dealer should. The specialize in large 4 stroke engines, not smaller 2 stroke. Whereas the stihl/husky dealer in the area is primarily a chainsaw dealer (and sell other things second). I have 2 other Dolmar dealers I frequent (both almost an hour away) that are very much chainsaw-dealers and I presume will survive even through this downturn.

As much as Id like to see Dolmar become a real alternative to the big 2, and I dont like to see anyone "go out of business" - I almost dont mind seeing Dolmar thin their service network as I honestly feel its been too quick to expand without good quality control on its dealers in place.

 

[Bow_Extreme]

I am new to the site and I don't mean to hijack your thread but is the 7900 model discontinued? I'm looking to buy one and I'm having a hard time finding them locally here in Michigan. A couple dealers have told me they dont know whats going on but they haven't been able to get dolmar saws lately. Some of them are waiting 1.5 months or more just to get a single saw in.

I have a line on one brand new 7900 sitting on the shelf about 30 miles from my location for $799 with an 18" bar although they will swap for the 24" bar I want to put on it. That's a better price than I've seen anywhere. I may go pick it up this weekend. Does anyone know of better pricing than this? All info is greatly appreciated.

If I'm going to have major problems trying to find parts or saws in the future I may just buy a 372XP instead. Any thoughts on this?

 

[spike60]

JustinM, I guess I'm curious if they have a higher likelihood to drop the line because they are perhaps less qualified to begin with. Again, nothing against good dolmar dealers. It seems like a lot of them here have been like a side item for another shop (two other dealers were snowmobile and alternator shops), and they decide that it is more trouble than it is worth. It seems like most stihl/husky dealers who also sell dolmar decide sooner or later that the dolmar really isn't bringing them more sales, but rather just taking sales away that would otherwise have been stihl and husky sales.

Right on both points Mike.

Dolmar has been aggressive about growing market share the last few years. In many cases they have opened up dealers who are part time businesses run out of the house. Guy wants to have a little saw shop on the side and get his own line. Sometimes it pans out, but even if it lasts, sales numbers are usually not that impressive in this situation. It's a low percentage gamble, but often the Dolmar rep hasn't got a more attractive opportunity in that market, so he signs the guy up and hopes for the best.

Being a Husky dealer, having Dolmar really brought me no additional business at all and that's why I dropped it. The only saw that had even a limited following of it's own was the 7900. But for the most part, any Dolmar I sold could have easily, (more easily in fact), been a Husky sale anyway. And if you start selling another line, then you have to invest in the parts to support it. So, if it's not actually bringing you additional business, it becomes a negative cash flow.

These problems are not unique to Dolmar. They are shared by all of the second tier compainies, like Efco, Solo, etc. To a degree, Jonsered falls in the same group as well.

 

[mikefunaro]

I am new to the site and I don't mean to hijack your thread but is the 7900 model discontinued? I'm looking to buy one and I'm having a hard time finding them locally here in Michigan. A couple dealers have told me they dont know whats going on but they haven't been able to get dolmar saws lately. Some of them are waiting 1.5 months or more just to get a single saw in.

I have a line on one brand new 7900 sitting on the shelf about 30 miles from my location for $799 with an 18" bar although they will swap for the 24" bar I want to put on it. That's a better price than I've seen anywhere. I may go pick it up this weekend. Does anyone know of better pricing than this? All info is greatly appreciated.

If I'm going to have major problems trying to find parts or saws in the future I may just buy a 372XP instead. Any thoughts on this?

I don't think anybody has heard the full story of what's going on with dolmar and their emissions. The EPA may be giving them crap. The 6401 is coming thhrough now as the 6421 with an extra cat muffler. I assume the 7900 may get one sooner than later, and maybe they're in the process of doing that now?

If I were you I'd give the big dolmar USA a call, who will put you in touch with the distributor for your area, and you can get the full story from them. Any time I've spoken with them they've been good.

They used to be like $700 for a 20" bar 7900 ($650 if you looked hard), but last word was that there were big price increases through the pipeline so $799 isn't all that unreasonable.

To the extent that parts will be a problem--they will certainly be available online, but if you're saying your local dealers are struggling to get stuff from dolmar (perhaps not parts though)?, maybe this says something? Again, many are blessed with a good dolmar dealer nearby who has their stuff together.

Mike

 

[mikefunaro]

Right on both points Mike.

Dolmar has been aggressive about growing market share the last few years. In many cases they have opened up dealers who are part time businesses run out of the house. Guy wants to have a little saw shop on the side and get his own line. Sometimes it pans out, but even if it lasts, sales numbers are usually not that impressive in this situation. It's a low percentage gamble, but often the Dolmar rep hasn't got a more attractive opportunity in that market, so he signs the guy up and hopes for the best.

Being a Husky dealer, having Dolmar really brought me no additional business at all and that's why I dropped it. The only saw that had even a limited following of it's own was the 7900. But for the most part, any Dolmar I sold could have easily, (more easily in fact), been a Husky sale anyway. And if you start selling another line, then you have to invest in the parts to support it. So, if it's not actually bringing you additional business, it becomes a negative cash flow.

These problems are not unique to Dolmar. They are shared by all of the second tier compainies, like Efco, Solo, etc. To a degree, Jonsered falls in the same group as well.

Credit where credit is due; I based those claims/guesses, in part, on your testimony

 

[04ultra]

Right on both points Mike.

Dolmar has been aggressive about growing market share the last few years. In many cases they have opened up dealers who are part time businesses run out of the house. Guy wants to have a little saw shop on the side and get his own line. Sometimes it pans out, but even if it lasts, sales numbers are usually not that impressive in this situation. It's a low percentage gamble, but often the Dolmar rep hasn't got a more attractive opportunity in that market, so he signs the guy up and hopes for the best.
Being a Husky dealer, having Dolmar really brought me no additional business at all and that's why I dropped it. The only saw that had even a limited following of it's own was the 7900. But for the most part, any Dolmar I sold could have easily, (more easily in fact), been a Husky sale anyway. And if you start selling another line, then you have to invest in the parts to support it. So, if it's not actually bringing you additional business, it becomes a negative cash flow.

These problems are not unique to Dolmar. They are shared by all of the second tier compainies, like Efco, Solo, etc. To a degree, Jonsered falls in the same group as well.

It sure doesnt take much to become a Jred dealer from what Im told ...couple grand and your flying...

 

[epicklein22]

Wow, a good thread here and I have a lot to add.

Dolmar has definitely been aggressive with expansion. I have seen quite a few dealers pop up in my area. With some of them, I'm just waiting for them to give up. The parts and service isn't there, which you can blame Dolmar for having less than stringent requirements to start up.

Prices are also rising and we will see another increase this year. A 5105 goes for about $450 around here, and a 346xp is $460. So the gap has narrowed drastically. $800 is good for a 7900.

Last year, 7900 became unavailable for unknown reasons (almost positive it was epa related). However, you could order a 6400 and and a 7900 top end. My local dealer was doing this and he was actually saving a little money that way. Production of the 7900 was supposed to start back up in January. Now all 6400s are 6420s, which come with the cat muffler. Expect to see the same cat on the 7900 now or very soon.

Ultra is right, J-red dealerships aren't hard to get either. Even though they are owned by husky, it requires a lot more to be a Husky dealer.

So what does dolmar need to do in the future?

• More stringent dealer requirements
• Stiffen up the AV springs on the 7900 or have travel limiters like Huskies have. The loggers around here are breaking them quite a bit! Most are going back to Huskies/Stihls.
• Richen up the jets, lots of lean outs still happening, which some of it can be blamed on people trying to tune by ear with a limited coil
• Produce better trimmers, they look like junk and I don't know anyone running them.
• Make a competitive backpack blower.
• Make a 90cc saw that can actually compete with the 660/390/395.
• Make a big homeowner saw to compete with the 290/455
• A dedicated design of a 60cc pro saw (which is popular among firewood cutters as well.
• A good top handle saw

 

[mowoodchopper]

Seems to me like alot of the dolmar dealers are old and dont know how to market , they would rather set and talk about the good old dolmars.

 

[mikefunaro]

epicklein22, I dont think all of that is going to happen. If they were smart they would have done their updates and come out with the 5100 and 7900 several years earlier, and made as much $$ off of them as possible before EPA stuff came down on them. They really didn't get that long of a run out of them. Stihl was smart and didnt waste money (even though they have plenty), coming up with a new generation of saws (except the 361) before tackling emissions compliance too.

I have a feeling setting the saws real lean and putting cats on them isn't going to work for too long. I shutter at the thought of a saw as big as a 7900 with a big ass cat muffler melting the crap out of everything. Getting a new muffler is going to be like $40-$50, which starts to eliminate any savings.

I think they put way too much confidence in the whole 4 cycle thing. Nobody is buying those little four cycle trimmers and that big backpack blower. I have not seen a single pro using one. The two stroke strimmers were just rebranded robin engines if I'm not mistaken.

I'll be very interested if we ever see any strato's from them, but it seems like the writing is on the wall. Either that or they have to pack up their *&^$% and leave sooner or later.

I doubt they're getting many credits from selling those blowers and strimmers...just because they're not selling any of them.

 

[spike60]

It sure doesnt take much to become a Jred dealer from what Im told ...couple grand and your flying...

Yeah, if there's nobody in the area, a half dozen pieces might be all you need to do to get started.

 

[Brad101]

Yes, this is a good thread. A lot of truth being told here. I do not believe Dolmar is really going anywhere as things are. Maybe down hill a little though.

I sell them too (not many). No one has heard of them. They are a really hard sell and I do not think the name helps them either (It even sounds silly). I think they would be better off just calling themselves what they really are now, Makita. People have heard that name anyhow and maybe the blue color would help.

I think they make a decent product but I also think the 6400-7900 lines are hella ugly. Like someone said about the trimmers, ugly too, also heavy and very outdated. The blowers? Same story, nothing to get even slightly excited about and to expensive for what they are. The prices of everything are now getting up there with the top brands people know about and the value is no longer there to try and sell on.

I was just talking to my distributor for Dolmar at a recent service school (not Dolmar) and he feels the same way I do about Dolmars marketing as a manufacturer. They are not willing to do the work and spend the money to even begin to have any name recognition.

To be honest I am about done trying to sell something I do not have a lot of faith in and are a very small part of my overall business. I tie up a lot of money in product for very little in return. They tend to hang around the shop forever. This will probably be my last year with them.

Name brand and price mean everything when trying to sell this stuff... and Dolmar just don't have either anymore as far as I am concerned.

 

[04ultra]

Yeah, if there's nobody in the area, a half dozen pieces might be all you need to do to get started.

Jred dealers are harder to find than Husky and Stihl in most areas.....We lost the only local Husky dealer a short time ago and 1 of the 6 Stihl dealers closed ... For 60k population you might think someone would try to get a Husky dealership going ...

 

[PineFever]

We have two local dealers around here. The oldest one went from being a Stihl dealer to Husky dealer, to now Dolmar. (Shop been around for 37 years)
The other dealer is Stihl/Echo.
Both seem to do ok.