my stihl dealer told me some bad news

[injun joe]

well i was in town today so i thought i'd stop in and see my local stihl dealer for an extra 024 chain and some files. so i go in purchase my chain and such and me and him start conversing about the new 391. so we keep talking about saws when he started to tell me he might be goin out of business:jawdrop:. well i had to ask why and he told me there are 3 stihl dealerships within 20 miles of each other. i though ok so what but he said that stihl used to hold a dealership to make so much off stihl products. he told me something like 35k to be a dealership. ok but then he told me they changed that now its he has to sell 50 units each year to be a dealer which is a huge amount for a town of 8,000 people so if this is a case they have to sell 150 units between the 3 dealers if this is the case all the dealers are going to disappear for the simple fact that the town is all full up on stihl products. but what makes it even worse is that the renners(john deeres) can now sell stihl and so can big r. well i thought stihls big selling point was that you wouldnt see a stihl in the big box stores like lowes or home depot. is this stihls leupold you wont see them in lowes or home depot but youll see them in john deere and big r.this thread really isnt about anything just a vent i hate how stihl is doing this especially since the stores there allowing to sell stihl units wont even service them. he told me a guy come in with a new 180 and couldnt start it so he told him take it back where you bought it whcih was big r. but all the guy said was '' They dont know how to start it.'' i mean come on stihl your gunna allow someone to sell stihl and they cant start the damn thing. it just makes me mad to think my dealer might be going out of business over something stupid like this.:censored: i might just have to go buy a husky if this is what stihls doin. :hmm3grin2orange: sorry about the bad typing.

 

[TommySaw]

The dealer I go to for my Stihl chain just brought Husky back into his shop and says they are doing alot better by their dealers right now than Stihl. According to him all the things that Husky was doing years back that lead him to dropping them and going solo Stihl are the things Stihl is doing now, sounds like they need to get back to doing the things that lead them to the top and kept them there all these years

 

[o8f150]

i know in this area there is about 7 stihl dealers within a 15 mile radius,,,,wonder what they will end up doing

 

[sbhooper]

We have an "under-abundance" of saw dealers here. We have a good Stihl dealer and a poor Dolmar dealer. The only real Husky dealer is 70 miles away and worth the drive. The next nearest Stihl dealer is about 50 miles. I don't think this will effect our Stihl shop at all as they are pretty big and are highly diversified. That seems like poor business to me, though.

 

[Saw Dr.]

Husky, Dolmar, and I hate to say it but Echo. You can cut wood just fine with any of those. If Echo, keeps making stuff like that new 600 they are going to do well. Maybe that dealer can switch teams, and stay in business.

They just put a new fancy Stihl retailer-ship in the ACE right down the street from my dealer. They don't know anything about the saws if it does not say it on the tag. I hope my guy does not bail on Stihl, though. I don't know where I'll get parts if he does.

 

[CentaurG2]

My less then local stihl dealer sells both husky and stihl. Years ago, the stihl sign would hit you in the head as you walk into the shop but the huskys were in a small room, out back, near the can and you would practically need to ask him where they were to find them. Now the husky are up front and center, right next to the stihls. I can beat him up good on the price of the huskys but he wount budge an inch on the price of the stihls. Competition in the market place is good for the consumer.

“And the times ,they are a-changin’ “ Bob Dylan 1964 (I think….)

 

[lmalterna]

Joe,
Maybe talking out of my head here but HE cannot sell over the internet.... but someone who wanted to help him move saws "might" be able to move them for him to people who do not have a good Stihl dealer nearby...

I am just saying if the guy is good enough to deserve it, there may be ways to help him meet his quotas. I try to stick with my local small stores when I can.

2Door

 

[weimedog]

I'm curious how this plays out over time. We have a very large John Deere Dealer in town..but so far I haven't seen Stihl show up there....and maybe thats because the Stilh dealership went to the OTHER big tractor/powersports dealer in town (Along with the Husqvarna dealership)..the one with local connections. They took it away from the OLD Stilh dealer who had a little store front and was on a back road....now he has Dolmar and Echo and is doing fine.

All the local "in crowd" use the big power sports guys for most things motorized thats not a car or truck. Its almost a twisted status thing to spend the extra bucks and "know" someone from there. But I've been watching little by little folks going back to the old dealer...and Dolmar is beginning to get attention of the local tree work & logging types. We need a Jonsered dealer here as well. Most go to the old dealer first for spare parts and even some service...if he doesn't have either the part in stock or the time to work on the saw, then they go to the new guy. A trend.

 

[spike60]

What type of store is a "Big R"?

 

[Muffler Bearing]

What type of store is a "Big R"?

I think he ment Toy's R Us.:monkey:

 

[2000ssm6]

What type of store is a "Big R"?

Might be talking about Ace or JD, those are the only two other than dealers I'm aware of that carries Stihl.

 

[Mr Goodwrench]

Big R

Big R is a farm supply store much like Rural king and Farm Supply. We have them all in my area.

 

[Edge & Engine]

The ol' swinging door policy. If the dealer's doors don't hit when both open at the same time, they're far enough apart.

 

[spike60]

Big R is a farm supply store much like Rural king and Farm Supply. We have them all in my area.

So how is that different from Husky being is Tractor Supply?

 

[Muffler Bearing]

What we have here is hear-say, 1/2 truths,B.S,Spam, he said,I know a guy, and just out -right jealousy.

Stihl is #1

What else needs to be said?

Long live all the colors.

But keep it true!!!!!!


:

 

[THALL10326]

well i was in town today so i thought i'd stop in and see my local stihl dealer for an extra 024 chain and some files. so i go in purchase my chain and such and me and him start conversing about the new 391. so we keep talking about saws when he started to tell me he might be goin out of business:jawdrop:. well i had to ask why and he told me there are 3 stihl dealerships within 20 miles of each other. i though ok so what but he said that stihl used to hold a dealership to make so much off stihl products. he told me something like 35k to be a dealership. ok but then he told me they changed that now its he has to sell 50 units each year to be a dealer which is a huge amount for a town of 8,000 people so if this is a case they have to sell 150 units between the 3 dealers if this is the case all the dealers are going to disappear for the simple fact that the town is all full up on stihl products. but what makes it even worse is that the renners(john deeres) can now sell stihl and so can big r. well i thought stihls big selling point was that you wouldnt see a stihl in the big box stores like lowes or home depot. is this stihls leupold you wont see them in lowes or home depot but youll see them in john deere and big r.this thread really isnt about anything just a vent i hate how stihl is doing this especially since the stores there allowing to sell stihl units wont even service them. he told me a guy come in with a new 180 and couldnt start it so he told him take it back where you bought it whcih was big r. but all the guy said was '' They dont know how to start it.'' i mean come on stihl your gunna allow someone to sell stihl and they cant start the damn thing. it just makes me mad to think my dealer might be going out of business over something stupid like this.:censored: i might just have to go buy a husky if this is what stihls doin. :hmm3grin2orange: sorry about the bad typing.

If he can't sell 50 units a year then he's been going outta business for sometime. 150 units among 3 dealers in a town of 8000, man thats pitiful. I'm selling 600-700 units in a town of 35,000 and I got 4 other dealers within a 20
mile radius selling almost as much per dealer. Mortons in Fredericksburg Va is selling over 2000 units a year in a town that in the 2000 cenus had 19,000 people.

Never heard of Big R but I say bring em on baby, lets rock...

 

[indiansprings]

Independently owned. We have a little chain in our area that's called Race Brothers, they have four or five stores and carry both Husky and Stihl.
They carry the full lines with fancy display area, but for the most part don't have a clue about what they sell on reference to chainsaws, run into one really knowledgeable guy, otherwise about like Wal-Mart. They use Husky to push the Stihl, the only husky they'll recommend is the 372xp, when I went in to buy the 346 they did everything they could to push the 260.

With this economy and unfavorable exchange rate, Stihl may be trying to do what any good company would try to do, weed out the underperforming outlets based soley on point of sale data. It cost them just as much in support dollars to support the dealer selling forty units as it does the bigger shops. It will help them maintain profitablity in the long run, sure it's tough on the smaller shops, I'm sure as smart as they run the business they look at it through geographical area's as well, if your the only shop in miles of BFE, Montana and only sell thirty units a year then you'll stay to provide a presence in that area, but if your in a small town of 8000 and their is three or four dealers and your on the bottom, well look out as it doesn't make sense to continue to support you. The unit sales will be absorbed by the surviving dealers. If the economy ever gets better they can expand out again, there will always be guys in line to have a Stihl franchise.

 

[Slamm]

In Mayfield, KY the John Deere dealer is now the new Stihl dealer. I refuse to purchase anything, anymore from them. They don't know squat about saws. They have a very small parts inventory and common things like 660 chain adjusters and clutches for 084's are all "special order" and I have to pay for the shipping on them.

I tried to order a new handlebar for a 361. That took about 10 minutes of explaining what a handlebar on a 361 was. To top it off the guy acted like he had never heard of a 361??!!??!?!?

Another time I was in there for a John Deere part and a guy was looking for a pole saw and weed eater. I explained that he should look at the Kombi 130. The salesman right then and there admitted he didn't even know the Kombi had a pole saw attachment?? It was sitting right next to the Kombi power head. I showed the new customer how to put it together and how much I liked mine (I didn't get mine from there).

In complete contrast are Stihl dealers like Benton, IL Macafoos who know part numbers off the top of their heads and have most everything in stock or are willing to remove it from a shelfed saw in order to get you up and running. That is service.

My opinion,

Sam

 

[BloodOnTheIce]

If he can't sell 50 units a year then he's been going outta business for sometime. 150 units among 3 dealers in a town of 8000, man thats pitiful. I'm selling 600-700 units in a town of 35,000 and I got 4 other dealers within a 20
mile radius selling almost as much per dealer. Mortons in Fredericksburg Va is selling over 2000 units a year in a town that in the 2000 cenus had 19,000 people.

Never heard of Big R but I say bring em on baby, lets rock...

I hear ya Tom, we do about 250 pieces of Stihl a year, this year I'll probably do 300-325. In the Northeast you have to buy 29,000$ worth of wholegoods, part, and accessories to stay a Stihl dealer. Which if you can't meet that then your might as well shut the doors anyway. I'd kill to have only 4 dealers within 20 miles. I've got other 10 dealers within 15 miles, and a whole lot less than 35,000 people. By the way Tom I'm gonna use your free coke and hot dog idea, to attract customers.

 

[howellhandmade]

SNIP

With this economy and unfavorable exchange rate, Stihl may be trying to do what any good company would try to do, weed out the underperforming outlets based soley on point of sale data. It cost them just as much in support dollars to support the dealer selling forty units as it does the bigger shops. It will help them maintain profitablity in the long run, sure it's tough on the smaller shops, I'm sure as smart as they run the business they look at it through geographical area's as well, if your the only shop in miles of BFE, Montana and only sell thirty units a year then you'll stay to provide a presence in that area, but if your in a small town of 8000 and their is three or four dealers and your on the bottom, well look out as it doesn't make sense to continue to support you. The unit sales will be absorbed by the surviving dealers. If the economy ever gets better they can expand out again, there will always be guys in line to have a Stihl franchise.

I could be wrong, but it seems that in the past Stihl has taken a broader view of performance than simply unit sales. Judged strictly on the number of units sold, Lowes might be a tremendous performer. My particular area was thick with Stihl dealers, but a True Value just opened up just a few miles away that carries Stihl (including Ultra, which the other dealers refuse to stock) but, according to the Stihl website, offers no service. The other close-by dealers are a rental place that just pushes saws out the door and a small shop whose owner I like a lot but whose Stihl tech isn't exactly on the same page. I've sort of got a hankering for a MS211, but it does me little good for Stihl to open an outlet with no service, and I'm not sure how that differs for the servicing dealers from a saw being bought at Lowes. It's a slippery slope, going with sellers that can't offer service or even good advice. How often do we hear about the difference in lean seizure rate between the various brands being down to proper dealer setup?

Jack