What happen to the Husky dealers?

[Franny K]

Said they had upped their game and was now gonna require him to commit to purchasing xxx thousands of dollars in product each year in order to keep his Husqvarna Dealership status.
Whatever the xxx ‘amount’ was, it was much more than he knew he’d be able to sell each year, especially since he was also a Stihl Dealer, and had to account for committing to a certain amount of inventory from them also.

Wonder if that coincides with when my local dealer dropped Echo?


I think post 1 here is a bit unrealistic expecting to find a 395xp on the shelf showing up un announced.

 

[jchipps]

Wonder if that coincides with when my local dealer dropped Echo?


I think post 1 here is a bit unrealistic expecting to find a 395xp on the shelf showing up un announced.

Not sure about the Echo Dealers, as I’ve never had any experience with them.

As to finding a 395xp on the shelf .... that probably all depends now days to what type of dealer or retail outlet you’re visiting.
Back when Husqvarna was sold exclusively through servicing dealerships, it was not only common to find a 394xp (old model) on the shelf, but also expected.
Back at that time I assume most of them, or at least the dealer I dealt with, carried the full product line, catering to both the homeowner, and the professional.

But I think now days it’s more common for these various retailers to only stock homeowner grade and up to prosumer level saws, unless they’re located in a region where there is a common demand for the large professional level saws.

 

[blades]

Inventory costs Dollars upfront and on the back side as well.

 

[rancher2]

I think post 1 here is a bit unrealistic expecting to find a 395xp on the shelf showing up un announced.[/QUOTE]


Of the four dealers I stopped at the three that were open and had switched to Stihl all had a 661 on the shelf and the largest one also had a 880 on the shelf. All these dealers were around a metro area with a fair amount of tree services in the area. If they were selling Husky's they surely would of had a 395 on the self.

 

[Big Red Oaks 4 me]

A friend of mine, who has been an Echo dealer for many years, says that the problem is with the distribution system, as something has changed. He didn't really elaborate. Whatever he said made sense, though. I guess it affected other dealers, too.

 

[GilksTreeFelling]

I have a Husqvarna dealer less then 10 min drive from me, the staff all know me by name greet like I am family, if he doesn't have an item on hand *very rarely* it's never more then 2 days away. If I need service done unless they are super busy or need to order parts my gear is ready next day.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

View attachment 691454 Maybe this?

Maybe Husky needs reminded of this.

 

[T27_Scrench]

View attachment 691454 Maybe this?

Back before Electrolux got their mitts in a good company. I worked at a Stihl/Husqvarna in 1999 when Electrolux/Husqvarna decided to screw it's dealer network in the name of "shareholder profits" and suckle at the tit of big box stores. It pissed off a lot of folks. A few dealers cut their ties with Electrolux/Husqvarna over it. This is where the problem started.

At first, Lowe's would only get a select few "Harry homeowner" models of handheld equipment "to protect the integrity of the dealers". A few years later, some homeowner mowers and mid-range "farm duty" saws were added to the Lowe's catalog (55 Rancher was the biggest thing you could get). From 2001-2007 I worked at a Stihl dealership that catered primarily to the tree service/logging industry (I was the mechanic). We added Husqvarna to our lineup with the understanding of the sales rep that we were a saw shop. Not a lawnmower shop, not a weedeater shop. A SAW SHOP. The decision to add Husky was to take care of customers that wanted that brand and nothing else. Our goal was to be a "one-stop-shop" for guys in crew cab F-450's heading to the city for tree removal jobs. Right down to an ice machine to fill their coolers. It went well for a couple years. Then the sales rep told us we had to stock mowers if we wanted to keep the line. Ok. No biggie. We also sold Snapper mowers (dealership since the late '70s) so it kinda fit, and he was only asking us to sell a handful of mowers a year. Everything went smooth until the next year (2005 I wanna say). We did our booking order for about 5 mowers. Come late winter, an 18 wheeler pulls in the lot with a trailer nearly FULL of mowers (including some commercial mowers) with a pick list that said it was our "booking order". Luckily, we had a paper copy of the REAL order of 5 mowers. The rep had doubled the number of mowers we ordered, and added a couple other models. We refused the shipment. The sales rep showed up two days later and absolutely blew a gasket. He was shown the door and we canceled our dealership. In talking to other dealerships, we were not alone in this type of business practice.

Fast forward six years and two deployments to 2012, and now I find myself wrenching on saws and mowers again at another Stihl/Husqvarna dealership. Same story. Except now Lowe's selling a large selection of Husky/AYP mowers except for "Pro" ztrs and the "LS" series fab deck tractors. This dealership is also a service center for the Lowe's junk. Every year the requirements go up for your annual booking order. Larger parts order minimums and larger wholegoods minimums. The "Gold" level is no longer good enough, how you have to shoot for "Platinum". They keep squeezing the small family run businesses with larger and larger orders to maintain "status" and profit margins. This translates into more and more debt. Whatever doesn't sell will bend you over with a sandpaper you-know-what in interest at the end of the season if it doesn't sell.

Husqvarna wants to build an empire, which is fine. The way they built it was crap. They wanted to get into zero turns, so they bought out Yazoo/Kees. They wanted to get into riding mowers, so they bought out AYP. They couldn't get their commercial trimmers to pass emissions, so they bought out RedMax and changed the plastic to orange. Other brands they have gobbled up include Dixon, Poulan, Weedeater, Bluebird, McCulloch, and Jonsered. Apparently they can't innovate like the used to. Gotta buy up others for their patents and shut 'em down or re-brand. Law of unintended consequences applies here. All those loyal customers, dealerships, mechanics, salespeople, etc of those brands are likely still in the industry. Maybe a few now work for Husky, but a lot more don't, and they remember the **** that Husqvarna pulled on them and it left a bad taste in their mouth. I know it did mine.

If they don't change how they do things, Husqvarna won't have an empire for long. Recently I walked into Lowe's and there sat two commercial zero turns and several fab deck garden tractors. I've been in the industry for the better part of two decades and I have wrenched on my last Husqvarna. Not because the products are bad, many are very good (particularly in the days of the 372XP, 288XP Lite, and the like), but because I am not enabling their ******** any more. I will not enable them to provide quality service to box store customers. They are asking servicing dealers to cut their own throat.

THIS is why you can't find Husqvarna dealerships. Husqvarna keeps f@#$ing them out of business.. At least two have closed their doors in my area in the last two years, and I'll be surprised if the one I've been working at it still around in a year.

Sorry for long-winded reply, but it's complicated. Hope it answers the question.

-Eric

 

[Marco]

I started out with Poulan Pro when the 655 was still available, EPA canned a lot of the bigger models and I became the whipping boy for box stores. So that went away.
Dolmar seemed like a good thing, we was having witch hunts of shipped and online sales, then it became Makita. Now I can't warranty what I sell unless I place a large order, so that ain't gonna work.
Makita does not cause you to think chainsaw if you go to "homesteading" pages or forums and do some reading.

 

[rancher2]

Eric
Thanks for the post. The one larger saw dealer I went to that use to sell Husky's said some of the things you did in your post but didn't go into as much detail. I have farmed and worked in town for 40 years and have been threw this kind of thing twice. The first time the company I worked for had the world by the tail did a good job and the pay was good. New guy at corp in charge and want to rule the world bought out every one and broke the company. 25 years gone a little more schooling and a new job good pay good benefits saw the same things starting to happen at this company out sourcing buying company's out. Corp greed. Then they tried to sell the company too big no buyers so they just started a new company and cut the retirement out,cut pay and insurance. On call all the time I did mechanical and maintenance at both jobs. Got tired of all the hours so after 15 years I was having some heart issues and said enough is enough and retired to the farm. I am lucky I have these farms and don't need a bunch of money to live. Thanks for serving our country. I hope you and yours have a good holiday and 2019 is good to you and yes I won't be buying a Husky.

 

[blades]

went through the same bull in consumer and commercial electronics 60-80's pulled the cork in the 90's. One of my good customers just pulled the cork also, I know why- mostly due to city ordinances/taxes & American Health care act. I do not have employees so I am insulated some what from the AHC.

 

[T27_Scrench]

Two words have killed or are killing the American Dream.

"Shareholder Profits"

 

[blades]

70's big hue and cry that we all needed to conserve energy - being good people we did just that and how were we rewarded- 30% increase in our household utility bills because the profits weren't there for the shareholders. This is a true statement , Beloit WI 1977

 

[farmer steve]

Wonder if that coincides with when my local dealer dropped Echo?


I think post 1 here is a bit unrealistic expecting to find a 395xp on the shelf showing up un announced.

I went to the lawn mower shop where I bought my zero turn the other day. They are also a husky dealer. Of course I went and looked at the saws. The had everything except a 3120 on the shelf. The 395 was $1200.

 

[Bret4207]

Around my area, that all kinda started around the late 90’s when Husqvarna started distributing their saws into the big box stores, namely Lowe’s around here.


He said once the remaining Husqvarna stuff was off his shelves he’d no longer be a Husqvarna dealer or carrying Husqvarna equipment.
When I asked why, He said it was due to Husqvarna going to the Big Box Stores. Said they had upped their game and was now gonna require him to commit to purchasing xxx thousands of dollars in product each year in order to keep his Husqvarna Dealership status.

.
Husky was doing the same thing in the early 80's. Thats why a shop like ours that sold 99% 266, 181 and 2100's to professional loggers had to stock homeowner saws, weed whackers and brush cutters. If I sold 100 266's I might sell one 141. And to get Jonsered and access to some short line stuff we needed that distributor carried, we had to carry Olympic. I sold even less Olympics than homeowner Huskies. It's not new. We had to stock parts for saws we'd never sell.

 

[rancher2]

Thanks for all the posts. It sure looks like in my area TSC is pushing the Husky line now. Looks like after the first of the year I will start shopping for a Stihl 661 and hope Stihl has got all there M-Tronic issues in the past straight out. I think I am at the point in my life I don't want to mail order a new saw. This will probably be the last big saw I need to buy in my time as I don't need a big saw a lot.

 

[T27_Scrench]

rancher2,
The Stihl M-Tronic units themselves haven't had issues that I've seen. Where they can be troublesome is that they respond to external issues very differently that a traditional carb setup. I.E. the symptoms for a given problem (air leaks, fuel restrictions, etc) may not be the same as with a carb. The corresponding troubleshooting learning curve can be quite steep. I speak from personal experience. They've been out there long enough now that techs are getting more used to them. My advice is find a "Gold" dealership. Their techs have been through a good deal of training to get there, and (at least in my region) passing the test to become a gold level tech is not easy. There is no way in hell a "parts changer" will pass it. I was working my way there (Silver tech now), but haven't had opportunity to pursue it further (dealership I work part time at not interested). Most of the Gold guys really do know their s#!t.

 

[gary courtney]

I still have a good Husqvarna shop 10 miles from me. The other shop went to all stihl showroom but can still order all my parts or any new Husky I want.

 

[gary courtney]

Most of the Gold guys really do know their s#!t.

I have a Pewter certification ! LOL!

 

[farmer steve]

I have a Pewter certification ! LOL!

Your doing a heck of lot better than me Gary. I'm Stihl on my lead cert.