Evidently my last post, which was entitled “American Labor - Sleeping with the Fishes,” was a little hard to understand, so I figured I had better do a better job of explaining myself...

Anyway, to make a long story short, a company by the name of Emerson Electric used to manufacture the Craftsman line of power tools for sale in Sears hardware stores. Then Sears decided that they could make more money by manufacturing these tools overseas, and Emerson lost the contract--which meant that Emerson was going to have to close down its manufacturing plant in Paris, Tennessee.

Sensing an opportunity, The Home Depot stepped in and offered to start selling Emerson made tools in its home improvement stores. In turn, The Home Depot was given the Ridgid brand name--a solid brand that until that time had been associated mostly with plumbing tools.

So with a much publicized act of heroism, The Home Depot helped to save the jobs of many American workers who would have otherwise fallen victim to foreign outsourcing and corporate greed. At least that's how it all started out...

But after a few years, greed must have won out anyway, because that plant in Tennessee was indeed shut down, and the tool manufacturing business was once again sent overseas. And this time, no one seemed to notice...

Now believe it or not, I'm not one of those people who think all corporations are inherently evil. Sure, they're in the business of making money, but they are also subject to consumer trends. In other words, if consumers don't seem to care if their products are made in America, well then neither do the corporations...

So I decided to head back to The Home Depot--this time to do a little comparison shopping. And here's what I found:

1/2” Keyless Chuck Drills
Milwaukee (Made in the USA) = $139
Ridgid (Made in China) = $129

7 1/4” Worm Drive Circular Saws
Skil (Made in the USA) = $179
Ridgid (Made in China) = $169

Heavy Duty Reciprocating Saws
Milwaukee (Made in the USA) = $119
Ridgid (Made in China) = $89

Pneumatic Framing Nailers
Paslode (Made in the USA) = $279
Ridgid (Made in Taiwan) = $259

The biggest surprise was that there really wasn't that much of a price difference between the American and foreign made power tools. You'd think the foreign made tools would be a lot cheaper, but they really weren't.

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In fact, the biggest price difference I saw was between the reciprocating saws. The Ridgid saw (Made in China) was selling for only $89, whereas the Milwaukee saw (Made in the USA) was going for $119.

Now, the average person walking into a Home Depot store probably won't know this, but a Milwaukee reciprocating saw is the best you can get. In fact, this type of Milwaukee saw is actually called a “Sawzall,” as in “Saws-All.” My father owns one (as does every other professional contractor I know), and he's had his for as long as I can remember...

But anyway, most of the American made power tools were selling for only about $10-20 more than their foreign counterparts.

Now I'll be the first to admit that not all of my tools are made in America--sometimes you just don't have a choice anymore. But when there's a choice, I believe you should choose American.

And I hate to say it, but if you can't afford an extra twenty bucks for an American made power tool, then you probably can't afford to do that home improvement project in the first place. Especially considering how much money you'll likely save by doing the work yourself...

But I guess the most important thing to remember is that even though an American made product may cost more, it could still end up being the better overall value.

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I was in Atlanta last month on business, and having a few extra hours before my return flight, decided to check out the recently built Georgia Aquarium...

To be honest, I wasn't expecting all that much, but I ended up having a good time. They even had this one tank where you could reach in and touch the stingrays, and I got a real kick out of that--it was pretty cool!

Anyway, I found out that the aquarium, which is now supposedly the world's largest at over 8 million gallons, was financed in large part by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who donated between $200-250 million towards its construction.

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I'm not sure whether I was more impressed with the aquarium itself or the fact that one man could afford to be that generous, but when I got home, I wound up driving to the library in the next town over to borrow a copy of his book, Built from Scratch.

I was inspired by the story of Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, two executives who after being fired from their executive positions at a home improvement chain, teamed with Pat Farrah, a showman who went bankrupt trying to build what could best be described as an early prototype store, to create The Home Depot. Although these men had experienced crushing defeat, they kept working towards their goals until achieving great success.

I guess I liked the story so much because it reminded me of my father, a man of strength who built his business like he'd build a house--one nail at a time.

But there was one particular passage in this book that impressed the hell out of me...

“Here's a little industry secret: For the last 40 years, Craftsman tools were actually manufactured by an American company named Emerson Tool Co. But the consultants said it didn't matter where Sears tools were made. Their advice: Drop the local suppliers and go offshore for less expensive stationary bench tools manufacturing” (page 229)...

“After forty years of building tools for Sears, Emerson lost the contract” (page 230)...

“‘Take every one of those tools you made for Craftsman and make it better than it ever was. Increase the strength, add features. In other words, you can do whatever you want, but show us a better tool than you ever had for Craftsman’” (page 231)...

“When he and I talked about doing this, he was visibly upset that this town was going to be wiped out. I don't think that the profit and loss entered into it as much as the fact that he was going to destroy people's lives. That also became a very critical factor for us, that we were going to save a town. It fit in perfectly with our values” (page 231)...

“There isn't a tradesman who doesn't know the name Ridgid and its lifetime warranty. And the name Ridgid is ours. Ridgid Tools: Made in America... 75-year heritage... available only at The Home Depot. Rigid became one of the most successful new product launches in our history” (page 231)...

“We took busloads of Home Depot associates to Paris, Tennessee, on August 28, 1998, for a celebratory barbeque at the 600,000 square-foot Emerson plant there. That plant was significant because without our business to pick up the slack from Sears going overseas, 650 employees--6 percent of the town's population--would have been out of work” (page 232).

I've got to admit, reading that story really energized me, and since I'm always talking about how we should figure out ways to keep industrial production in America instead of just carelessly sending everything overseas, I decided to research the story further.

But I was surprised by what I would learn...

It turns out that Bernie Marcus retired in 2002, and his successor was a man by the name of Bob Nardelli. Bob took over the role of CEO, and eventually became chairman of the board as well.

Then on March 30, 2003, the Emerson Electric plant in Paris, Tennessee was officially shut down, and hundreds of workers lost their jobs. Ridgid power tools would no longer be made in America...

I didn't want to believe what I was reading, so I took a trip down to the local Home Depot to see whether or not it was true.

I saw drills that were being made in China and saws from Taiwan. I looked all over, but I couldn't find a single Ridgid power tool that was made in America.

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I did some further research, and even managed to find a property listing for the old Emerson Electric plant. Unfortunately, it was starting to look a little run down...

Then I found out that Bob Nardelli was forced to resign his position at The Home Depot on January 2, 2007 after shareholders started complaining about his obscene compensation package. The ironic part is that after essentially being fired for greed, he was awarded a $210 million severance package.

But you can bet those hardworking men and women at that plant in Paris, Tennessee didn't walk away with millions when they lost their jobs...

Sources:

Built from Scratch: How a Couple of Regular Guys Grew The Home Depot from Nothing to $30 Billion by Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, and Bob Andelman

Georgia Aquarium - Official Website
U.S. Department of Labor - Federal Register Notice - Emerson Tool Company

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“Youth fades, strength fails, but hope remains.”

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Went to the Bears game last night, and later saw some fireworks down at Navy Pier...

Anyway, I don't know if you'd call it a New Year's resolution, but I realized something last night...

It's what you do when you're a rockstar without a guitar.

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