I buy many of my tools from Woodcraft - unless there's a big price difference on the Internet. I know all the people who work there, and they treat me really well.
Oh, and I also teach there.
Mike
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I buy many of my tools from Woodcraft - unless there's a big price difference on the Internet. I know all the people who work there, and they treat me really well.
Oh, and I also teach there.
Mike
Geez, I'm sorry to hear that Bruce. I lived in Washington, just east of Peoria, from 1999 to 2006. I was in your store a few times looking around as I slowly built an interest in woodworking. Bought some hardware but no major purchases. I wish I would have tried a class or two, though.
Thanks for posting and best of luck to you.
I hate to see retail stores go under!
The problem is that the manufacturers of tools are so hard up for sales they do not care who sells them.
The manufacturers AND the public needs to wake up.
Someone selling on the internet has an office, sells all the same things that WC does but has NO warehouse and NO inventory. Everything is dropped shipped by the manufacturer from the factory.
Someone selling with a retail location has inventory so YOU can see and touch the product, let alone drive off with it the same day. They also employ people at the store.
When you buy something off the internet YOU get a better price BUT you are driving out retail outlets, when they are all gone you will have noone to blame but yourself.
Enjoy the internet!
Aloha, Pete
I'm seeing a lot of posts that blame the demise of brick and mortar stores on the internet. However, Woodcraft was always announcing new stores until the economy began to wobble last fall.
Let's face it, Woodcraft relies heavily of disposable income as do hobby stores, craft shops, electronics, etc. And, disposable income is really hurting. I'm sure internet retailers are also showing a significant drop in sales as evident by the bombardment of emails that I get these days.
Don't get too down. Having internet retail is a good thing to the consumer. In my area, brick and mortar woodworking stores are essentially non-existent thus mailorder is the remedy. Then there are those specialty items that have a limited market. The internet makes these items available to all.
As stated earlier, this forum and others like it, are a great source of info if you can not touch and feel the item. Also, most reputable internet sources have decent return policies if you are not satisfied.
However, I do admit that I like to 'touch and feel' the stuff first. I'm just not sure how much more I'm willing to pay for it.
-Jeff :)
Howard, I misspoke. The second one was in Tucson. Age Activated Memory Disorder!:eek:
"If I recall, companies that receive online and telephone orders are required to collect sales tax if they are shipping to states in which they have a brick and mortar retail presence."
Ahh - you're correct about that, at least in North Carolina, though I'm unsure if that's part of our state law or is universal in the federal law that exempts the net from state taxation. Oddly, I'm pretty sure Woodcraft has a 50 state retail presence, but I've never been charged state sales tax when I've purchased something from them mail order.
"I don't think most people are going to go out of there way to give the government more money then they already do!!!!!!"
Regardless of my political sympathies in line with this comment, failure to pay state sales tax on 'net purchases, particularly items over $1500, is the equivalent of tax evasion. Being audited could be a very unpleasant experience if one did not declare those items.
Gene,
Sorry to hear your experience was not good at the Chandler store. My experience has been quite different. There have been a few employees over the years that I didn't care for but overall I like shopping at their store. I am sure the employees are not highly paid.
Yesterday.I got a great deal on one of those dust collector blast gate kits that turns your collector on when you open the gate. $30 for the starter kit.
AZCRAIG
I buy many tools and supplies at Woodcraft, also. My closest WC is about 25 minutes from my house, so it isn't a big imposition. I find that even after all of the research and discussion, I still really want to get my hands on the tool. As an example, when I wanted to buy a new bench plane, I went to WC. The owner (at that time - since changed) brought out several planes and a nice chunk of French oak. He let me take my time checking them out and even gave me a few pointers. I bought one then and have bought a second one since at WC. You can't buy that on the internet.
On the sales tax issue. Most, if not all, Woodcraft stores are franchises. So technically Woodcraft doesn't have a presence in most states according to the way I understand things (which is pretty limited.) We pay sales tax on mail order purchases as part of our income tax filing here in Michgan. I've got to believe that in this day and age, claiming you didn't make any mail order purchases would set off some kind of red flag.
To me, Woodcraft isn't really worth using as a mail order source as there are plenty of other good sources and Woodcraft tends to be more expensive. I didn't buy much from Woodcraft until they opened a store in Toledo because the store that used to be closest to me wasn't worth the drive. Toledo is well stocked, has knowledgeable salespeople, and most importantly, they are friendly. It is owned by a husband and wife team and I always see one if not both of them in the store.
I lived in Peoria for about a year in 1996-7. I wish I'd known about Woodcraft back then as I'd probably have taken some classes there. Living in an apartment, it was difficult to do much woodworking besides watching Norm (and I did a lot of that.)
Guy's we need to wake up - when all the small business's are gone & we are only left with the Big Boxes or the internet then who has who by the gonad's ??
Personally I would like to see a law passed that if you sell on the internet you would be required to have a location (or several) where you can get touchy/feely with what you are wanting to purchase - like Grizzly - my 2 cents
Tom
Bruce,
I'm sorry to hear about the closing of your local WC store. I remember how excited you were when you announced your WC job in the turners area. I know that you worked there and enjoyed your job for quite some time.
Best of luck,
Dick
That ain't gonna happen, the law being passed that you propose. Competition, thus competitive pricing, is thriving on the net. If all of the brick and mortar stores were to close (I certainly hope that they don't!) we'd still have a competitive market place. Google any item that you can imagine and chances are that you'll find many sources for that item on the net with varying prices and different levels of customer service.
For me, the brick and mortar woodworking supply stores are a moot point anyway, with the exception of the Big Box stores or my local hardware store. I buy as much as I can from the local hardware stores. It's over a hundred miles to the nearest Woodcraft store and I think that it's about 300 miles to the nearest Rockler. For folks like myself the internet gives me options that I otherwise would not have. I'm a Rockler customer, just from afar!
This is not to say that I don't feel compassion for brick and mortar stores that are suffering. I do. I also think that they offer a good service to the communities where they're located. My hope for woodworking supply houses, and for all businesses in our country, is for our economy to recover and for businesses to thrive both on the net and in a walk in building near you.....and me.
Kind Regards,
I have a friend who was complaining about this recently. He was not talking about Woodcraft, but brick and mortar stores in general; lamenting how many have missed the boat on leveraging their advantage of a physical presence. Most internet companies amp up customer service plus whatever else they can think of, while many brick and mortar stores have plodded along without significantly adapting.
I've only been to a Woodcraft once, and it seemed like a fantastic place. And of course internet stores can go under as well. Times like these make it harder for everyone, and my heart goes out to the many affected by this.
Chris