Grizzly closing the Muncy PA store.

[Roger Feeley]

I guess I stand corrected. Thanks for the education.

[Tom Owad]

The press release I printed out said they're going to keep a call center in PA. The technical support phone # was a PA. number - 570 something and it'd be smart to keep some people with experience that are familiar with common problems and solutions. I'm sure some people will be cut loose though, perhaps they don't want to relocate.

What I heard today is that a call center of five people will remain, most of the management is moving to MO, and few to none of the ordinary employees are going.

[Tom Owad]

One other bit of information I wanted to share: I had the opportunity to talk to Shabir (son of founder Shiraz) at the Grizzly sale on Saturday. They're planning a new benchtop bandsaw for next year, that will feature upper/lower ball bearing blade guides, as well as other innovations. It sounds like it will be a very nice bandsaw.

[Curt Harms]

What I heard today is that a call center of five people will remain, most of the management is moving to MO, and few to none of the ordinary employees are going.

Keeping a facility open for 5 people? I wonder why? Do they have to maintain a presence for so many years to fulfil some agreement? I don't think it's a surprise that most workers are not relocating. I'd guess that aside from tech support most of the jobs in Muncy are ordinary office and warehouse jobs not worth relocating for.

[Tom Owad]

The call center won't be in the current facility; they'll just be renting office space. The impression I got was that they have some very experienced people with a lot of product knowledge, and didn't want to lose them.

[Tommy Parker]

I will be especially sad to see the store closed. I was a salesman on the showroom floor for three years and enjoyed it very much. Lots of good people have lost a job which will be hard to replace in this area. In addition to that if you have purchased machinery from Grizzly you've got to order new blades, sanding belts, etc. I lived very close to the store - within 10 miles and it was convenient to stop there and get what I needed. I know that this will impact many customers because even though "we are in the sticks" out here as one person said the area is saturated with woodworkers that paid thousands of dollars of hard earned money for Grizzly tools - I sold millions of dollars myself! We will all now be forced to shop elsewhere or put up with mail order hassles! You can call me a disgruntled customer - its ok because that's what I am.

[Phillip Gregory]

Tommy,

That is the exact same case as far as I can see in the Springfield, MO store. I don't work for Grizzly but I live relatively close to the showroom there and am one of those woodworkers that live "out in the sticks" in the rural Ozarks and yet have bought several pieces of large equipment as well as blades, belts, etc. from them and have been to the showroom multiple times. The staff they have working there is very good- much better than the staff at the big box stores. I wouldn't think it's any different in Muncy, PA vs. here so it will certainly be a big loss. Hopefully you and the rest of the staff are able to find decent employment elsewhere.

[Harold Burrell]

I will be especially sad to see the store closed. I was a salesman on the showroom floor for three years and enjoyed it very much. Lots of good people have lost a job which will be hard to replace in this area. In addition to that if you have purchased machinery from Grizzly you've got to order new blades, sanding belts, etc. I lived very close to the store - within 10 miles and it was convenient to stop there and get what I needed. I know that this will impact many customers because even though "we are in the sticks" out here as one person said the area is saturated with woodworkers that paid thousands of dollars of hard earned money for Grizzly tools - I sold millions of dollars myself! We will all now be forced to shop elsewhere or put up with mail order hassles! You can call me a disgruntled customer - its ok because that's what I am.

If you worked at the Muncy store, then we have probably met. One thing that I will miss as much as anything will be the good folks that worked there at the store. I always enjoyed going in there, even if I had nothing that I needed...and I was always impressed by the knowledgeability and friendliness of the staff.

[Michael Yadfar]

I never knew about this until today when I got my Grizzly catalogue, opened it up, didn't see the Muncy located listed, so I googled and found this. What a bummer! I drove up there last year to buy a 15" planer and a 14" bandsaw. It was a three hour drive, but sure beat the freight charge regardless. I also had to drive my planer back about 8 months ago to get fixed, and the customer service was great. Luckily I don't need any more power tools, just eventually upgrades in the somewhat distant future. That place was huge and relatively new, still shocks me!

BTW, I read an article saying 70 employees were laid off, and were given almost no notice. It's a shame because that area really is in the middle of nowhere