jacflash

Snap-On: The Future Looks Promising

"Younger generation" DIYers don't buy Snap-On tools. They never have. They go to Sears and buy Craftsman tools and get 98% of the quality (and on hand tools, 100% of the no-nonsense lifetime guarantee and made-in-USA pride) for 30% of the price.

And that, right there, is the pushback on some of the case for SNA. Their distribution model requires huge HUGE margins, which they get from pro mechanics because having Snap-On tools is a status symbol, a professional badge, the mark of a pro versus just some guy who messes around with cars.

And yes, big diag equipment tends to belong to the shop, but those red tool chests full of $80 wrenches belong to the mechanic, who probably spent years paying off the loans Snap-On gave him to buy all that stuff (we're talking $30k or more here). They go where he goes, and unless you see a lot of new independent shops opening -- I don't -- I'm having trouble seeing any sort of big-growth case for SNA in the US.

And overseas... without the long-entrenched shop culture supporting the pro mechanic = snap-on user dynamic, I think it's going to be very hard for them to get traction without drastically altering their distribution model.