And it sucks. i went in today and they have raised the prices on everything. I asked my buddy who works as shop manager what was up and was told that they sold out last week. The shop staff recieved no warning, just Tuesday the old owner showed up and said that the shop was sold and that the new owner would take over friday. FRIDAY!!! 3 days notice. Sofar the new owner has fires the Store manager, 2 clerks, and has taken over the dailey running of the store. He desided to raise the prices and is trying to be the head salesman too. I assume he nows how to make money, but not in this buisness. When I went in to pick up some premix and bar oil he asked what I needed, I politely told him that I what I was there to get, but that I needed a price on a 460. He tells me almost $900 bucks!!! So, anyway, I going to go to the other Stihl dealer in town and see how they are. The actual point was does Stihl care about these things, and can they do anything about the price gouging?
Local Stihl dealer is under new ownership
- Thread starter MOA
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Just Mow
Don't touch my Willie !!!
although prices do vary a bit depending on what stihl distributor services your region's dealers. 5 of the 12 stihl distributorships in the US are a part of stihl inc, the other 7 are independently owned and often have prices that differ $10-20 from the stihl owned ones.
oh and let's not forget on the smaller bars whether it's a regular laminated rollomatic e or the rollomatic es bar, that makes a price difference also
That price was power head only. He said a bar and chain would be more. I was just rainting a little cause my good dealer is going to $%#@. Now I have to find anouther dealer. There is anouther one that is good, but they are almost 40 minutes out of my way, and this one was litterly right across the street from my work.
spike60
Addicted to ArboristSite
Ok, I'm not "defending" here, just explaining what could be happening.
The one thing that the new owner has that the previous owner may not have, is a mortgage. And maybe TWO of them.
I've seen this many times before. A guy has a business that he's owned forever and he decides to sell. The new owner has a note to pay on "the business" and very often a mortgage on the real estate as well. Therefore the new owner has a significant increase in monthly overhead that the original owner never had to deal with. A store that made have been profitable when there was no mortgage could be a losing proposition for the new owner. All of a sudden, the numbers don't work unless you can raise the volume to compensate, which is of course not very easy to do.
I've seen some decent people who have bought stores end up going out of business because of this.
The new owner of this store may be dealing with a situation similar to this. He has cut some of his expenses, and raised prices. He obviously needs to increase his revenue, but he has to be careful not to alienate his customers. He can't change too much too soon without pissing people off.
It's a difficult position to be in.
The one thing that the new owner has that the previous owner may not have, is a mortgage. And maybe TWO of them.
I've seen this many times before. A guy has a business that he's owned forever and he decides to sell. The new owner has a note to pay on "the business" and very often a mortgage on the real estate as well. Therefore the new owner has a significant increase in monthly overhead that the original owner never had to deal with. A store that made have been profitable when there was no mortgage could be a losing proposition for the new owner. All of a sudden, the numbers don't work unless you can raise the volume to compensate, which is of course not very easy to do.
I've seen some decent people who have bought stores end up going out of business because of this.
The new owner of this store may be dealing with a situation similar to this. He has cut some of his expenses, and raised prices. He obviously needs to increase his revenue, but he has to be careful not to alienate his customers. He can't change too much too soon without pissing people off.
It's a difficult position to be in.
mini kahuna
ArboristSite Guru
I had the same thing happen to me,old timer sold his store,new owner is an arrogant @#$%.
love stihl but moved on to a different brand because of this guy.
to me the guy I get parts and supplies from is as important as the equipment itself.
love stihl but moved on to a different brand because of this guy.
to me the guy I get parts and supplies from is as important as the equipment itself.
Good post.
The new owner of the dealership needs to understand that he is selling a commodity - an item regularly and widely available at more or less a "standard" price. There is nothing especially unique about current production saws that can be had anywhere, so if he intends to ask that a premium price be paid then he needs to make sure that there is something of extra value to accompany that unusually high price.
I'd give him a few months to see how the new pricing scheme works out before writing him off completely. He may not completely understand the market that he jumped into when he bought the shop, and if he's truly a good businessman he will quickly see what needs to be done; I am willing to bet that he'll be back to MSRP +/- $20 within 180 days. If not, then definitely find somewhere else to do business.
oldsaw
"Been There, Milled That"
Yes, but he is making decisions that will put him in a far worse position. In order to cover his increased overhead, he needs to increase business, not turn away his current customer base. Increasing prices will have a negative effect on revenues, not the positive effect he wants. He is literally cutting his own throat. He needs to work on increasing the size of his customer base, and keeping the current customer base he has, which increasing prices will not do. What he should be doing is offering some freebies to get more people in. I'd be not only giving a couple of free chains with a new saw, but a couple of free sharpenings as well. This will increase his customer base and the amount of goodwill in the neighborhood.
The customer base he thought he just bought is going to get much smaller really fast if he doesn't change course. Anyone want to buy a Stihl dealership for cheap in a year or so? I think we may have one coming soon.
Mark
Yup. He needs to work on increasing volume, it would seem. But that's a lot harder than just changing the price stickers on things...which only works in the short run, as I'm sure he'll find out...
spike60
Addicted to ArboristSite
I completely agree Mark. That's what I meant about alienating his customers. If he tries to jam everybody that comes in the door, it won't be long before people stop coming in the door altogether.
oldsaw
"Been There, Milled That"
We've seen the short term results, at least one customer lost. The first people that notice the price changes will be his regular customer base who will feel screwed and start out this new relationship not trusting the new owner. It will only go downhill from there. Word will spread fast, and not the word he is looking for. Even if he changes the prices back today, he will have to try to win back the customers he lost...some he may never even know he lost.
Take me for example. I've already told 1/2 a dozen guys that my former Stihl dealer adds a 50-100% mark-up from retail on parts and some accessories, then pimp my new guy who is at MSRP. I would be that guys worst nightmare. He has every right to charge what he wants, and his customer base has every right to shop elsewhere. Treat the customer right, don't screw them over. How willing are you to trust a repair estimate from a guy who you know is screwing you on parts? Is he being honest, or is he trying to chisel you on not only the repair, but is he going to try to sell you a muffler belt or a valve job on your saw?
Mark
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This happened to me recently too. I was just beginning to get established as a repeat customer, having bought an MS 260, two timmers and a mower from them over a year or so, all right at retail without whining about the price. I know that doesn't make me a big time buyer but this guys shop is within eyesight of a K-Mart and the former owner appreciated people who shopped with him instead of going to the cheap place for a Wild Thing and a $99 mower.
The new owner probably fits the scenario described in the post above exactly. To cut overhead he's got his family members running the counter and doing sales on things they know nothing about. They let go the guy that was doing it that actually knew the products and brought in customers because of his knowledge. They raised their sharpeing fee from $4 to $7 for a 20" chain (carried in loop) and on the one I had them sharpen for me, ground away WAY too much tooth. Maybe from not knowing what they're doing or maybe thinking that would cause me to buy more 20" loops at $27.95+tax for standard 3/8 .050 72 link. NOT.
I try to shop locally but only as long as a business trys to earn my loyalty. When I feel like they're taking advantage of our remote location (next closest Stihl dealers, 45 miles in opposite directions from me) I shop elsewhere.
I'm thinking it won't be too long before there's another new owner. And then I'll go back and check them out.
The new owner probably fits the scenario described in the post above exactly. To cut overhead he's got his family members running the counter and doing sales on things they know nothing about. They let go the guy that was doing it that actually knew the products and brought in customers because of his knowledge. They raised their sharpeing fee from $4 to $7 for a 20" chain (carried in loop) and on the one I had them sharpen for me, ground away WAY too much tooth. Maybe from not knowing what they're doing or maybe thinking that would cause me to buy more 20" loops at $27.95+tax for standard 3/8 .050 72 link. NOT.
I try to shop locally but only as long as a business trys to earn my loyalty. When I feel like they're taking advantage of our remote location (next closest Stihl dealers, 45 miles in opposite directions from me) I shop elsewhere.
I'm thinking it won't be too long before there's another new owner. And then I'll go back and check them out.
how much are you normally paying for a 20" 3/8" 72 loop? in my area that's about the norm for a stihl chain
Good point, that doesn't seem to be out of line for Stihl brand chain from a dealer. I was just in shock at what one sharpening and one chain cost me compared to catalog purchases. I will keep stocked up on mail order chain to avoid the sticker shock!
i guess we're kinda high for sharpenings compared to your area too...we charge $8 off the saw and $12.50 on the saw, but we're within a dollar or so of the other dealers in our area so maybe it's a regional thing? As for chain prices, stihl msrp is awfully high on chain since it's all done by the drive link. We tend to trim those back a bit from msrp, esp on 18 and 20" .325 chains (ie 26rs 74 and 81 for stihl and 23rs/25rs 72 and 78 for husky) and some of the larger 3/8"
