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Lowe's Selling John Deere in Spring '06


rs07

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I remember reading a post on here a few months back about Lowe's Home Improvment Stores going to be selling John Deere Lawn & Garden Tractors in the Spring of '06. Was at my local Lowe's Store today and saw a display poster stating "Coming Soon Spring 2006, John Deere Lawn and Garden Tractors and Walk-Behind Snowblowers. Now, don't get me wrong, I like Home Depot and Lowe's for home improvment products, but they're really killing the independent outdoor power equipment dealers. I think both big box stores should stop selling power equipment so the independent dealers can have the business back. As a matter of fact one of my local longtime Simplicity dealers is ready to close his doors, because he is getting killed by this very same Lowe's store I was at today. This store is only about 2 miles from him.
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MY TWO CENTS: I have said the same thing for years, but it is my belief that it's not so much the box stores selling tractors, but the large companies like Deere who sell them to the box stores. They are interested in selling as much product as possible at the expense of thier dealers. How can a dealer compete when when the local Home Depot is retailing tractors for less than the dealer can buy them? The simple answer is, they can't. In my area, we used to have dealers for Simplicity, Snapper, Bolens, Jacobsen, Wheel Horse, Deere, IH Cubs and Ford. Sears tractors had to be ordered from a catalog store(remember those?) so most people did not bother, they just bought somthing from a local dealer. Today there are none left except for Ford and Deere(and they are still around mainly because of thier heavy tractors, backhoes, etc). I have one local guy whose business is still based on small Deere's, and he is barely hanging on, recently downsizing to lower overhead. He was thriving before Home Cheapo started selling his product a few miles up the road. Great way to thank the guys who made you what you are.
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quote:
Originally posted by rs07
I think both big box stores should stop selling power equipment so the independent dealers can have the business back. As a matter of fact one of my local longtime Simplicity dealers is ready to close his doors, because he is getting killed by this very same Lowe's store I was at today. This store is only about 2 miles from him.
I couldn`t agree with you more. You would think that junk that John Deere puts their name on that they sell to these mass merchants would shame them alone. But it hasn`t botherd MTD at all either. You would think after a while the people that buy this junk every 3 years would wise up to the quality of it. The back tires aren`t even bolted on those JD`s. Lowes and Home Depot here have either put every small time appliance store out of business or turned them into a service center. These small businesses should be able to refuse to fix the stuff that is sold at these places without losing their bussiness.
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Around here it's basically all John Deere. Of course that may be because there seems to be a Lowes or Home Depot every 5-10 miles. The other choice is the rather ubiquitous Sears Craftsman and it's AYP Cousins. Those aren't much good until you get to the very top end of their line, and even then the mower deck design is junk. I don't remember seeing an independent lawn equipment dealer around here. Our local Simplicity place is really a equipment rental that has a few tractors on the side.
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I can understand your guys feelings about losing local dealers. However, the local dealers have to be flexible in their business and provide better service than the box stores to stay in business or, they'll have to get a job or do something else. Everyone wants things to stay the same but everyone also wants to save as much money as possible. I've never had someone offer me more money for something I was selling after I told them what I wanted for it. And I haven't done that either. Just wait till China starts making riding lawn mowers and sells them in Walmart for $200-$300. They wouldn't be selling if people weren't buying.
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Your all correct but Lloyd makes the strongest point It's the people who are buying this junk that makes it so attactive for the big stores. We still have a Snapper and Jacobsen dealer and a Simplicity, Huskvarna, Toro/Wheelhorse dealer, as well as a JD small tractor dealer. The Simplicity dealer only sells Husky tractors unless you order something else he says there the only ones cheep enough that he can sell, he also says their national add campain brings people to his door. The JD dealer just picked up the Simplicity line but won't sell tractors. he got the dealership just to sell snow blowers since JD quit making them. He told me an odd thing, after 25 years in business he says people will really look over a snow blower and buy on quality but they can't see past the paint job on a lawn mower. I think thats because no one was ever late for work stuck in the drive because their grass was too long. John
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The local shops in my area are making a killing off the box stores. They still have the Pro's, Farmers, and people that know buy equipment from them. Most of these shops have had to hire extra mechanics to fix all the junk sold at the box stores. The "big boys" do not service the junk they sell - and its not limited to lawn mowers: splitters, tillers, chainsaws, blowers, etc.
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I get a kick out of Deere .They dealers complain about fixing those box store tractors but they are making money all around.The guy gets tractor fixed at dealership and buys a attachment from dealer.Deere wins all around.Society has done this to ourselfs.I dont know to many people that spend what i spend on tractors.I have something that lasts and thats has a good reputation.I dont buy just because of the color or name but because of the quality of the product,and the parts&service from Simplicity.I think it is sad that people want to buy cheap ,junk.I cant believe that deere stoped making blowers,the way they want to have market share.
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Hi I could not agree more with this "Junk" that Big Box stores are selling these days. Those LT series Deeres are really cheaply built and the plastic hoods really dispise me. One big run in with these cheapies, and there totaled. The mower decks are so thin on them,it is not funny. Local dealer has several of these LT series tractors in every year for repair, and the repair bill is bigger then what the tractor orginally cost! I have a local Deere dealer that goes head to head with a Kbouta dealer which seems to hold it's own. Kbouta, other then Simplicity, is one of the few companies that build good reliable lawn and Garden equipment in my opnion! I surely hope Simplicity and Kbouta don't go that way! Take Care Jason B
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Eventually, this will lead to the demise of John Deere. It is analagous to what happened to Huffy bikes. Huffy used to own the market on bicycles in the 70's. More recently, they formed a partnership with Walmart. This ALWAYS turns out to be a deal with the devil. At first, I am sure that maybe 20% or 30% of their total sales were through Walmart. However, over time, that percentage inevitably increases. Hence, Huffy became more and more dependent on their relationship with Walmart. Once Walmart has them by the proverbial "small ones", they (Walmart) can demand greater and greater price concessions or threaten to take their business elsewhere (usually offshore). In this case, Huffy had no choice but to give in until finally, their margins were too small to stay in business. This happens OVER and OVER as a result of these megastores. The sad thing is that the very people who complain the most about the Walmarts of the world are the same ones who take advantage of their lower prices....myself not withstanding. I am very involved in this same phenomenon, except in the Health Insurance industry. Ten years ago, there were literally hundreds of policies a person could choose from. But go to your agent today, in most markets, there are really only three or four viable options to get your health insurance coverage. Why, because all the little companies have been squeezed out by the big boys. And guess what will eventually happen? Once one company has a monopoly, prices will go up. This is already partially happening in the health insurance market. So, John Deere will eventually be forced by Lowes to accept less and less attractive contract terms. John Deere will have no choice but to cave in because there just aren't enough Mom and Pop shops left to be a viable replacement for the volume of business they get from Lowes. Eventually, Lowes will squeeze so hard that Deere will just close its' doors. Sometimes, the Federal Gov't will step in and help the Mom and Pop stores with some kind of legislation, but more times than not, the feds screw it up and end up causing more harm than good. And more often, they will make the laws but will fail to enforce them. If anyone is interested, I can forward summaries of the Robinson-Patman laws of the 30's for example. The only thing we can do is emphasize the need to keep the mom and Pop shops in business by frequenting them. And PRACTICING what we preach! My father-in-law is Mr. big-time, pro-union, buy American cheerleader....but he will sell his soul for a good deal at Walmart in a heartbeat. Really sad, but we all know people like that. The other thing we can do is make sure that the Mom and Pop stores keep their reputation for providing better service. This is a fact and there is a percentage (albeit a small one) that will shop for service rather than price. This small percentage might be just enough to keep them in business long enough to ride out the storm. Things will eventually change, but I think the change will be measured in years and possibly decades rather than in months. My two cents: John Deere will eventually suffer greatly from this and will be lucky to survive!
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The main problem I haven't read here is most Americans now a days would rather buy new every 2-3 years with the illusion it's 'dependable' when new then to have something that is fixable. Be interesting to know how often the oil even gets checked, much less changed on the mowers bought at the boxstores.
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The sad thing is,the big retailer gets the big $$$ from the sale,and then the local guy is expected to provide warranty service for the same unit.Warranty service usually doesn't pay anything near what "customer pay" service does,and you usually have to fight with the factory,and wait month's to get paid. One other thing,will Lowes carry a model exclusive to Lowes,or something that regular dealers can get? If you notice Lowes ad's on say appliances,Lowes says they will match or beat the price on identical items.But the model numbers on say a Maytag refrigerator never matches anything you can get from the local guy.That's because they sell a 'fridge model exclusive to Lowes. So you can't really compare the same item.And they don't have to match prices. And what happens to MTD,which sells Cub Cadet,Bolens,and Troy Bilt tractors through Lowes,along with Husquvarna?
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I can't see it being the demise of Deere over this as they've been selling crap like this for years. They don't care about fixing it as long as they sell more from the lack of being able to repair it. The thing to remember is they don't care about the little guy as long as they servive. I have a new Lowes in my town and other than the conveniance of the hrs I haven't seen it change the way I shop all that much. As for selling more cheap tractors, it's just more for me and my HB212 and 620 to show up.
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OK, my opinion now. First - the statement of "lack of being able to repair it" - could mean a couple things, but is far from the truth with John Deere. Parts are actually priced better, available more quickly, and they don't obsolete stuff like Simplicity. JD tractors are much more serviceable than many other brands in terms of parts still being available, and replaceable. Simplicity parts are expensive, take longer to order, and they obviously don't care about the older tractors. You can almost build a new model 110/112 JD, try getting a hood for your 3112 Simplicity. Second, if you took a look at the JD prices at the box stores, and then visited a local JD dealer, the prices on those low end L-series tractors are the same - by John Deere rules. That is what gets me with the stupid general public - they just think that a big store has better prices - not always true. Pay the same price at a dealer, plus make a friend that can help you out when it finally does break. Bottom line like suggested above - our society is its own worst enemy. We all want to spend nothing, but get everything. No matter what brand you are into, support your local dealer. If he is overpriced, let him know (with your reciept from another store) - maybe he doesn't understand why people don't shop there. Tim
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quote:
I get a kick out of Deere .They dealers complain about fixing those box store tractors but they are making money all around.The guy gets tractor fixed at dealership and buys a attachment from dealer.
I would venture to guess that 90%+ of the tractors sold by Lowes and other box stores,Deere,MTD,or others,will never have more than a mower deck on them.The other 10% or so might get a blade,or a blower if possible,and I think that also would be ordered from the box store.So the local guy is still out,unless he sells a mower blade,or a belt.
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