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Teknatool in trouble in the USA
- Thread starter hughie
- Start date
I've seen posts by Teknatool reps. The gist is that this is a Chapter 11 (restructuring) bankruptcy. The US arm will either survive the restructuring or it will be absorbed into another Teknatool division. In short, this isn't a big deal for Teknatool global. We'll see if that's the case or whether this is a harbinger.
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There's a thread going on I think about nova delivery where it's been discussed already here -but what Kent said. Probably not a big deal overall, but may be some short term volatility and availability issues
This is not good. Unresponsive to customer complaints, can’t pay creditors, employees terminated….
Can’t put lipstick on a pig and make it prettier.
Can’t put lipstick on a pig and make it prettier.
Doesn’t look good. I worked for a company that had 300 stores nationwide. I was the plant electrician in their DC. They filed chapter 11 and said they were restructuring and two months later the closed the doors.
Not happy news, for now, but hopefully they will recover, and sooner rather than later.
I wish we had more information, though. It's hard for me to imagine how the "US arm" got into trouble.
I wish we had more information, though. It's hard for me to imagine how the "US arm" got into trouble.
The US arm.....
Woodcraft stores all over the country are dropping like flies. The Seattle store is currently for sale. They're the second highest sales volume store in the chain, second only to one in Hawaii. In conversation with a local employee his contention is Woodcraft corporate won't let it fail, corporate will take it over if no buyer surfaces.
I don't know what's driving the closures, lack of interest in woodworking/woodturning?? I'm blown away by Woodcraft's prices whenever I stop in.
Rockler still has 2 local stores, both combined footprints aren't half the footprint of the Woodcraft store.
I may be wrong but the wood crafting organizations are somewhat insular and do not have the outreach efforts others do. Norm Abrams probably brought more folks into woodworking than anyone in recent history.
Nova chucks and accessories used to be available in multiple stores, but for some reason the stores stopped carrying them. The local operation in Florida used to provide good customer service, but that stopped several years ago. The US web site closed a couple years ago. Something's been going on for a while and it doesn't really surprise that they may drop the US entirely. Or maybe the problem has been the folks in the US and Nova will find new people to fire things up again.
I live in the same town as the Woodcraft corporate office and a store. The store by me seems to be doing very well. All of my turning classes are always full. The other classes seem to be doing good also. Also a lot of people in shopping every day I have been there.
Sorry, what? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong site, but https://www.teknatool.com/ has always been the only one I've known about since I've had any interest in Nova tools (going back much further than my turning, to their drill press line). It's always listed both the US and NZ addresses (eg for return shipping) as well. Was there some other US site?
I have no idea what is up with Nova but I don't see them going away. If they do well that's life, crap happens. I have a Nova Mercury, a DVR3000, sold my Comet 14DR when I downsized and have the Nova Neptune (this is why I sold the 14DR). And I also have the Voyager Drill Press (now if something happened to this I would really cry as I don't know of a drill press that can compare to it). They are all running and in good order. If one or all die well I will miss them (except the drill press) but I don't see that happening. For now there is no need to panic, I'll just give it time.
Post's from Nova Woodworking Facebook page:
If you've heard any buzz about NOVA, let’s clear things up—we’re still your #1 trusted brand in woodturning, and with the ever-changing business environment, we’re constantly evolving to stay at the forefront.
Exciting changes and some amazing new products are on the horizon, so stay tuned! #Woodturning #StillTurning #NOVA #NOVAProud #woodworking
And the next day this:
NOVA is now selling direct—order your tools straight from our website!
www.teknatool.com
More Access. More Innovation.
The world keeps changing, and so does NOVA! We’re making adjustments to ensure you have direct access to the tools you love—because the craft and community matter.
#WoodturningYourWay #NOVA
NOVA Woodworking
dSotsonprelmh2ht0h6P2aMu5f8r c3 26a3lt4amm2 M7fu621:60m6u tl ·If you've heard any buzz about NOVA, let’s clear things up—we’re still your #1 trusted brand in woodturning, and with the ever-changing business environment, we’re constantly evolving to stay at the forefront.
Exciting changes and some amazing new products are on the horizon, so stay tuned! #Woodturning #StillTurning #NOVA #NOVAProud #woodworking
And the next day this:
NOVA is now selling direct—order your tools straight from our website!
www.teknatool.com
More Access. More Innovation.
The world keeps changing, and so does NOVA! We’re making adjustments to ensure you have direct access to the tools you love—because the craft and community matter.
#WoodturningYourWay #NOVA
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I love my Nebula,.Let's keep this excellent tool maker in business by supporting them.
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[td] over the past few years, the world has changed in ways none of us could have predicted. Global shifts in trade, the economy, and supply chains have challenged businesses everywhere—including ours. But at NOVA, we see change as an opportunity! To ensure we continue bringing you the best tools at the best value, we’re making a big move: we’re opening up direct sales! This means better access, more control, and a stronger NOVA for the future. And that’s not all—we have some exciting new products on the horizon that we can’t wait to share with you. Our commitment to this craft and community remains as strong as ever, and we’re here to support you for many more years to come. Thank you for being part of the NOVA family. We’re just getting started. Your team at NOVA |
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Dear Nova, your drill press is the best I have ever had.
It is easy to blame everything thing else for business failures. Get people involved in your company that are as good with money as the folks that designed and made your products. With a product as good as yours the world could be yours.
It is easy to blame everything thing else for business failures. Get people involved in your company that are as good with money as the folks that designed and made your products. With a product as good as yours the world could be yours.
Maybe I'm too old school, but I don't see how "direct sales" is an improvement.
I phoned Harvey Machinery only to find that they too are “direct sales” ONLY. Told the guy that I’d like to see their lathes up close and asked him if I could get in touch with a few of their lathe customers in my area. He informed me “they DON’T do that”. Fantastic customer service there…
Yes, there was a separate novatoolsUSA web site.
Because there are businesses for whom the overhead of wholesaling to retail outlets outweighs the benefits. That is, the sales exposure and resulting increased sales volume don't make up for the typically massive wholesale price discount. If the wholesale discount is 50%, and a business can switch to direct sales, that entire 50% goes to the bottom line. So yes, that's unfortunate for customers who want to walk into a retail outlet (vs. connecting with a local club and/or resources like this forum) to "kick the tires" as it were.
Also, brands like Robust and Vicmarc (especially the latter in this discussion) don't have local retail presence in the US. It seems odd to fault Teknatool on that basis alone.
Does this include their chucks, jaws and other lathe accessories?
The last time I saw a full size lathe at a local-to-me woodworking machine retailer was about 20 years ago. Specialized retailers that stock a few big lathes still exist but they are so few and far between that there is no practical difference between direct sales and purchase through a local or online retailer for most of us. That local general woodworking retailer will not stock the machine, will not receive your machine from the manufacturer, and in most cases doesn't have much understanding of the machine, so what is the value added by the local general woodworking retailer? Still, this direct sales announcement and employee layoff begs the question of whether Teknatool plans to drop-ship and provide tech support from NZ? How many hours time difference is that from the US?
I think it remains to be seen whether they'll go exclusively direct sales or not, and what the US sales model will be. Like, eg, Vicmarc they might just end up with select woodturning specific retail partner(s), at least for big equipment like lathes.
Pacific time minus three hours, Eastern time minus six. For example, if it's noon in LA, it's 9am in Auckland. Not bad, on the scheme of international time differences. (Bad is Pacific Time to India Standard Time. 12 or 13 hours off depending on DST here. Every time is bad for everyone, basically.)
It will be very interesting to see how things shake out for the chucks. jaws. etc. The current announcement is short on details, but implies that everything will be up for direct sale. I think the question is more: will chucks, jaws, etc. continue to be sold at places like Rockler?
as a very satisfied DVR-XP owner for 11 years, I am watching this thread. (Our club has one too)
The 3 largest retailers in the woodturning craft/art/industry sales were down 40% last year. I hope this is the only manufacturer ( tho the most deserving) to go under. My guess would be to hold your breath for companies like Laguna - which, like Nova Technitool are both family owned and run. Similarly, both companies have a very spotty and inconsistent history in customer support.
Because of the internet, the business model is changing. Back in the day, manufacturers made stuff and sellers sold it. Each earned their share of the pie. Today, sellers do not put big stuff on the floor, especially lathes and drill presses. They drop ship everything. Makers can actually have a stronger presence on line world wide than any catalog or store front. It is ridiculous for a store to get a serious piece of that pie if they are not going to stock the product. I initially ordered my drill press from woodcraft. The initial order showed a 2 week delivery. A few days after they got the money, it changed to 2 months. I canceled and ordered through Amazon and got it in 2 weeks. Woodcraft was not stocking, just drop shipping. From a business standpoint, woodcraft was useless to the manufacturer. It is totally understandable that they would start selling direct. That is the only sensible business model today.
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And depending on margins, many retailers would be unwilling to stock slower moving product - In the OPE business, a margin of 4% to 8% was not uncommon Dealer cost of $136.50 for a unit that retailed at $159.95 does not leave a lot of margin for the retailer to justify stocking if they don't absolutely have to. Stocking 2 or 3 of each of a given brand of lathe could result in a quarter million dollars sitting on a shelf gathering dust until it might finally sell and you earn a few hundred dollars - but if you don't sell the units fast enough you're paying interest on the money (floor planning) unless you are willing to tie up your own cash in inventory (doesn't make sense when you can be earning 7% plus investing the money) So it'd be understandable that manufacturers might have to resort to drop shipping in order to get the retailers (whom might have the customer base and specialized markets to move product better) to carry their product line....
Now if a lathe manufacturer was offering me a wholesale price of $2300 on a $3500 retail lathe and could guarantee that no one else is going to undercut me on the retail pricing (Which would be impossible to do, lest they fall afoul of FTC laws) I might consider stocking the lathe in warehouse.. but odds are, retailers may be seeing only a margin more like a cost of $3250 on a retail of $3499.95, so they would be very unwilling to tie up so much cash or financed (floor planning) into inventory that they might not sell for several months.. when they could put the same money into faster moving product (like glue, hardware, etc) with better margins (as much as 40%) and make much more profit in the same time frame. Same problem most of us OPE Dealers had for many years especially after competitors started selling parts and equipment online (eBay, etc) since we now had to compete across the USA instead of just our local service area. If you could not move the inventory before floor plan terms came due, you either had to tie up your cash flow to pay off the floor plan or you'd be paying expensive interest rates (18%) to the finance companies that held the notes on your inventory.
So yeah, I can see why they might just want to cut out the middleman and just sell direct themselves - putting that extra 8% profit into their own pockets instead of passing it along to a retailer...
I am not sure what the numbers are on lathes but my catalog placements and others cost me 30 to 40 percent. Smart marketing with direct targeting is a lot more effective without the hassle. Nova learned the hard way that stores are not motivated to sell big ticket items and they do not have the traffic.
You know I have been a Teknatool/Nova customer for almost 25 years and never once have I ever had spotty or inconsistent service. I have never had trouble getting a hold of them and they have always been direct and clear in any question I have asked. I have only had to replace 1 thing in any piece of equipment I have got from them and that was the pinion on one of my Supernova chucks, This is why I know that there are different pinions for the chuck because they sent me pinions three times until I got the correct one. Oops, I forgot, when I got my Nova 14DR the piece in the headstock that drove the speed display was missing a couple of teeth. I let them know and they rushed me a new headstock. All you have to do to understand people is to go to a place like Amazon and look at the responses of folks who bought something and look at the reviews, there are a lot of idiots out there. And what Jerry says above is so true. I don't know how places like Woodcraft and such survive. As I'm really past my time purchasing things for woodturning I do hope that Teknatool/Nova finds this new venture rewarding.
Well, I ordered some Titan jaws through a reseller before Christmas. They still aren't here. They are in stock on the teknatool website though. I am very happy to see them selling directly.
Something's fishy here. A somewhat basic rule of marketing is manufacturers are not usually supposed to compete with their authorized dealer network.
If I was in your shoes I would contact teknatool for an explanation why their representative (the reseller) is not performing.
Well, that's interesting. My retailer just cancelled my long-outstanding Nebula order. The email notification said that the item was "discontinued", but the order status on their website had a different status message: "Cancellation Reason: The estimated delivery time is too long". I decided to reach out to Teknatool via their support ticket form and see if there's any update available regarding direct ordering for the Nebula... primarily since I have a suspicion that the cancellation may be directly related to the change in the US sales model.
That used to be a rule of marketing but hasn't for some time. Lots of woodworking companies sell direct and also through Craft Supplies USA , Packard,etc. One of the last holdouts of that rule is automobile manufacturers, but that change is coming very soon.
I'm curious who the retailer was?
Online shopping has really put a dent in the brick-and-mortar stores. Woodcraft/Wood River receive more revenue from online sales than they do in retail sales. As for Nova, they will make a bigger profit from direct sales than using third parties. Signs of the times.
Acme Tools.
Where did you find that Woodcraft makes more from online sales than walk in retail?
Googling, all I could find was "e-commerce sales accounting for a significant portion of its overall revenue ". Not clear what a significant portion means.
I noticed my local Woodcraft store is getting very low on Nova chucks and accessories but are filling the space with Rikon chucks and accessories.