Mmmmmmm. We are all making a lot of assumptions here.
McFeely has developed an asset worth a lot of money.
Maybe it was time to move on.
I just hope that Granger can keep that "AwChucks' image alive, an
image I found so endearing and was willing to pay extra for.
That one-on-one relationship is so damned rare these days. Will
Granger say: "I'll get on it, Rob, btw, how is your sister?"
Not bloody likely.
The whole square drive profit centre will get a good thinning, and
they'll keep those few things which will make them money. Guys like
McFeely also had parts and pieces, not as a profit centre, but as a
complement to a profit centre. Granger's MBA's are not likely to give
a damn about that.
McFeely was a Festool dealer as well....that makes for an interesting
marriage.

My gut-feeling tells me that McFeely did all right, WE are not likely
to benefit. Granger will likely rape the brand.
Maybe we'll get square-drive screws made in China, which may or may
not fit our drivers.

/cynicism

You seem to be making a lot of assumptions based on a gut-feeling...now I'm
not going to say that your predictions are NOT going to come true, just the
LSS and Grainger have been doing business for a long time and don't tend
towards the "buy and gut" method that many other companies do. LSS started
out in a dudes garage, was easy going and easy to deal with then and nothing
about that has chaged in the past 20 years or so that I've dealt with them.

And no...I have no connection to them other than having the same ZIP code.

Mike