I placed an order online using their catalog which shows a Lynchburg, VA,
address. Everything went fine and the lag screw and washers arrived within a
day of when I expected them. I don't need them until tomorrow so a day late was
no big deal. I did not pay any attention to the package and it went into the
burn barrel this morning.

In today's mail, I received an invoice for the order with a $0.00 balance. I
don't recall this ever happening before.

Upon closer examination of the invoice, I find that they (McFeely's) have an
address in Janesville, Wisconsin. Upon further digging around onthe web site, I
find that they are a division of Lab Safety Supply, Inc., with a Madison WI,
address

A review ofthe UPS tracking on the order also verifies that they are now
shipping from Wisconsin.

It looks like they sold out or got sucked up.

I sure hope that we don't see any changes in products or policy.
__________________
Bill Waller
New Eagle, PA

I did a little more digging.

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely
__________________
Bill Waller
New Eagle, PA

In article , wrote:
I did a little more digging.

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely

If this means I'll be able to buy McFeely screws by walking into the Grainger
store that's less than ten minutes from home *and* open Saturdays, it sounds
good to me.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

If this means I'll be able to buy McFeely screws by walking into the Grainger
store that's less than ten minutes from home *and* open Saturdays, it sounds
good to me.


That's exactly what I was thinking - I haven't used McF's screws, but
I'd be much more likely to try them if I could pick up a small
quantity locally without paying shipping.
Andy

In article . com, Andy wrote:
If this means I'll be able to buy McFeely screws by walking into the Grainger
store that's less than ten minutes from home *and* open Saturdays, it sounds
good to me.


That's exactly what I was thinking - I haven't used McF's screws, but
I'd be much more likely to try them if I could pick up a small
quantity locally without paying shipping.

Define "small quantity." :-)

You're not likely to find them at Grainger's in any quantity less than a box
of a hundred. To some, that *is* a small quantity; to others, it's not.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Define "small quantity." :-)

You're not likely to find them at Grainger's in any quantity less than a box
of a hundred. To some, that *is* a small quantity; to others, it's not.

Yes, a box of 100 would be great. Even one of their variety packs,
100 each of a few different sizes, would be fine. I realize that
trying to buy 10 screws or something would be just about
impossible... I was just hoping for home handyman quantities, not
commercial cabinetmaker quantities. Any educated guesses whether
Grainger will sell McF's screws through their retail stores? Or how
separate do they tend to keep the companies they acquire?
Thanks,
Andy

Bill Waller wrote:

I did a little more digging.

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely
__________________
Bill Waller
New Eagle, PA



Really hope this doesn't foretell a decline in quality and/or service.
Can only wait and see.



--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

"Mark & Juanita" wrote

Really hope this doesn't foretell a decline in quality and/or
service.
Can only wait and see.

Have been a Grainger customer for many years.

They didn't get where they are by screwing up a business they have
bought and folded into their business model.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:


"Mark & Juanita" wrote

Really hope this doesn't foretell a decline in quality and/or
service.
Can only wait and see.

Have been a Grainger customer for many years.

They didn't get where they are by screwing up a business they have
bought and folded into their business model.

Lew

Glad to hear that. I haven't had many direct dealings with Grainger, but
I do know they have a good rep.


--
If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough

In article , Mark & Juanita wrote:
Bill Waller wrote:

I did a little more digging.

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely

Really hope this doesn't foretell a decline in quality and/or service.
Can only wait and see.

I would expect the opposite, actually. Grainger's a class act. Not to
imply that McFeely's wasn't, of course. But Grainger is a very professional
operation. IME their customer service and product quality are uniformly
excellent.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Sep 14, 8:12 am, (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , Mark & Juanita wrote:

Bill Waller wrote:

I did a little more digging.

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely

Really hope this doesn't foretell a decline in quality and/or service.
Can only wait and see.

I would expect the opposite, actually. Grainger's a class act. Not to
imply that McFeely's wasn't, of course. But Grainger is a very professional
operation. IME their customer service and product quality are uniformly
excellent.

I have heard good things about Grainger too. I should have kept my
negativity to myself, especially in light of the fact I didn't even
read the press release. Believe it or not, sometimes I'm just talking
out my ass.

Long live McFeely's!!

JP

I had a phone call from McFeely's this morning and the caller ID
showed as LAB SAFETY SUPP.
Art

"Bill Waller" wrote in message
...
I placed an order online using their catalog which shows a Lynchburg, VA,
address. Everything went fine and the lag screw and washers arrived within a
day of when I expected them. I don't need them until tomorrow so a day late was
no big deal. I did not pay any attention to the package and it went into the
burn barrel this morning.

In today's mail, I received an invoice for the order with a $0.00 balance. I
don't recall this ever happening before.

Upon closer examination of the invoice, I find that they (McFeely's) have an
address in Janesville, Wisconsin. Upon further digging around onthe web site, I
find that they are a division of Lab Safety Supply, Inc., with a Madison WI,
address

A review ofthe UPS tracking on the order also verifies that they are now
shipping from Wisconsin.

It looks like they sold out or got sucked up.

I sure hope that we don't see any changes in products or policy.
__________________
Bill Waller
New Eagle, PA

On Sep 13, 6:07 pm, "WoodButcher" wrote:
I had a phone call from McFeely's this morning and the caller ID
showed as LAB SAFETY SUPP.

Good for Ray. Not good for us, or for "McFeely's" - you can bet on
that.
JP

Jay Pique wrote:
On Sep 13, 6:07 pm, "WoodButcher" wrote:
I had a phone call from McFeely's this morning and the caller ID
showed as LAB SAFETY SUPP.

Good for Ray. Not good for us, or for "McFeely's" - you can bet on
that.

Lab Safety Supply is the parent company of WW Grainger. I'm not sure
that a hardware company getting taken over by Grainger is a bad thing
at all, especially if they keep the brands separate, which they seem
to be planning to do.

Here's the press release:

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely


--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

In article , "J. Clarke" wrote:

Lab Safety Supply is the parent company of WW Grainger.

Actually, it's the other way around. From the press release you cite below:

"Grainger, a leading North American industrial distributor, today announced
its Lab Safety Supply (LSS) subsidiary has acquired substantially all of the
assets of McFeely’s Square Drive Screws of Lynchburg, Virginia. [...]"

I'm not sure
that a hardware company getting taken over by Grainger is a bad thing
at all, especially if they keep the brands separate, which they seem
to be planning to do.

Here's the press release:

http://www.labsafety.com/aboutus/pressrel.htm#mcfeely



--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

On Sep 13, 4:03 pm, Bill Waller wrote:


It looks like they sold out or got sucked up.


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

r

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

Robatoy wrote:

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

Where do you think McFeely's gets them now?

--
Jack
http://jbstein.com

This deserves a bit of clarification however.

While we do import fasteners, they're made to our specifications. We
don't just buy what's available and trust me, there is a lot of
questionable stuff available to buy.

Also, it's important to note that we still do business with North
American distributors. The industry changed on us and many of our
manufacturing partners became import/export brokers after it became
impossible for them to compete otherwise. I was there during the great
change-over (as we like to refer to it) and it wasn't something for
which we lobbied. We accepted it only after it became clear that the
fasteners being brought over would meet our specifications. I know how
seriously Jim Ray took the change as I was there to watch him write
the letter to our customers.

As an aside, as a part of our standard testing process, we check for
torsional strength and the quality of "bit fit". That's not to say
that we never make a mistake but we're not about to accept inferior
products just because they're cheaper. It goes against who we are. Our
imported screws match and even exceed the torsional strength of our
previous North American-made product.

Back on topic, when our manufacturing partners changed to import/
export brokers, we lowered our prices. Why? We felt that a cost
reduction should be passed on to our customers. We did that even
though the quality was equivalent.

Trust me, there's no desire to get rid of what makes us special. Yes,
we're part of the Grainger family but we'll never lose focus of those
responsible for our success. And I'm pleased to say there's been no
effort to make us do so. Our goals are all related to improving our
service, not lowering it.

And we have you all to hold our feet to the fire. If we fail you, call
me. My contact info is in my profile and my #1 professional goal is to
make sure we don't let you down.

Always yours,

Ron


On Sep 23, 9:17 am, Jack Stein wrote:

Where do you thinkMcFeely'sgets them now?

--
Jackhttp://jbstein.com