hot chili powder
Member
Just heard S & W is buying Battenfeld Ind......they make Caldwell shooting rests and much more shooting gear, any thoughts??
Smith & Wesson news
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gwsut
Member
Doesn't Battenfield make the Tipton Gun Vices also?
B!ngoFuelUSN
Member
Seems like a good idea. Do you know what they paid? I presume that Battenfield is a private company so we can't know their financials.
But seems that this would be a purchase that is justified based on S&W's larger and more sophisticated channels/sales/go-to-market capabilities. So if you take a well respected product that is built by a small company with limited sales access, and you boost sales by using all of the sales machinery, N. America and worldwide channels and the marketing and sales skills that S&W has (relative to Battenfield) then I presume that the sales numbers would really grow. Thus I assume it's purely a top line growth thing, nothing having to do with improving products or technology.
But that's just a guess.
B
But seems that this would be a purchase that is justified based on S&W's larger and more sophisticated channels/sales/go-to-market capabilities. So if you take a well respected product that is built by a small company with limited sales access, and you boost sales by using all of the sales machinery, N. America and worldwide channels and the marketing and sales skills that S&W has (relative to Battenfield) then I presume that the sales numbers would really grow. Thus I assume it's purely a top line growth thing, nothing having to do with improving products or technology.
But that's just a guess.
B
threefeathers
member
Hmmm, I thought Midway owned them.
Willie Sutton
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Just an observation based on some 40 years of watching: S&W has screwed up every other non-firearm line they have ever tried to sell (with the solitary exception of handcuffs). Try naming one non-firearm product that they are market leaders or strong competitors in. Anyone? Leather? Knives? Clothing? *Anything*?
Their brand name historically has not meant a lot to consumers outside of their core product of firearms, and if anything it distances consumers from the smaller producers of goods via the intertia of "big business". The bottom line is that you no longer get to talk to the owner after it becomes part of big blue.
"So if you take a well respected product that is built by a small company with limited sales access, and you boost sales by using all of the sales machinery, N. America and worldwide channels and the marketing and sales skills that S&W has"
And then remove the personalized service of a small company, and remove the "pride built in to the product" by small companies, and cheapen the product by letting corporate bean-counters trim a little here and a little there, and put it into plastic hang-tag display packaging that can go into Walmart, and you now have *crap* to sell that doesn't sell, and the quality concious buyer has one less vendor to buy from.
Yup... that's how it works, folks, when little companies are absorbed by big ones.
Willie
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Their brand name historically has not meant a lot to consumers outside of their core product of firearms, and if anything it distances consumers from the smaller producers of goods via the intertia of "big business". The bottom line is that you no longer get to talk to the owner after it becomes part of big blue.
"So if you take a well respected product that is built by a small company with limited sales access, and you boost sales by using all of the sales machinery, N. America and worldwide channels and the marketing and sales skills that S&W has"
And then remove the personalized service of a small company, and remove the "pride built in to the product" by small companies, and cheapen the product by letting corporate bean-counters trim a little here and a little there, and put it into plastic hang-tag display packaging that can go into Walmart, and you now have *crap* to sell that doesn't sell, and the quality concious buyer has one less vendor to buy from.
Yup... that's how it works, folks, when little companies are absorbed by big ones.
Willie
.
buck460XVR
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I'd call it diversification. Pretty common in big business. I already see Caldwell and Tipton products in Wal-Mart. Frankfort Arsenal reloading products are already considered entry level and come mostly in plastic hang-tag display packaging. I doubt if you see any name changes on any of the products, really no need to.
Link: http://www.thestreet.com/story/1296...ts-its-sights-on-battenfeld-technologies.html
I like their stuff. I hope S&W doesn't mess 'em up.
I like their stuff. I hope S&W doesn't mess 'em up.
ATAShooter
Member
ATK (Alliant) owns a crapload of sporting goods companies. That's business, make that Benjamin!!
oneounceload
member
So did I
Prices will skyrocket and quality will go down the toilet, with the same, lame excuse that they can't afford to make/sell them unless they cut corners/gouge customers.
Sadly, both Colt's and Smith & Wesson's best days are far behind them.
And I actually LIKE Colts and S&Ws.
I'm with Willie Sutton on this.
I have one of their swing blade knives from the late 70s-early 80s.
What a piece of junk.
The only reason I've kept it all these years is because it was one of the first knives I bought for my collection.
I bought it in 1981 with my own money (11 yrs old).
That, and they aren't made anymore.
Back about 2006 I bought one of their liner lock $10 knives from an Autozone.
I wanted a knife to use at work that wouldn't bother me as much if I lost it as it did when I lost my Gerber.
When I lost it, it didn't bother me at all.
I bought a better knife and have taken better care not to lose it.
Sadly, both Colt's and Smith & Wesson's best days are far behind them.
And I actually LIKE Colts and S&Ws.
I'm with Willie Sutton on this.
I have one of their swing blade knives from the late 70s-early 80s.
What a piece of junk.
The only reason I've kept it all these years is because it was one of the first knives I bought for my collection.
I bought it in 1981 with my own money (11 yrs old).
That, and they aren't made anymore.
Back about 2006 I bought one of their liner lock $10 knives from an Autozone.
I wanted a knife to use at work that wouldn't bother me as much if I lost it as it did when I lost my Gerber.
When I lost it, it didn't bother me at all.
I bought a better knife and have taken better care not to lose it.
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great so i just replaced the Caldwell chronograph i shot to hell with a new one
and now im going to lose the personal support from the software developer!!!
grrrrr...
i really like the chronograph and the app for the phones
but i see S&W screwing this up till its dead!
and now im going to lose the personal support from the software developer!!!
grrrrr...
i really like the chronograph and the app for the phones
but i see S&W screwing this up till its dead!
I don't recall that it was Smith that screwed up all the other products, rather it was the Bangor Punta group that had taken over Smith, SCamper Camper, Brunswick, Alcan, Harley, plus a leather company, a plastics company and a shotgun manufacturer. 70s, we had a check of a time getting anything good from S&W plus we had, as dealers, to buy "related" carp to get it from the distributors.
That said, I'm not pleased with either their or TC's service in recent years.
That said, I'm not pleased with either their or TC's service in recent years.
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