Over at Twitter, Robert shared this image he took of a Porter Cable ball bearing tool storage combo that popped up at his local Lowes.
What?!
This brings to mind a number of questions. Will Porter Cable be launching hand tools? I could also ask why Porter Cable branding? and why Lowes?, but that part makes sense.
Craftsman has no shortage of tool storage options. Home Depot carries a selection of Husky tool storage products, and during certain times of the year they put Milwaukee and Dewalt storage cabinets out on display.
Lowes carries a wide selection of Kobalt storage products, and while I haven’t checked recently, I believe I’ve seen some more entry-level house brand models there as well.
But, especially around Father’s Day and the winter holiday shopping season, there definitely seems to be room at Lowes for some higher end selection that’s not Kobalt.
Sorry for the sidetracked discussion. But with very little information to go on, I find myself thinking of the bigger picture. The relationships that brands have with retailers can have great impact on tool selection, availability, promotion, and even whether certain products will even ever make it to production.
Here is what we know:
The top is priced at $280, and the bottom $379, with the cost of the combo then being $659.
You get a drawer and feature configuration that is similar, but not identical to Dewalt’s premium ball bearing tool storage combo.
The Dewalt roller cabinet has 8 drawers, the Porter Cable has 7. The Dewalt top cabinet has 5 drawers and a gas strut-supported top lid, and the Porter Cable has 5 drawers, a gas strut-supported top lid, and a pull-out work surface.
The PC storage combo also has a power strip attached within the top compartment. There’s also a power tool holder in the smaller of the deep cabinet drawers.
The color scheme… is kind of good looking. It’s distinct, without being too flashy.
I haven’t seen this in person, but you can be sure that I’ll head to my favorite Lowes store as soon as I can. I’m thinking that maybe these will be widely displayed ahead of Father’s Day.
Thanks to Robert for the heads-up and photo!! He also sent a tip about new Porter Cable vacuums at Home Depot. The vacs look like general cleanup vacs.
Are you interested in this Porter Cable tool storage combo?
Well, obviously you’re interested, otherwise you wouldn’t have read this far. But is it something you would consider purchasing?
And, okay, so this probably isn’t much of a true Porter Cable product. It looks to be heavily inspired by the Dewalt combo, which might have been developed by a SBD sister brand or even an external OEM partner.
But anyway, I’m still pretty excited by it. Tool storage is something I am very picky about. I want to see MORE, especially at this price point.
Honestly, I don’t want to see Porter Cable hand tools, though. I also don’t think that’s something the brand is interested in doing. This seems to be a branding adventure that makes complete sense when you consider the Lowes partnership – assuming this is going to be a Lowes exclusive.
The way I see it, this is Porter Cable branded because the brand is positioned above Stanley, but below Dewalt. The similarly configured Dewalt combo is likely better built, and possibly packed with a few extra bells and whistles, and it costs more.
Soo… yea… there’s a new Porter Cable storage combo for under $700. Thoughts?
If you happen to spot this at your local Lowes, what do you think about it?
Compare(Dewalt tool chest via Amazon)
Compare(Dewalt roller cabinet via Amazon)