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market. “In some cases that solution might be getting back to Made in USA. And we’re seeing a movement to that effect. I wouldn’t call it an avalanche, but we’re seeing movement.” As consumers look for best solutions, he said vendors are looking for best alternatives and weighing the factors about where to place their facilities. Lynch added: “I think at some point, people will think about where their facilities are located and where they should be. And maybe that’s China, and maybe that’s not. But right now, it seems to me that not being in China would make everyone’s life easier than being in China.” The idea of bringing manufacturing facilities back to the United States has its converts. For example, consider Malco’s return to DeWitt, Neb., in October of 2018. “We are proud to re-open the plant
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and bring manufacturing jobs back to DeWitt, and the United States,” said Malco Products president and CEO Mardon Quandt at the time. “As our company continues to expand, we were looking for an opportunity to add a new locking pliers product to our line-up and sought a location that had the infrastructure that would allow us to ramp up quickly, create jobs and make an impact on the local community. We found all of that and more in DeWitt, and are excited to once again put the skilled workers who live in and around DeWitt back to work.” More recently, Stanley Black & Decker, the world’s largest tool maker, said it will soon begin construction on a major manufacturing plant in the AllianceTexas development in Fort Worth. The plant — which will employ
JUNE 2019 HARDWARE + BUILDING SUPPLY DEALER
Sign of the times at the Warp Brothers booth in Las Vegas.
approximately 500 people and encompass 425,000 square feet — is scheduled to begin construction this summer and finish in late 2020. The facility will serve the company’s Craftsman tool brand, which it acquired in 2017. The Made-in-USA trend showed strength at the recent National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, where more than 80 companies exhibited in a special, Madein-USA product display area. The show included an awards event for American manufacturers. “Manufacturing products that are made in America is becoming increasingly important to conscientious consumers,” according to the organizers of the awards event.
HBSDealer.com 4/20/2017 9:56:39 AM