OT sort-of..... Wholesale tool and Victor machinery

[J Tiers]

They seem to be one and the same place, at least they are now. Both are at the same address in Warren MI. I have no idea who bought which, or if they have always been connected, but it apparently happened in 2019.

I noticed when I recently got an order in from VME, and it had some items in it that were marked "Wholesale Tools". When I looked up their locations, both were in Warren at 12155 Stephens Road.

Did this just happen when I was not (and had no reason to be) looking?

[reggie_obe]

You were expecting this company and location: https://www.newyorkbids.us/new-york-...RY-EXCHANG.htm
The physical address on the website suggests a move or more likely a buyout to escape from high real estate prices: https://www.victornet.com/

[J Tiers]

They had moved before, but I don't know that it was to that address.

The question is whether the two companies were always associated, or if one bought the other. It's odd that they are keeping both names up and running. Usually buyouts result in a rapid name change and a re-route from the website. This is several years old.

[Rich Carlstedt]

From Victors website

Founded by Victor Freidus in 1918 in New York City, we are an industrial supplier specializing in machine shop supplies, metal-cutting tools, and precision measuring instruments.
In the 1930's we shifted from selling machinery to concentrate on metalworking tools and industrial supplies.
We published our first catalogs in the 1940's, and expanded our offering of imported tools under Bert Freidus.
After the millenium we shifted our focus to the internet.
Under the leadership of Marc Freidus we relocated to Brooklyn NY in 2005 and Woodside NY in 2015.
In late 2019 we moved to Warren, Michigan.

So WTools absorbed them
Rich

[JRouche]

They had moved before, but I don't know that it was to that address.

The question is whether the two companies were always associated, or if one bought the other. It's odd that they are keeping both names up and running. Usually buyouts result in a rapid name change and a re-route from the website. This is several years old.

Sounds like an MSC and Enco sitch. JR

[metalmagpie]

I have purchased from Victor many times. Always an OK deal.

[JoeLee]

You were expecting this company and location: https://www.newyorkbids.us/new-york-...RY-EXCHANG.htm
The physical address on the website suggests a move or more likely a buyout to escape from high real estate prices: https://www.victornet.com/

Yeah, and high taxes, utilities and stifling regulations.

JL...........

[jcfx]

I received an email from Marc the owner saying that he was retiring and sold to company in Dec 2019 to Republic Drill/ APT Corp.
I guess Wholesale tool is a subsidiary of APT Corp.

Been buying from Victor machinery when they were in Manhattan at the corner of Grand St. they were local to
to me so it was the first place I'd hit, besides when they had a store front it was nice to pickup odds and end closeouts or
stuff they never knew they had on the bargain tables while I was there picking up an order.
They moved twice, once from Manhattan to Greenpoint Brooklyn, then to Woodside Queens till Marc retired in late 2019.

[J Tiers]

I received an email from Marc the owner saying that he was retiring and sold to company in Dec 2019 to Republic Drill/ APT Corp.
..........................................

OK, that explains it pretty well. Thank you.

Interesting that the name has been kept. The prices took a huge jump on some (not all) things about then. I had bought gear cutters from VME for under $30, and suddenly they were $60. But other things are not like that. However those items are from china.

[aribert]

I have been a customer of Wholesale Tool for the past 35+ years. First the store in Houston and a few years later the store in Warren, MI (I first lived in Warren when I moved to MI and then to the next suburb over (where my workshop garage still is). There is a lot more in their catalog than what is available in the store or even order-able thru the store. I asked an employee a few years ago and he said that the powers that be on the East Coast decided what should be in the catalog even though some of the items have never been available in the store. I have not seen any signage w/ respect to Victor at the store. I'll try to remember to ask just who owns who and what the relationship w/ Victor is on my next visit.

I always look in the scrap tooling bins (priced by the lb) when I visit the store, usually monthly unless I need some bit of tooling now. Last decade or so much of the stuff in the bins is too large for the typical hobbyist and not what a real shop would go to rummage for. I did once find an L-00 nose piece that I incorporated into a 5c setup on my former Clausing 5914 lathe.