Yes I did, and I do understand the value of having a lower end line to introduce people to the hobby and support the higher end line.
We've defaulted for many years. It's time to get competitive.
I just get suspicious when I see companies making the move towards China, since knives are one of the few consumer items that give you the option of quality US or Japanese products (I've seen products in other hobbies make the complete move to China, and QC and customer service always suffer).
There are tiers of customers, to ignore those entry level, cost conscience ones is a mistake IMO. We're pretty good with QC both here and abroad, I only see that getting better, not worse over time.
Kershaw is unique in being able to produce cheap imports for Walmart without sacrificing a higher end set of products, but I'd hate to see that change.
Why?
Not saying that it's changing right now, but every time I see Chinese products creeping into higher price brackets it makes me wary
Wary of what? As to the prices, our imports are constantly improving, and the cost of doing business in China is more expensive than ever.
especially after so many other knife companies have crapped out after going overseas.
I'm unaware of any knife company that went out of business because of their move to China.
Just looking at the catalog I see just with the knives roughly 57 imports and 44 USA made. While 44 might not seem bad a HUGE part of that 44 are just repeats of knives with different colors such as the Blur, Leek, Scallion etc.
Those core USA make up for a ton of the US facilities capacity. Sorry if there is not enough variety for you.
We can all kid ourselves thinking this isn't going to cheapen the Kershaw brand and this is somehow a good thing, but if we look at the history of the knife Companies that outsourced their products the end result is always the same.
This is not true. Again who's gone out of business? I am aware of quite a few that are still in business because of their import investment.
As to cheapening the brand, we'll always have the factory. A factory that was heavily invested in this year. There is always going to be USA products, whether it be ZT or Kershaw. The imports are there for those that won't spend on the higher priced domestic knives. The consumer that likes the higher end products continue to shrink. The dealers that ask for knives continue to be price point conscience...
Pretty much sums it up.
I know some are thinking it so I'll just say it; will the Kershaw brand end up being mostly imports with a couple of US knives for good measure (like Gerber) and ZT the US brand? Looking at the catalog is this the trend or speculation? Time will only tell.
fitz, do you have any idea how much money Gerber makes today? They are ass kickers! Imports make money, a lot of money when you know what you're doing. If you don't, well that on you. If your management can't manage that side of the business, don't blame Country of Origin.
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