Ever heard of GSM Outdoors? They just bought Cold steel.

SanLuisObispo said:
That wasn't the point though -- that there's more to CS in CA than "a small staff to run the day to day business in the office." In any event, the really important stuff -- ideation, design, testing, etc. need not be in TX. I suspect CS's creative types including LCT himself would be loathe to trade Ventura, CA for Irving, TX.

There are real reasons why companies like GM, Ford, Honda, etc. keep their styling studios in SoCal and not wherever their manufacturing operations are located.



Yes, yes, quite true...
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Since you're around there, you should show up there in six months and report on what you find.
 
craytab said:
I realize this is upsetting but it doesn't mean we can just make stuff up.
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Why not? As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every post in this thread is made up!

Everyone seems to know exactly what the buyers are going to do with the company, what their goals and business plan are, just how horribly LT has acted as far as his employees' fates, and how long LT and AD are going to stay on... and every bit of it is conjecture. And far too much ill will, too. Frankly, I'm amazed and disappointed in where this thread has gone.
 
desmobob said:
Why not? As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every post in this thread is made up!

Everyone seems to know exactly what the buyers are going to do with the company, what their goals and business plan are, just how horribly LT has acted as far as his employees' fates, and how long LT and AD are going to stay on... and every bit of it is conjecture. And far too much ill will, too. Frankly, I'm amazed and disappointed in where this thread has gone.
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That said...

It doesn't invalidate people's opinions or concerns. They aren't just wild accusations but from what I've seen, based on the limited information presented. It isn't all conjecture.
 
desmobob said:
Why not? As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every post in this thread is made up!

Everyone seems to know exactly what the buyers are going to do with the company, what their goals and business plan are, just how horribly LT has acted as far as his employees' fates, and how long LT and AD are going to stay on... and every bit of it is conjecture. And far too much ill will, too. Frankly, I'm amazed and disappointed in where this thread has gone.
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You're welcome to not read and/or comment.

The rest of us will continue to enjoy talking about the biggest knife industry news in a long time, and so long as it is kept reasonable, it should be an interesting and informative discussion!
 
desmobob said:
Why not? As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every post in this thread is made up!

Everyone seems to know exactly what the buyers are going to do with the company, what their goals and business plan are, just how horribly LT has acted as far as his employees' fates, and how long LT and AD are going to stay on... and every bit of it is conjecture. And far too much ill will, too. Frankly, I'm amazed and disappointed in where this thread has gone.
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All I can say is "YEP!" Also, I'll note that I'm stunned at the number of M&A experts, mechanical engineers, metallurgists, psychologists and clairvoyants negatively opining on this thread. Largely because young Freddy from Xtra Clean of Ventura decided to answer a ringing phone while emptying wastepaper baskets, dusting and vacuuming the carpet in CS's office area on a Saturday morning.
 
eisman said:
no, you really can't. You have to pay medical, unemployment, inventory tax, property tax, utilities, etc every month. that's another 1/12 of the yearly expenses. For a month when no one works? That's crazy. You can pay a bonus, or if the employment contract has a parachute that needs to be paid, but you do not want to go into another year with anything attached, if only to prevent having to file for the year. Remember businesses have to file quarterly and annually, and that takes time and money.
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They want to be out of California and into Texas ASAP. Under no circumstances will they have any California payroll come January 1st.

Lee D said:
The receipt thing is ridiculous. I recently received a Case Canoe in the mail from BHQ and there was nothing in the box but the knife, and shipping peanuts.
I’m not comparing Case’s warranty to this new CS warranty, but if a sales receipt WAS required, what would I need to do, forward the confirmation email from BHQ?
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I hear they’ve got a machine that can convert your digital receipt to a paper one.

Quiet said:
What's sad is that you can't see the reality of the situation. Lynn said those things in an attempt to keep people from swearing off Cold Steel products. GSM wants to soak the fan base for this brand for a profit, and they can't do that if we leave. Lynn was directed to try to stop that. So, please stop acting like you know more about business, or have some secret insight to Sold Steel's sale to GSM. I guarantee Demko and LT won't be working at CS in a year. If I'm being honest, I expect they'll be gone within six months, and why not? All the rest of Sold Steel's employees got canned.
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LT and Demko are much harder to replace than administrative and warehouse employees. The two guys who are mainly responsible for coming up with a huge chunk of the IP are far more valuable than anyone else in the company.
 
desmobob said:
Why not? As far as I'm concerned, pretty much every post in this thread is made up!

Everyone seems to know exactly what the buyers are going to do with the company, what their goals and business plan are, just how horribly LT has acted as far as his employees' fates, and how long LT and AD are going to stay on... and every bit of it is conjecture. And far too much ill will, too. Frankly, I'm amazed and disappointed in where this thread has gone.
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It's always minorly irritating when someone who doesn't like what is being said attempts to censor others by posting a message that essentially states "Everyone here is wrong, and saying things I don't personally like. Everyone besides me needs to stop posting." Your amazement and disappointment are irrelevant in the face of the very real experience many of us have with situations exactly like this. I am not sure how you missed it, several concise explanations have happened in this thread already. GSM didn't buy Sold Steel with the goal of bringing the company to "greater heights". They wanted a ready made fanbase to sell products to. What level of products those are, remains to be seen. However, given what they have done with other brands they've purchases, I mean, the writing's on the wall. What are you missing?
 
SanLuisObispo said:
All I can say is "YEP!" Also, I'll note that I'm stunned at the number of M&A experts, mechanical engineers, metallurgists, psychologists and clairvoyants negatively opining on this thread. Largely because young Freddy from Xtra Clean of Ventura decided to answer a ringing phone while emptying wastepaper baskets, dusting and vacuuming the carpet in CS's office area on a Saturday morning.
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"YEP" is a great deal more substantive than anything else you've said in this thread, so...points for that I guess.
 
SanLuisObispo said:
All I can say is "YEP!" Also, I'll note that I'm stunned at the number of M&A experts, mechanical engineers, metallurgists, psychologists and clairvoyants negatively opining on this thread. Largely because young Freddy from Xtra Clean of Ventura decided to answer a ringing phone while emptying wastepaper baskets, dusting and vacuuming the carpet in CS's office area on a Saturday morning.
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If you're talking about my calls with the young kid I mentioned in this thread, that is incredibly disrespectful. We have no idea how long he'd been there or what his role was. We do know he's out of a job.

I also have no idea what you're getting at with the engineer and metallurgist stuff.
 
SanLuisObispo said:
All I can say is "YEP!" Also, I'll note that I'm stunned at the number of M&A experts, mechanical engineers, metallurgists, psychologists and clairvoyants negatively opining on this thread. Largely because young Freddy from Xtra Clean of Ventura decided to answer a ringing phone while emptying wastepaper baskets, dusting and vacuuming the carpet in CS's office area on a Saturday morning.
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Right? The membership here is quite diverse in our knowledge and expertise outside of knives!
 
All I can really say is that I have purchased GSM products in the past and found them to be well designed and of decent construction. Slightly on the high side price wise but overall a good value.

Hopefully they will not rape Cold Steel to badly.
 
sabre cat said:
All I can really say is that I have purchased GSM products in the past and found them to be well designed and of decent construction. Slightly on the high side price wise but overall a good value.
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Let's hope that carries over here as well.
 
unwisefool said:
Some of us just like to buy knives that we think are neat or fun, you don't always need a practical reason. I'd been meaning to pick up an Ad15 for awhile so I wouldn't need to use my custom one but had just never gotten around to it. So in the off chance that they do discontinue it, or make changes, I decided to take advantage of a sale. Nothing wrong with that.
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I don't think we go about this as differently as you might have assumed. I also buy some knives because they hold a quality beyond being useful. But I don't go out and buy knives on a whim, hoping that they hold such qualities. They are very deliberate and well thought out (most of the time) purchases.
If you have been thinking about getting an AD15 for a while, buying one now makes sense, and doesn't come across as an impulse acquisition.
I've seriously been considering the AD15 myself, because I like to familiarize and have a selection of different lock types. The scorpion lock is unique enough to warrant consideration, but so far I haven't been able to justify it. It's not the type of folding knife I have much use for, so with shipping, taxes and fees to get it to Europe it will be a very expensive dust collector. And every dust collector comes with an opportunity cost.
 
Eli Chaps said:
All other things set aside for a moment and just focusing on that video, it's possible he believes what he's saying. They might have told him all those things and nothing's gong to change and he's still going to have all this creative influence and so on and so on. That doesn't make it reality. He was clearly looking to get out of the ownership aspect. Not disparaging him for that but he may be so high on stress relief and their promises that he believes that it is all sunshine and roses.

Give it a two-five years and check back.
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Zero inside knowledge of Cold Steel deal, but I have been through this a few times. Typical is for old management to stick around for a 2 yr transition period (with a significant financial incentive for doing so) and then move on. The reason said old management behaves like they are in a hostage situation is because they normally are. You may have a multi-million dollar payout tied to acting the part for those 2 years.
 
Quiet said:
It's always minorly irritating when someone who doesn't like what is being said attempts to censor others by posting a message that essentially states "Everyone here is wrong, and saying things I don't personally like. Everyone besides me needs to stop posting." Your amazement and disappointment are irrelevant in the face of the very real experience many of us have with situations exactly like this. I am not sure how you missed it, several concise explanations have happened in this thread already. GSM didn't buy Sold Steel with the goal of bringing the company to "greater heights". They wanted a ready made fanbase to sell products to. What level of products those are, remains to be seen. However, given what they have done with other brands they've purchases, I mean, the writing's on the wall. What are you missing?
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Pot calling the kettle black?

Your interpretation of my post is ridiculous. Attempt to censor others? Really? Calm down! I certainly didn't suggest anyone should stop posting; I merely stated my opinion, like everyone else here is doing. I'm sorry it doesn't agree with yours. And because it doesn't, you call it irrelevant. I'm sorry, but you have not experienced a situation "exactly like this." None of us have. Everyone is just expressing opinions, based on the very limited amount of factual information.

If you were on the GSM board of directors or were partners with LT, your opinion would be more valuable than others. But it's not.
 
!!!BREAKING NEWS!!!

This just in to the KNAF newsroom, our first look at Lynn Thompson and the GSM Outdoors Acquisitions Team just moments before Lynn's farewell video!



Story at 10!

Remember, KNAF is always first with the news that matters to Knife Knuts!
 
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