New owners???

J

jackknife

Joined
Oct 2, 2004
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Does anyone know about the rumors of someone buying and operating the Schrade factory again?
 
AH rumors well this subject certainly abounds with these. So lets see, how about this . The Schrade name and trade mark are up for bids as is the equiptment. How about a new motto Schrade made in America ( but er owned by citizens of at least one country that we were already supposed to have beaten in one war, or at least one of our other Asian benefactors.)Schrade was already buying certain items from these outfits and even many of there tools were made overseas, the imperial line was often marked made in China. From what I have heard a sheath for an LB-7 cost around a buck and a half to produce here, the same quality sheath imported could be had for a dollar and that included shipping. It is not hard to produce the item, for that price if you use prison labor. After all how much does a bowl of rice cost to feed a prisoner ( many of whom are in jail because of there actions seeking democratic changes in there country. ) However it is damn hard to compete with these practices. The result is that by supporting and buying these products Schrade will now be owned by them. Heck I guess that is more than fair considering the dollar or two we have all saved by buying this imported crap. Do I seem bigoted, cynical, sarcastic, not me I figure we are getting just what we deserve. However I do believe in at least being honest about it. The pipedream of the employees buying the place or a rich benefactor saving the collection for posterity, or some other nonsense, is just that. There are no American companies in a postion to accquire another headache they are all to busy trying to exist under the dictates of OSHA and idiot switchblade laws. Which are totally ignored by other countrys and are flooding the market. Hell even some American flags are marked made in China. I was at a show a couple of weeks ago and I almost had to pull an ex Green Beret Major off a Vendor who was selling Support our troops T Shirts marked Made in (some far away place, I really do not remember where) but I know it was another of those benefactors nations that care so much for America and I am sure will be there when we are in trouble just like they always have in the past . YEA RIGHT. Perhapes I am wrong perhapes a savior will appear and Schrade will again fly its flag under an american banner. Perhapes I will hit the lottery, perhapes Santa Claus and the Easter bunny will save the day with a little help from the tooth fairy ( she always has a few bucks stashed ).
The really incredibly stupid thing is that there are still idiots like myself who waste time being pissed off and writing things like this exercise in futility, when it does no good. Sorry to have bored anyone who reads this but strangly I do feel better. LT
 
I feel your pain, Rich. I have been in a 'Schrade closing' induced funk for awhile. I haven't even felt like posting in a while. The bargains aren't flowing on ebay cause this closing has driven up all the schrade prices, old or new.

At least budweiser and scotch are still available and affordable...

Glenn
 
Crown Royal ( WHOOPS another import ) well at least the Canadians have always been good neighbors ( remember the Devils Brigade ) . LT
 
In my opinion, the root cause of the demise of Schrade was not overseas competition.

The real cause in my opinion was overspending on under-utilized equipment and systems, paid for with borrowed funds. Take a look at the upcoming auction catalogue and how much of that equipment is new and or in just like new or hardly used condition. And that does not include the 7-digit figure spent on a new computer system.
 
As a third generation Canadian......albiet with an American grandmother...its good to hear an American talk highly about us Canucks.
We wouldn't find a better neighbor that you guys! :cool:
Along with the U.K, Australia and New Zealand we are the U.S.'s longest standing ally and are very much active in Afghanistan along with your troops! :D
I feel very much along the lines of what you wrote.......nothing is made in Canada either. :grumpy:
For me if its made in the U.S. or Canada its good to see!
In fact I did see a Canadian flag with a made in Pakistan label awhile ago :barf:

It just sucks to see Schrade go down like that

Kap
 
I am sure ( Schrade Guy ) that mis managment had a lot to do with it at least that is the feeling that people I know have expressed . You can feel a resentment towards certain managment when you talk to them. You of course are in a position to know and have a better understanding I have also noticed as have other potential bidders that i know, that much of the machinery is exactly as you say. I also feel that my original opinion ( foreign imports) contributed to the problem as well. What the percentage of each added to the problem is at best academic. Like a bad beat in poker all you can do is throw in the hand and hope for another grubstake. Or wait for another day. Because the bottom line is that this game is over for those of us who ( to whatever degree ) were involved.

In either event the Schrade name is to well known and has to many economic possibliities to just disappear so my opinion that what I said about it being used as a front for a foreign company is still my belief . Also like I said who knows it is all a crapshoot. The only thing you can be sure of is that the American worker and American public, will lose.

I am waiting with anticipation to see the auction of the knife collection I believe that will be a real cluster but then again who knows, time will tell, it is a good time of life for me I can just be an observer and not a major player. That is if I could learn to keep my mouth shut. What the hell much sooner than later I will be quiet for ever so if I offend a few people with my loudmouth opinions TS. I have always felt that one of the worst laws on the books was the one against dueling . Now that was a great way to vent emotion and settle problems.

To Capt K . When I visit Europe aside from necessary business I try to stay in English speaking countrys I just feel more at home there. London has changed greatly and is not as pleasant to me as it once was. I love the isles and its people. I was a Watch Commander for the DOCS at a Shock incarceration correction camp near the Canadian border and felt as though I was equally at home on either side of the border. I have a friend who lives on the East coast of Austraila as he says he is 2 hours by motorcar or 20 minutes by motor boat from the nearest town his village is about 10 houses he lives on venison, fish and home brewed beer. Quite a fellow he has invited me and I may very well take him up on a visit. When he goes to town he drinks TOOHEYS beer which I have tried to no avail to find over here. I have another friend who is English and politically who I clash with continually ( He is quite liberal ) Still I remember him once saying that the English have considered americans to all be crazy since the time they started tossing perfectly good tea into the ocean. I realize that the Canadians are quite there own people and do not wish to lump everyone together It is simply my opinion that they all come from good stock. LT
 
LT, gents, as you are aware, I am new to this forum. I was drawn here by my grief at the passing of Schrade, as I would have been by the loss of Remington or any other of the great American producers of sporting tools I used, and my father used, and his father used.

I agree that a full analysis of the reasons for the company's closure is, at this point moot. And that history will show that it was a combination of all the factors mentioned here, and perhaps a few more that will come to light. The exact percentages to which these factors were to blame, will forevermore be subject to conjecture.

My wish, though not based upon any real knowledge, is that Schrade would be restarted by a consortium of investors and employees. I have seen this formula work many times in other industries. Maybe by returning to more utilitarian designs and leaving the spaceage and Rambo stuff to the other guys, they could secure a small, survivable, profitable niche. Diversification of products is the bane of a lot of businesses nowdays.

IMHO, there is just too much American tradition and history, customer base, and product recognition to send this on a container ship to the orient.

Michael (Former manufacturing production engineer)
 
While the notion is laudable and would be wonderful in this particular situation it has ( at least in my particular opinion ) no possibility of ever becoming a reality. I could expound upon why I feel this way and my credentials for doing so, however I do not feel it is of any importance to exaborate any more than I already have . We all have an opinion as well, ( PUN) ass ( the same parts of the anatomy ( as the old saying goes ). However I have been known to place a dollar or two down in the name of a friendly wager and I would offer some long odds on this happening in this next act of the Schrade saga. LT
 
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