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I have heard from a distributor that he received word that the Wetterlings brand is being discontinued and the factory will be producing Gransfors Bruks - does anyone have any more info on this?
No more Wetterlings?
- Thread starter Animatronic Fireman
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That would mean more sales for Hultafors (Hults Bruk), for the more "bang for the buck" conscious Euro axes purveyors, I guess. Ochsenkopf, Stubai (for those that don't necessarily want "made in Sweden" stamped on their axe, nor want to clean up old heads) may take a slice out of the cake as well.
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Not yet - was quickly reading about it on the commute home from work, and thought I would share.
I can see there being a financial incentive for trying to do something like this; 3 boutique axe makers all competing for the niche market cachet of 'made in Sweden' only serves to drive prices down. I personally hope that Wetterlings hasn't been absorbed because I was attracted by their attitude and their product. They fielded a well spoken and comely CEO and had the gumption to improve upon and start forging north American-appeal Hudson Bay-type axes.
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In case you weren't aware, Julia isn't the current CEO. She stepped down a little while ago and is apparently doing something related to outdoor clothing, if I remember right.
Deciding to purchase an axe, in my case, is not going to be influenced by what the CEO looks like, but the TED talk Julia gave definitely caught my eye and piqued my interest in Wetterlings as an axe-making enterprise. Unless the remaining two companies G-B and H-B diverge in product placement they'll wind up becoming amalgamated too.
Immediately after 9/11 when everyone temporarily refrained from buying pocket knives Wenger went into financial straits and Victorinox wisely scooped them up so as to make darn sure a famous Swiss Brand didn't suddenly reappear in China.
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Having just purchased a Wetterlings Hudson bay axe this thread had me worried, so far it is a great axe.(handle length is a little short but overall so far it is proving to be well made) I emailed them, this was the response. Sad news.
"S.A Wetterlings has manufactured axes since the late 1800s. During the last century, the company's business has gone up and down, with a peak in the 1970s when the company produced over 150,000 axes.
Over the past 10 years the company has unfortunately faced decreased sales and insufficient profitability. Since January 2016 the company belongs to the same company group as Gränsfors Bruk AB, who also manufactures hand-forged axes.
As a consequence of this, the company has decided to no longer manufacture axes under the Wetterlings brand but instead become a production site of axes for Gränsfors Bruk.
Our production of Wetterlings axes will therefore be phased out continuously from April 1, 2017. We plan to deliver Wetterlings axes until the summer, but depending on demand, it is possible that some models run out earlier, while others may be in stock a little longer."
Kind regards,
Josefin Olsson
"S.A Wetterlings has manufactured axes since the late 1800s. During the last century, the company's business has gone up and down, with a peak in the 1970s when the company produced over 150,000 axes.
Over the past 10 years the company has unfortunately faced decreased sales and insufficient profitability. Since January 2016 the company belongs to the same company group as Gränsfors Bruk AB, who also manufactures hand-forged axes.
As a consequence of this, the company has decided to no longer manufacture axes under the Wetterlings brand but instead become a production site of axes for Gränsfors Bruk.
Our production of Wetterlings axes will therefore be phased out continuously from April 1, 2017. We plan to deliver Wetterlings axes until the summer, but depending on demand, it is possible that some models run out earlier, while others may be in stock a little longer."
Kind regards,
Josefin Olsson
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I have reached out to them about how warranties will be handled - will post response if I get one.
Warranties shouldn't be a problem because they've been flying under the G-B banner (albeit quietly) for over a year already, only now the Wetterlings name brand is going to disappear. The market for old-fashioned-forged implements must be rather small and can't support very many players. We can at least hope some of Wetterlings distinctive models live on, and that the prices of Swede stuff doesn't go up through the roof.
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They can't keep up the demand for GB axes, so it would make since to have Wetterlings stop what they are doing and help out. I think everyone wins on this one since the price gouging is unreal for gb stuff.
I just looked up the availability of the Wetterlings Hudson Bay version at Canadian Outdoor Stores, near Toronto. I had kinda taken a real shine to these, especially after Operator1975's positive field tests but $182 Cdn, before 13% tax, extinguished that flame in a hurry.
Holy cow, that's expensive.. I found an old magazine in the ol' house with some ads from GB and Wetterlings going for as little as $50, the magazine was dated mid 90's
not sure how it all works in canada, but they can be had for $107us with free international shipping from lamnia.com.
Thanks mldrenen. Woodcraft was kind enough to alert me to this too. Lamnia is a retail outfit in Finland of which I previously knew nothing. They've got lots of interesting stuff! Cdn $ purchase of a Wetterlings H-B pattern with free shipping (you Yanks have a stronger dollar) totals $150. This is much friendlier on the wallet than forking out $210 after driving 300 miles through Toronto in order to hand pick one. I guess there's no real point in being fussy about hangs and handles if you've got $60 left over towards whittling out another one.
I forgot of course Canada Customs will tag on import duty of 13% to this.