Ontario Knife Company Sold?

jbmonkey said:
that's a good point...always around no rush to ever get. I've felt this way on many of their items. my money went to limited editions of other brands cause I thought ontario would always be around. this couldnt have helped their sales numbers.
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that's the problem with producing conventional, reliable products.
Everyone complains about GEC's sales methods, but it's obvious that just dangling product out there in front of the public doesn't build much hype.
 
EngrSorenson said:
Losing 50-ish heads of developed talent seems like a guaranteed way to degrade the quality of the product.
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I actually like to believe that business minded people are NOT stupid. Blue Ridge just made a huge financial investment in buying out Ontario and they have no interest in devaluing the company (unlike Musk has done w/Twitter) unnecessarily.

Yeah, perhaps it's naive but, if they are interested in maximizing profits while also minimizing costs, I have to believe that they are aware of the established customer base & its expectations for Ontario's products.

They've got all of the blueprints, designs and plans for the knives already being made by Ontario and it they maintain the same quality of materials & same quality of production, there's no reason why they can't produce the same products for much less (the savings will be in labor costs).

China is actually NOT a good place to outsource production to these days because of it's poor political & economic climate and little/no $ will be saved sending the work to Taiwan.

If it were me, I'd look to India &/or Pakistan (or maybe, Mexico) instead.
 
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It reminds me a bit of what happened to SOG. Ontario Knives were just starting to offer some higher grade steel options and new products, before this happened. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a bit of a run on their products by people who know about this, over the next few weeks and months, which will no doubt be seen as a vote of confidence by the new owners if it results in any noticeable shift in the numbers.
 
When I look into the crystal ball I see a future where all of the "civilian" knives are made abroad and production of NSN knives is moved to some other stateside facility until such time as the .mil has contracted with some other company to provide those NSN knives. At that point blue ridge can decide if they want to continue investing in a company that makes .mil knives or just drop the contract altogether.

I've been thinking of getting an SP-53 before it's offshored to discontinued.
 
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On another board, a cutlery dealer that uses BRK as a distributor called Blue Ridge up and asked their plans. For speed, here's the summation he was told -

Ok, on a different note, I called Blue Ridge Knives and asked them what their plans are for OKC. Here's my takeaway:

1) They *did* buy the equipment, and they plan to sell that off. He said it's just not viable for BRK, a Virginia company, to learn the ins and outs of operating the NY factory.
2) They will continue producing BRK products, but now using OEM manufacturing partners. He said the military items in particular need to stay in the US, but he did acknowledge that there will probably be international sources for some items. That's not so different from the current production model, where some sheaths come from China, the RAT folder comes from Taiwan, etc.
3) He said it will probably be January at the earliest before new product starts hitting the shelves. So there will probably be a dry spell, and it probably already started.

That's what I got.
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https://bushcraftusa.com/forum/thre...arently-okc-has-been-sold.354009/post-6570493 .
 
sgt1372 said:
I actually like to believe that business minded people are NOT stupid. Blue Ridge just made a huge financial investment in buying out Ontario and they have no interest in devaluing the company (unlike Musk has done w/Twitter) unnecessarily.

Yeah, perhaps it's naive but, if they are interested in maximizing profits while also minimizing costs, I have to believe that they are aware of the established customer base & its expectations for Ontario's products.

They've got all of the blueprints, designs and plans for the knives already being made by Ontario and it they maintain the same quality of materials & same quality of production, there's no reason why they can't produce the same products for much less (the savings will be in labor costs).

China is actually NOT a good place to outsource production to these days because of it's poor political & economic climate and little/no $ will be saved sending the work to Taiwan.

If it were me, I'd look to India &/or Pakistan (or maybe, Mexico) instead.
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you've skipped the part earlier in the thread where they've already let go of the people...
if they really had no interest in devaluing the company, they'd not be doing dumb things like canning people since they are likely their greatest asset & strength

also, I'm glad it wasn't you that bought it... okc products from india/pakistan would be a train wreck, even while mexico quality might be slightly better, I fear the same result


rip okc, we'll miss the old you ;(
 
Haven’t sifted through all the comments but snagged an sp10. I have one and it takes a beating and is great. Decided if they are going away grabbing one as a spare isn’t a bad idea.
 
yamsi12 said:
Haven’t sifted through all the comments but snagged an sp10. I have one and it takes a beating and is great. Decided if they are going away grabbing one as a spare isn’t a bad idea.
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Same Here,

Two Air Force Pilot Survuval Knives on the way, as well as two extra sheaths for them.

My condolences to the 56 folks that are now on the street.

LV,
 
I haven't read all the replies so I may have missed something. Blue Ridge Knives bought OKC. They're a wholesale knife and knife machine seller. Amazing catalog with dozens of makers and available products. It remains to be seen what Blue Ridge will do with OKC. Blue Ridge Knives is not a private equity group.

blueridgeknives.app.box.com

Annual-Catalog.pdf | Powered by Box

blueridgeknives.app.box.com blueridgeknives.app.box.com
 
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mbkr said:
How terrible for the employees and community.

Blue Ridge is a wholesale distributor, not a manufacturer. As far as I've been able to find out, they have no manufacturing facilities. Given the closure of the existing plant, I'd say its a good guess that production will now be in China, ala Schrade/Queen/imperial, etc.

R.I.P.
View attachment 2253340
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Part of the companies entire appeal was being "made in the usa".

Buyout or not, I can't see how another company wouldn't inherently understand the risk of outsourcing labor out of country and alienating such a large portion of their existing customer base.

To my eye that seems like a great way to devalue the very brand you just bought.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Part of the companies entire appeal was being "made in the usa".

Buyout or not, I can't see how another company wouldn't inherently understand the risk of outsourcing labor out of country and alienating such a large portion of their existing customer base.

To my eye that seems like a great way to devalue the very brand you just bought.
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Of course they understand it. But they also understand that low cost will generally trump all else when you’re selling in the low-value high-volume market. Do you think that Taylor Brands somehow didn’t realize Camillus was a great American maker? Of course they did. But they did what they did so they could use a known brand name and pump knives in clam packs into Walmart shelves for $15.99 each and sell a bazillion of them.

The company tradition has value only to the extent that it generates revenue. If there is more revenue to be made by offshoring, they’ll do that. Their goal is profit, and every consideration gets filtered through that lens.


sgt1372 said:
If it were me, I'd look to India &/or Pakistan (or maybe, Mexico) instead.
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🤮
 
If you want the thread closed and warnings issued, keep up with the political comments. There won't be any more public service announcements on this score beforehand.
 
19-3ben said:
Why should they disappear when they could just be produced by slave labor in 3cr? That’s the same, right? 🤪
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Man I hope not!

OH knives are diamonds in the rough, and have been around a long time.

Would be a shame if they messed up the formula.
 
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