Northern tools store opening in my area

Soundguy · May 29, 2008

I see we have a northern tools store opening in a city north of me.. anyone been to one.. do they carry same or different stuff as the catalog?

soundguy

sunspot · May 29, 2008

I'd love to be able to check out a NTS. Lucky guy. I spent an hour at a Harbor Freight, never to go back.
I visted a TSC last week in North Carolina. It's better than anything I have in my area.

Harry c · May 29, 2008

NT carries lots of stuff you'll find useful. Some of it is HF quality, some is really good stuff. Good selection of wheels, casters, welding supplies, lawn implements, trailers and trailer parts, hydraulic cylinders, pressure washers... Not many actual tractor parts. Prices are generally Good to OK. They were originally known as Northern Hydraulics, and had great prices on almost everything. Alas! Things change! Still, I'd rate as a "Good" store. It's kind of an industrial supply house for the public. Usually about the same size as a TSC and don't carry clothing or much in the way of animal husbandry supplies. Definitely not a farm store. Also, they don't seem to be out of everything like a TSC.

Sunspot, you should have visited NT while you were in NC too. Lots of 'em around.

Soundguy · May 30, 2008

Welding supplies? Nice.. i gotta check it out. tsc is my only real weld supply store.. and they are always out of stuff. I do have a welding supply place in town.. but stock almost nothing..

soundguy

srjones · May 30, 2008

Soundguy said:
I see we have a northern tools store opening in a city north of me.. anyone been to one.. do they carry same or different stuff as the catalog?

soundguy

I went to one in the Atlanta area a few weeks ago and I was really impressed. It seemed it was a smaller selection of what you'd see in a catalog, however it might have been just the store I was at. I just wish they had a store in the Pacific NW.

I'll be in Orlando in a few weeks and hopefully I can find one not too far from the city.

srjones · May 30, 2008

srjones said:
I'll be in Orlando in a few weeks and hopefully I can find one not too far from the city.

Orlando, FL Northern Tool + Equipment Store | 795 W Sand Lake Rd | Orlando, Florida 32809

Ok, that was easy. Right by the airport.

Bird · May 30, 2008

My first dealings with Northern Tool was when I ordered a parts washer from them that was shipped from their headquarters in Minnesota via UPS. I didn't know they had stores elsewhere at that time. Then when I needed a 3 ton arbor press, it cost about a hundred dollars, but was so heavy the shipping would also have been about a hundred. And that was when I learned they had a store just east of Dallas. They didn't have that arbor press in stock, but ordered it for me so I only had to pay the purchase price; no shipping charge and I picked it up at the store. They built a new store a few miles south of me 3 or 4 years ago. They have some cheap stuff and some good stuff and lots of both.

On some items, I sometimes can beat their prices, but overall I like the store. My current air-compressor, air hoses, blow guns, and some of my hand tools came from this local store.

Skyco · May 30, 2008

Have one locally just a couple of miles from the HF. Some of the stuff is the same- HF's price will ALWAYS be better, usually by a wide margin, on identical items, but they have a lot of stuff HF simply doesn't carry.

I absolutely love both stores and spend large portions of my income in both, too frequently perhaps

They are light years ahead of the Outhouse, excuse me TSC, as far as having stock items actually in stock.

One really has to watch the prices at NT though, they can gouge you big time. I've made a few impulse purchases there that I returned later after doing a little research and seeing just how much they reamed me. Can't blame them though for trying, caveat emptor.

Their free shipping to store has mixed results for me- I've had orders literally take 3 weeks to come from their distribution center in Fort Mill, SC, a suburb of Charlotte, NC, to their Columbia SC store...a whopping 75 miles away.

In short- good resource, just be aware of what you are paying. My favorite is their "garage sale" they have occasionally, I've walked out there with literally $600 worth of stuff for $50.

The other thread going about customer service brings to mind a couple of issues with them- recently they ran radio ads for a week here about a 10% off sale on a certain day. On the appointed day I went and bought a bunch of stuff- at the register the clerk said the discount was only for their club members. She was quite distressed as apparently numerous customers before me had given her considerable grief about not getting the discount, which BTW the radio ads never mentioned the club memebership requirement. I demanded to see the manager and got my discount...but jeez..they blew it and should have just sucked it up and granted the discount to anyone that asked without all the grief.
Several years back I paid big bucks for 2nd day shipping on a heavy item that I urgently needed. They charged shipping from their MN location to SC (1000 miles?) but then shipped directly from their warehouse 75 miles away. I would have gotten it overnight anyway for the regular shipping charge, where instead it took 2 days at quadruple cost. I didn't know they had a "local" warehouse at the time. This was before the local store too. Really left a bad taste in my mouth and when I complained heavily I got nowhere.
So as I said- good resource just watch them like a hawk as they can and will take advantage of you.

jinman · May 30, 2008

Soundguy said:
I see we have a northern tools store opening in a city north of me.. anyone been to one.. do they carry same or different stuff as the catalog?

soundguy

Soundguy, I think you will like the store and the variety of tools. They have a far greater selection than TSC and some unique tools like hydraulic lift tables. If you watch the sales catalogs, you can save some money on things like self-retracting cord reels. I wouldn't recommend buying a trailer or go-cart from them, but you will find plenty to spend your money on other than that. I bet you will really like the store.

Oh yes, they have sales people in the store who work at least on partial commission. I find them far more helpful than TSC employees. Don't hesitate to ask for help. My local store is a great place to go at noon during the week. It's not crowded like on weekends and makes shopping a pleasure.