Electric Trimmers and Electric Mowers: Electrifying Gas-Powered Tools
Under CEO Jim Loree, the venerable toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker has bet heavily on acquisitions as a way to power up the company’s growth. Last time, we checked in with him (for a 2018 magazine story) it was Craftsman, the tool line once revered by DIY-ers that had collapsed under the Eddie Lampert regime at Sears. Today, it’s MTD Products, a manufacturer of outdoor power and lawn care equipment whose brands include Cub Cadet, Troy-Bilt and Robomow.
Electric Mowers and Electric Trimmers
With the addition of MTD, Loree – who notes that he, too, hates the loud leaf blowers when he’s trying to relax at his Florida condo – plans to expand heavily into electric mowers, power washers and other outdoor products. Gas-powered trimmers, after all, aren’t just noisy, they’re also an environmental problem that, unlike automobiles, aren’t regulated. A gas-powered leaf blower, for example, emits as much carbon and other pollutants as driving a 2016 Toyota Camry on an 1,100-mile trip in just one hour, he says.
