First Brands news?

Worked in manufacturing for almost 30 years. You make a good US product and people will pay a premium.

You make slop and live off a brand name then don’t expect me to part with my money for it.

It’s pretty simple.
Then hatchet man promises the president and board and or owners how they can save money!!
 
The automakers propping up Fram makes sense, as Fram is a major OE supplier. For example, the Honda A02 is a PH7317, and Honda uses the same filter in all their cars, so if Fram goes down, they have no oil filters :cautious:
 
I remember when Worst Brands defiled the OG FRAM Ultra that some people believed it was an improvement.

Yeah, that's why the Endurance came out! A sneaky way for them to raise the price on the OG Ultra, which is basically what the Endurance is :sneaky:

I wonder if this is why Walmart started switching to the Purolator Gold to replace the Endurance, in case Walmart knew or suspected problems with Fram/First Brands
 
Yeah, that's why the Endurance came out! A sneaky way for them to raise the price on the OG Ultra, which is basically what the Endurance is :sneaky:

I wonder if this is why Walmart started switching to the Purolator Gold to replace the Endurance, in case Walmart knew or suspected problems with Fram/First Brands
The Endurance was actually a crappier product than the OG Ultra, but yes, they cheapened the OG with synblend media and then came out with a "new" (worse) premium filter.
 
Worked in manufacturing for almost 30 years. You make a good US product and people will pay a premium.

You make slop and live off a brand name then don’t expect me to part with my money for it.

It’s pretty simple.
I remember Malco reintroducing quality American locking pliers, for only one example, didn’t last. I bought a pair. Lets not make excuses, people tend to think of themselves and not the 1000’s who lost their jobs. With China making excellent products and amazingly cheap sometimes there is no way to compete. So what next. I’m also guilty, but still try if there is a choice. $10 is a pretty high price for an Asian oil filter.
 
I remember when Worst Brands defiled the OG FRAM Ultra that some people believed it was an improvement.
Fram was touting that the changed Ultra was basically the same performance regardless of the info in the emails Fram sent out to people - ie, 99+% @ 20u and rated up to 20K miles - which they still show on their website. But after it hit the shelves and was scrutinized in C&Ps after use it seemed to not live up to that claim - and than "wavy media" make people lose their minds in the centerfold races, lol. Then came leaf spring "ruffle gate" which included the new Ultra and others under Fram and Champ Labs.
 
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$10 is a pretty high price for an Asian oil filter.
The ones priced at $10 are pretty much some of the best filters on the market right now. People tend to buy products that give them the best performance, quality and value for the money. That's how most people spend their money on everything they buy. Companies that make and sell products should know that by now, and if they are losing sales from junk products then they need to make positive changes so people see that their products are worth buying. Simple capitalistic economics.
 
I remember Malco reintroducing quality American locking pliers, for only one example, didn’t last. I bought a pair. Lets not make excuses, people tend to think of themselves and not the 1000’s who lost their jobs. With China making excellent products and amazingly cheap sometimes there is no way to compete. So what next. I’m also guilty, but still try if there is a choice. $10 is a pretty high price for an Asian oil filter.
Much of Kleintool and Channelock still make much of there product here and have a good following, including me. Never heard of Malco? 🤷‍♂️

I used WIX for 2 decades. Now junk. I switched to Fram / Champ - shortly became junk. They had my business and lost it completely on their own accord - had nothing to do with compete. They were relying on people like you and tried to take advantage, so 100% their own fault IMHO.
 
I have been following this story since last December and it has not gotten any better. I hope somebody buys Autolite, Raybestos, Centric and Fram. I don't care about Cardone as they have never made a decent product so good riddence.

The other hit that is brewing is with LKQ. The guy who handles my LKQ account quit this week. He said they had a meeting where everyone was taking a pay cut effective immediately - so he left. LKQ has begun winding down some of their business as well and the have held off on junk car purchases at the moment so something is going on there as well! LKQ is for sale and they are winding down the keystone portion.
That’s unfortunate. Their Radiator Works division is a very heavy aftermarket supplier for cooling package parts on heavy trucks. I ordered from them nearly every day when I sold parts. Most items were in stock and in my hands within an hour and much much cheaper than Paccar.
 
And more carnage:

More than 200 workers at a Kansas-based manufacturing company have lost their jobs after the sale of the company fell through on Monday.

Hopkins Manufacturing, a global automotive parts company, filed two WARN notices with the state of Kansas, leading to the “immediate” closure of two of its facilities in Emporia and Edgerton, Kansas.

It specifically states Hopkins Manufacturing has been negotiating with various buyers so it can sell the company and continue its business operations with its current employees, business assets and inventory.

The company claims that one bidder had come forward in recent weeks with a viable bid and, as agreements were being made, they “unexpectedly withdrew.”


Hopkins Manufacturing said it has since been trying to find a new bidder, but was unsuccessful, leading the company to close.

The notice states that the company would have made the announcement sooner, but “given the urgency and seriousness with which the company and the potential purchaser approached the sale process and the fact that the parties had been actively negotiating a purchase agreement, the sudden withdrawal of the bid was unexpected and not reasonably foreseeable.”

News of the closure comes less than a month after Hopkins Manufacturing’s parent company, First Brands Group, LLC, made headlines in connection with a federal indictment for a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.

https://fox4kc.com/news/more-than-2...kansas-manufacturing-plant-falls-through/amp/
 
Never heard of Malco? 🤷‍♂️
Most people never have. They are primarily a HVAC and Roofing tool company that sells through Industrial supply houses.

The original Vise Grip factory in Dewitt, NE got off shored in the late 2000's to China. Malco about 10 years later had the bright idea to bring back a made in the USA locking plier and setup in the old Vise Grip factory in Dewitt, NE. The problem is that there was no left over tooling, dies or equipment and Malco had to setup from scratch. The locking plier were somewhat outside their wheel house and they lost their shorts getting it up and running with almost no marketing and IIRC, the intro price on the locking pliers were in the $40-$50 range.

Rumor was Malco was uncomfortable with the debt they had taken on and wanted to exit and get back to their core HVAC and Roofing market. Snap On bought the tooling, dies and equipment and moved it out of the Dewitt, NE factory shutting it down once again. There was quite a bit of manufactured stock left over that went to secondary tool distributors that really did not discount it much if any and NOS was still to be had 4-5 years later.

This is just my opinion, but Malco fell victim to listening too much to people on various tool forums when they initial put out feelers about making a USA made locking plier again and the masses pumped them up saying they wanted it. The problem is the cheap Charlies were expecting a $20 locking plier.

The pliers live on with the Snap On LP series of locking pliers but expect to pay the Snap On tax and will push the $100 barrier for one.
 
Most people never have. They are primarily a HVAC and Roofing tool company that sells through Industrial supply houses.

The original Vise Grip factory in Dewitt, NE got off shored in the late 2000's to China. Malco about 10 years later had the bright idea to bring back a made in the USA locking plier and setup in the old Vise Grip factory in Dewitt, NE. The problem is that there was no left over tooling, dies or equipment and Malco had to setup from scratch. The locking plier were somewhat outside their wheel house and they lost their shorts getting it up and running with almost no marketing and IIRC, the intro price on the locking pliers were in the $40-$50 range.

Rumor was Malco was uncomfortable with the debt they had taken on and wanted to exit and get back to their core HVAC and Roofing market. Snap On bought the tooling, dies and equipment and moved it out of the Dewitt, NE factory shutting it down once again. There was quite a bit of manufactured stock left over that went to secondary tool distributors that really did not discount it much if any and NOS was still to be had 4-5 years later.

This is just my opinion, but Malco fell victim to listening too much to people on various tool forums when they initial put out feelers about making a USA made locking plier again and the masses pumped them up saying they wanted it. The problem is the cheap Charlies were expecting a $20 locking plier.

The pliers live on with the Snap On LP series of locking pliers but expect to pay the Snap On tax and will push the $100 barrier for one.
Its such a shame too as I bought all of their different sizes and no other locking pliers have come even CLOSE to the quality these have. The teeth grip onto anything and don't dull out easily.
 
Much of Kleintool and Channelock still make much of there product here and have a good following, including me. Never heard of Malco? 🤷‍♂️

I used WIX for 2 decades. Now junk. I switched to Fram / Champ - shortly became junk. They had my business and lost it completely on their own accord - had nothing to do with compete. They were relying on people like you and tried to take advantage, so 100% their own fault IMHO.
They marketed them as Eagle Grip. Why spend $50 when an Irwin is good enough for $15? I have a few, more than a few, of the old Irwin USA, and a couple new made in China. There is nothing very wrong with the quality of the made in China. I’ve never used the Eagle Grip, still sits in the box. They want $$$ on ebay for them.
Wix may be better now, time will tell. I bought quite a few Boss, opened one, it was fine, saw nothing wrong.
 
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"Bob's Oil Filter Company" has a nice ring to it. All we need is somebody with business acumen, a couple of engineers and some management folks to fix all the poor quality filter manufacturing we've been complaining about.
Nope, it will end up with 1 micron @ 99.9% efficiency, no cost-saving cardboard, silicone valve material, heavy-wall can, and so on .... and they'll cost $72/each. But hey, "it's cheap insurance", right ? Cheaper than an engine !
 
Its such a shame too as I bought all of their different sizes and no other locking pliers have come even CLOSE to the quality these have. The teeth grip onto anything and don't dull out easily.
Yeah, I never handled a set but everything I have seen and heard from others that have, sung their praises.
 
Nope, it will end up with 1 micron @ 99.9% efficiency, no cost-saving cardboard, silicone valve material, heavy-wall can, and so on .... and they'll cost $72/each. But hey, "it's cheap insurance", right ? Cheaper than an engine !
Funny but true.
 
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