Matco tool distributors gathered in Orlando, Fla. in February to take advantage of discounts and special offers available at the twentieth annual Matco Tool Expo. According to Matco Tools, distributor attendance was up 40 percent over 2009.
Multiple vendors were on hand displaying thousands of products, everything from flashlights and pocket knives to tool trucks. Matco alone introduced 186 new tools or tool sets.
John Green, Vice President of Marketing and eBusiness for Matco and host of the event, noted that every distributor he spoke with said business was up from the previous year, and every conversation included the phrase “and getting better.”
He recognized the role of the general recovery in the economy, but he also noted that new tools and pent-up demand are just as significant. As proof, he described the Infinium line of lithium/ion battery-powered tools “a runaway success.” In fact, sales are up for every distributor in most categories, especially test equipment and diagnostic tools.
Mr. Green is fairly new to the company, and part of his initiation included riding along with distributors on their trucks. He learned that customers’ trust of the distributor is just as important as their trust in the tool. He also noticed that a tool truck is a mobile store and that distributors strive to provide whatever their customers need.
That need may be something other than tools, which is probably why one of the vendors at the Expo was Jittery Joe Coffee. When Mr. Green said that “We’re all here for the end customer,” he was referring to everyone at Matco Tools.
