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I’m a fan of the new ToughBuilt StackTech modular tool box system, with one significant caveat – it’s only available at Lowe’s.
I ordered a couple of StackTech crates at the end of the holiday shopping season, following hands-on testing of the first wave of products.
Lowe’s shipped everything individually, in ToughBuilt’s original and very sturdy packaging. I wasn’t disappointed, which is saying a lot when it comes to Lowe’s.
I went with Milwaukee Packout, and invested heavily in drawer tool boxes this past holiday season. Still, I was anticipating trying out ToughBuilt’s drawers as well.
My Lowe’s store had 2 StackTech drawer boxes on the top shelf, but good luck finding a worker. The price then went up shortly after they launched. From what I’ve seen, Lowe’s increased ALL StackTech prices after the start of the year.
Fine, I can hold off on drawers – I’ll check back in November to see what kinds of promos Lowe’s offers again.
But I need a dolly or two, and I needed it months ago.
I’m not using the crates I purchased at their full utility yet, because I can’t get a compatible cart. In the meantime, I’ve been using a spare Packout dolly.
I won’t even consider getting the ToughBuilt Stacktech drawer tool boxes at any price if I can’t put them on a 4-wheel cart. And no, I’m not about to build my own. If I have the time for a DIY route, I wouldn’t be buying plastic tool boxes in the first place.
I checked again today, and Lowe’s website turned up empty. Were my keywords wrong? Dolly? No. Cart? No. Base? No.
Via a Google, a listing comes up and… out of stock.
Let me check with the model number (TB-B1-T-10), as Lowe’s sometimes has duplicate listings for ToughBuilt products.
“This item is no longer sold on Lowes.com” – I’m guessing this was the placeholder page.
ToughBuilt started advertising the 4-wheel cart 2 months ago.
It’s not online, and not in stores.
Maybe it was available in stores, but not at mine the few times I checked.
When ToughBuilt announced the StackTech line, critics said it was nothing more than a bunch of computer renderings. More than one industry insider was skeptical that ToughBuilt could or would pull it off.
But they did.
ToughBuilt pulled off a successful introductory launch, and has since started shipping accessories and the second wave of products.
In the past 6 months, ToughBuilt went from being a soft storage and growing hand tool brand, to a high-interest modular tool box brand.
I’m ready to spend more, but Lowe’s has proven to be a major obstacle.
I haven’t checked with the ToughBuilt team, but it would be moot to do so. ToughBuilt has built an excellent and capable team that knows what they’re doing.
Any brand can throw out a bunch of computer renderings of tool storage products. ToughBuilt’s timeline and roadmap was ambitious, and they’re pulling it off.
But Lowe’s…
Whether online or in-store, I can count on them to disappoint me.
Lowe’s did such a great job with Klein’s ModBox storage system, with respect to visibility, and their sales pricing has been extended to May 1st. Flex StackPack products look to have been purged from all nearby Lowe’s stores.
My Lowe’s store had a nice looking display of core StackTech products, but not what I need or am interested in.
I am extremely preferential about tool storage and organizational products. If I were considering these products as a primary storage solution, I would have already decided on a competing system.
An ETA at Lowe’s would give me more confidence in availability.
According to ToughBuilt’s roadmap, here’s what will be available in Spring 2024:
A lot of these items launched, with some harder to find than others – such as the 4-wheel cart.
More are expected to be available by this summer.
Accessories are also on the way.
I’m still very excited about the ToughBuilt StackTech line, including a couple of things they’re working on that haven’t been shared publicly yet.
Maybe others’ Lowe’s experiences have been different. Maybe things will smooth out once everything is launched and ToughBuilt and Lowe’s balance in-store and warehouse inventory allocations.
ToughBuilt has done a remarkable job so far, in my opinion. But Lowe’s? I think they’re botching things. For such a large retailer, they could and should be doing better.
