Ugh, ya I tried to stay away from this thread, but temptation got the best of me. Globalization and the race to the bottom for outdoor power equipment companies to gain the largest share of marketing are why I vote to say they are big box, even if they are under good name brands at the consumer level. I agree that there are some decent saws floating around in the "chain" stores but I cannot deny the sad fact of what is happening to all the great Ma' and Pa' stores across the country. It is a true race to the bottom for some because of the repair/parts and experts that once setup, instructed and advised the customer. I worked for a company in the 90's that was a major brand service center and I was religiously replacing pistons and cylinders on saws under "warranty" or return because they were straight gassed. Not good for brand image for sure. Jonsered is a prime example, I visited a good dealer locally this week and he is unsure if he is going to stay in business with all the changes in the last two years. That is a sad fact because he has bars and parts going back to the 1970's. Stihl has avoided the temptation thus far, which I applaud, but they have loosened up dealer requirements and you see the shift to hardware stores and multiple locations retailing equipment with only one central shop and parts house. I stopped by a John Deere dealer and the countermen had no idea how to use the Stihl parts system, so I lent a hand. You would not have that experience at a local shop. I am not trying to light a flame in this forum, and I get that everyone's situation is different economically, but I chose to support the local true shops. When I was in business there was the faithful that supported me and the customers were local supporters when I worked at other shops over the years as well. Inside note is that big stores for warranty and repair work bid to the lowest bidder on the market for repair work. I saw a HD contract bounce between three local shops that went out of business one by one. I respectfully had declined when the opportunity had come along. The other captain obvious is our members are technical and mechanical and know their way around fixing a saw which goes a long way towards a "homewrecker or muckaluck" saw and hats off to you. Everyone needs that "saw" for the youngin or buddy that needs to lone a saw and has never cut before. Ok rant over.
