Northern Tool
Northern Tool + Equipment is an online business where you can buy tools of just about any type and any brand. Years ago, before the Internet was used for commercial purposes, I used to buy my tools from Northern Tool. Back then, one just used a traditional full-color catalog and a toll-free telephone number to place orders.
One of the power tools I purchased from Northern Tool was a corded one-half inch drill made by Porter Cable. I remember paying $89.00 for this drill back in the late 1980's. This was a lot of money for a drill at the time.
But the moral of the story is that I was buying quality. I still have that drill, and it works just as good as the day it was delivered by the brown UPS truck.
Many of my carpenter friends and subcontractors thought I was nuts for buying tools via mail order. They thought it was crazy to call and send for a tool. My thoughts were about pricing and convenience. The drill was very competitively priced, and I loved how I didn't have to fight a crowd at one of the local stores.
After this positive buying experience, I then purchased a gasoline-powered air compressor from Northern Tool. This larger item was not able to be delivered by UPS, so I had to go pick it up at a freight company. That was a little bit of a hassle, but I got a fantastic deal on the compressor, and it arrived in perfect condition.
There were thousands of people who were buying mail order at the time. It wasn't a new concept, as other major retailers had strong mail-order catalog operations. Heck, L.L. Bean started his successful mail-order business back in the very early 1900's, so you know both mail order and Internet businesses could do well. People love convenience and great pricing.
Column EM0044
Tim built custom homes and did ultra-custom remodeling for 20+ years before launching his Ask the Builder media presence. He was selected as one of the Big 50 by Remodeling magazine in 1993. This award gave birth to Ask the Builder in October 1993. Tim also operates https://DrawPlumbingPlans.com. His @askthebuilder YouTube channel was the first home improvement channel on YouTube.