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BREAKING NEWS: Shopsmith, Inc. Has A New Owner

jpdalton

So, the biggest reveal of the 75th Anniversary Celebration Event that concluded earlier today in Dayton was that the Folkerth family has opted to pass along the stewardship of Shopsmith, Inc. to a new owner!

Nick Cupps was introduced to the attendees, and gave some very inspirational insights into his plans to improve and grow the organization, bring a new generation of users into the customer base, and continue to engage the avid user community that has been essential to supporting the brand in recent years.

Nick comes from the wealth management industry, and much like John Folkerth did over 50 years ago, he sees continued great business potential in the products, brand, and user base, and looks forward to managing this investment to see its potential.

First order of business in his [only!] two weeks of ownership has been a cleanup of the factory (mission accomplished, based on what we saw in our tour yesterday), and next up is release of the long anticipated new web site in the “next 2-3 weeks”.

Big changes are in store, so stay tuned!

New Shopsmith, Inc. owner, Nick Cupps, personally guiding factory tours during the 75th Anniversary Celebration event

Ed in Tampa

Thank goodness! Maybe he will bring prices to realistic levels and sale a ton of new Shopsmith’s.

I always believed there was a huge untapped market that was priced out of the market.

Welcome to the new owner!

JPG

Hopefully he can reverse the obsolescence trend the absence of which was historically a unique major attribute of SS.

There are more than 17 needed old model parts with so many half century old machines still running.

Demand is fer sure teeny tiny, but I think a small inventory can be maintained at a reasonably high selling price.

When ya need it, ya need it. Depending upon scavengers to supply used parts is not IMHO a good business plan.

That always available parts WAS a selling point in the past.

dusty

I am excited to hear this. I am especially interested in what the support for older Mark V, Model 505/510 and 520 will be like.

An illustrated parts breakdown complete with part numbers, pictures and prices would be great.

Current available documentation makes me feels as though Shopsmith is not interested in me as a customer unless I am a probable Mark 7 Customer.

That I am not. I'm just a long-time user of my two Mark Vs which I now keep running by watching eBay closely.

80spiders

Was anything said at the Users Group meeting about how many new Mark V and 7s are sold? With the number of used machines being sold on Facebook and Ebay, it is difficult for me to see the demand for any new machines other than a new headstock for the Mark 7. Ditto for the SPTs - lots of used ones going with the used machines. The market for this business has to be: (1) replacement parts (2) upgrades and (3) training for new users who want to be in woodworking. I just don't see the market for new Mark Vs.

I was in a Rockler store a few weeks ago and a clerk, who I would guess was 55 years old, asked me what equipment I had. When I told him Shopsmith, his response was,"Is that company still in business?" As anyone here who recognized my screen name will attest that I am new to woodworking based upon the bone headed questions I have asked online. But I can tell a well made piece of equipment when I see it - that is why I purchased my first Shopsmith - a 520 about 3 years ago. After doing some searches online for used woodworking equipment to start with, I found the best bang for my buck was the used Shopsmith - knew nothing about it other than what I could read online and, that searching put me on here, the forum. The point being, Shopsmith is a good stuff but there is no marketing of it to introduce it to new woodworkers and there is no training other than old N.E. videos (all good but not current media). Market it the machine's functionality (go back to some larger state fairs), provide updated training, and keep a good supply of replacement parts. Just my 2 cents worth on how to keep this ship afloat.

JPG

algale

Hope he can keep the company running and make some improvements.

Albertt62

Nick, the new owner, conducted the factory tours. He only purchased the company last week. He expressed his admiration for the group. He made several mentions about knowing our concerns, including shipping…. and told us one of his major endeavors is finding ways to service us, both the resale, and direct consumer!

While I can’t make promises for a man I only briefly shook hands with, I’m filled with the hope, my grand children will one day be able to purchase a brand new Mark, to sit beside my still functional and useful 510! NO, HE DIDN’T announce a new Mark, but the PowerPro 2 headstock, Very nice!

bainin

Does he use a Shopsmith?

Might be a good place to start if he's -just a money man-

b

BigSky

bainin wrote Does he use a Shopsmith?

Might be a good place to start if he's -just a money man-

b

He might not use one but we do know that he owns one (or two).

I'm waiting for the new web site with expectations of a parts catalog (NOT a Power Pro flier) and someone like Jan to talk to about problems. Those were the days and that was Customer Service.

gold4us21

I'm glad to see the baton being passed on. Although I have truly had excellent customer service, I have read of others who have not. I recently purchased the the new PowerPro Gen 2 upgrade and had an issue with the new Pinon gear. They determined it was probably the fault of the shipper and fixed it without issue. I was down for about 2 weeks but I have it up and running beautifully. The customer service for me was good, BUT, I know the Frontline phone people need better training on the Shopsmith products. Some have no clue as to what we're asking for and that is disturbing to many of us.

I look forward to SEE how the new ownership will be dealing with us oldtimers (33 year owner with 3 Shopsmith units) and new owners to be. I hope my son when he inherits my units will have good experiences.

Good luck to the new regime.

ryanbp01

The whole event was an eye-opening experience. Kudos to you John, Nick, and the rest of the Shopsmith team for putting on this event. I hope they do it again!

BPR

thedovetailjoint

bainin wrote Does he use a Shopsmith?

Nick said his grandfather owned and used a 10ER, which is now owned and used by his uncle. He now owns all the Shopsmith tools he wants. Shopsmith doesn't need to be owned by a woodworker, it needs to be owned by a businessperson. Nick is that, and that's good enough for me.

db5

JPG wrote+1

As expected JPG says as much as possible with as few words (keyboard characters) as possible.

JPG

db5 wrote
JPG wrote+1
As expected JPG says as much as possible with as few words (keyboard characters) as possible.

It means TOTAL agreement with the previous post by someone else. No need to repeat it.

edma194

JPG wrote
db5 wrote
JPG wrote+1
As expected JPG says as much as possible with as few words (keyboard characters) as possible.
It means TOTAL agreement with the previous post by someone else. No need to repeat it.

+1 ;)

edma194

ryanbp01 wrote The whole event was an eye-opening experience. Kudos to you John, Nick, and the rest of the Shopsmith team for putting on this event. I hope they do it again!

BPR

My thanks to everyone as well even though I was not able to attend. With unrealistic optimism I hope to be able to attend the next one in 75 years. Wish I could have seen so many people from here in the Forum and others.

The new owner news is exciting. I agree with earlier posts about parts support for older machines. The number of existing machines that can introduce new users to Shopsmiths must exceed new sales by a great deal and provide a much more practical entry price to the system.

RFGuy

I am thankful for the previous owners being stewards of Shopsmith and I am hopeful for the future under this new ownership. Thank you to both. I sincerely wish him the best with this new endeavor. Many of us have discussed at length on multiple past threads the potential opportunities and challenges with continuing a brand like Shopsmith, especially given the difficult macro-economic environment and intense competition in the woodworking tool space. So, I am not going to regurgitate all of that again. ;) I believe this thread mentioned that the new owner comes from the wealth management business world, which likely means he intends to maximize profit in this new endeavor (well any business owner would, but perhaps he has more acumen in this regard due to his background). While many want to see backwards compatibility with Shopsmith tools, I honestly think that has hamstrung development at Shopsmith. I would love to see the headstock and SPT's retooled with new and improved versions. Of course, wherever possible, I hope the new owner still offers as many replacement parts as possible for any & all legacy systems. I particularly like JPG's suggestion of replacement parts at whatever suitable cost is appropriate. Like he said, when you need a part, you need a part, so why not offer the replacement even if the cost might be substantially more than what it was initially offered at under its first production run? On the opposite side with new products like the PowerPro, I believe it has become cost prohibitive for the new woodworking tool shopper ready to pull the trigger. Why should a new woodworker shell out $5k for a new Mark 7,8,9...when they can drop $3k on a Sawstop and have enough leftover to drop in a router wing in the table, buy a standalone jointer and get a drill press, etc.? I really don't think a new Mark 7 is the value proposition that the previous owners thought that it was or what a brand new Mark V many decades ago represented at that time. I would really like to see some annual sales numbers for the Mark 7 vs. time because I believe continuing to raise prices ad infinitum, as has been the case for many years, IMHO will only continue to lead to brand erosion for Shopsmith. JMO.

SteveMaryland

Surprised to hear this. Hope springs eternal. My one live encounter with the previous owner (not John) left me with some concerns about the fate of the company, which now rests with this new owner.

Profitably selling Shopsmith today and tomorrow will require wise management and realistic $$ expectations, because the peculiar market and demographics of Shopsmith today, and the world itself, is worlds apart from that of Yesterday.

"Low" component prices cannot and should not be expected from Shopsmith. The quantities are just not there, and will not be there tomorrow. Also, better to make parts here rather than go overseas to get "low low" prices. Expect "high" prices, make-to-order, and slow delivery as the "costs" of keeping the Shopsmith brand and component availability alive.

I hope the new owner values a cohesive design/engineering team. He needs to stop the revolving door of talent. Finding experienced and talented machine designers in our de-industrialized economy will be increasingly difficult. Shopsmith needs a few good engineers/designers who know their CAD, and a business owner who understands how to manage them and how to keep them. And I hope he listens to engineers and not "Marketeers".

As for future new products, I think not, but numerous small improvements and beef-ups in the existing line would be realistic. Certainly straightening out the PowerPro problems at least. Improvements in rigidity, setup repeatability, and dial-in adjustability of the existing line will continue to be in demand.

cinredman

Unfortunately, I was unable to make the 75th event.

While I am hopeful, I am also searching for information regarding Mr. Cupps background, experience, and track-record running businesses.

Has anyone found his resume and background info? I mean, truly hoping this guy isn't a wealth management dude like Gordon Gekko!