Manufacturing · Profile from Manufacturing Research Companion: Companies, Strategic Moves, and Technical Studies
Stanley Black & Decker
The New Britain, Connecticut tool maker formed in 2010 when Stanley Works (founded 1843) merged with Black & Decker, and which owns DeWalt, Stanley, Black+Decker, Craftsman and a large outdoor-equipment business built from MTD and Excel. Its manufacturing story turns on a brand portfolio that grew faster than the factory system behind it, a reshoring promise that the factory could not keep, and a supply chain rebuilt under tariff pressure. Stanley bought the Craftsman brand from Sears in 2017 (net present value ~$900m, company) and said it would make more Craftsman tools in America; its ~$90m automated Fort Worth, Texas plant opened in 2020, was planned for ~500 jobs, and closed with ~175 after the closure was announced in Mar 2023, because — the company later told the SEC — it could not ramp production with the new automation. In 2022 the pandemic boom turned into an inventory glut, and the company launched a $2.0bn Global Cost Reduction Program through 2025 (10-K). In 2025 it priced and re-sourced around new tariffs, aiming to take China out of its US supply by 2027; in 2026 tariff refunds flattered its margins.
At a glance
- Founded
- Stanley Works: 1843, New Britain, Connecticut, Frederick T. Stanley (from memory, verify). Black & Decker: 1910, Baltimore, S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker (from memory, verify). Merger completed Mar 2010 (from memory, verify)
- Headquarters
- New Britain, Connecticut
- Ownership / structure
- Public (NYSE: SWK)
- Leadership (2026)
- Donald Allan Jr., president and CEO from Jul 2022 (from memory, verify; named as CEO in 2025 filings and call coverage); CEO succession after 2025 not checked (verify)
- Segments
- Tools & Outdoor (power tools and accessories, hand tools and storage, outdoor power equipment) and Engineered Fastening (industrial and automotive fasteners; the aerospace fastener business CAM was later divested) (10-K; segment structure from memory for exact names, verify)
- Scale
- Q3 2026 (8-K, 4 Nov 2026): net sales $3.732bn (−1% from $3.756bn), organic +4%; reported gross margin 39.0% (+760 bp), adjusted 39.4%, both incl. ~430 bp from net tariff refunds; GAAP EPS $1.83, adjusted $2.31, both incl. ~$0.67 of refunds; free cash flow $585m; 2026 EPS and FCF guidance raised. 2021 MTD revenue >$2.6bn (10-K). Full-year 2025 revenue not checked here (verify)
- Plants (selected)
- US power-tool and accessory plants (e.g. DeWalt in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jackson, Tennessee — from memory, verify); hand-tool plants in the US; Mexico (Reynosa and others, from memory, verify); China and other Asian plants and suppliers; MTD outdoor plants in Ohio and Mississippi (from memory, verify); Fort Worth Craftsman plant (opened 2020, closure announced Mar 2023)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Stanley Works–Black & Decker merger (2010); Craftsman from Sears (2017); the Fort Worth Craftsman plant (2019–23, failure); CAM aerospace fasteners bought (Feb 2020) and later sold; MTD and Excel (2021); the security and oil-and-gas exits (2022); the 2022–23 inventory glut and $2.0bn cost programme; the 2025 tariff response, China exit and Mexico shift
8 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2010
Stanley Works and Black and Decker Merger
Acquisition or merger (all-stock combination)
2017
Craftsman Brand from Sears
Acquisition (brand) with a licence back to the seller
2019
Fort Worth Craftsman Plant
Reshoring / new plant (greenfield, highly automated) — failure and closure
2020
CAM Aerospace Fasteners Bought and Sold
Acquisition (Feb 2020) and later divestment
2021
MTD and Excel Outdoor Acquisitions
Acquisition (two US outdoor-equipment makers)
2022
Inventory Glut and the 2bn Cost Programme
Restructuring (failure of demand planning, and the response): business transformation and footprint consolidation
2022
Security and Oil and Gas Divestitures
Divestment (two non-core businesses)
2025
Tariffs China Exit and the Mexico Shift
Footprint change (offshoring away from China; nearshoring to Mexico) and pricing