Smith & Wesson Wants to Change Its Name

[btq96r]

I'm not a die hard S&W fan, but I think this is a stupid move.  160+ years of history and name recognition is something they'll miss having on future sales to novice first time buyers.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-07/gunmaker-smith-wesson-to-drop-19th-century-founders-from-name

Edited November 8, 2016 by btq96r

[Fourtyfive]

Saw that , pretty wierd...

[mikegideon]

They're not changing the brand. Guns will still have the S&W Stamp. Just changing the name of the holding company. didn't read deep enough to find out why, but would assume that it has its up side. Changing the brand would be stupid.

[Oh Shoot]

"The firearms unit will continue to operate as Smith & Wesson Corp. and sell under that brand name, the company said in a filing. "

Nothing to see here, move along.

- OS

Edited November 8, 2016 by Oh Shoot

[MacGyver]

Likely a smart move by a brand that seems to be using some of its cash to buy other outdoor brands.  

[btq96r]

As long as I don't see " American Outdoor Brands Corp." stamped on a gun. 

[Omega]

I disagree about it being a good move, many buy their products(non-gun) because of the S&W name.  Now they will be one of many selling those products with no name-recognition to aid them.  We currently stock their handcuffs and collapsible batons, and I bet the name had something to do with it.

[mikegideon]

13 minutes ago, btq96r said:

As long as I don't see " American Outdoor Brands Corp." stamped on a gun. 

That ain't gonna happen. Looks like they are expanding, with S&W remaining as a subsidiary. Envision the Freedom Group, and Remington and Marlin. I'm guessing they will go broader than the Freedom group.

 

Edited November 8, 2016 by mikegideon

[mikegideon]

10 minutes ago, Omega said:

I disagree about it being a good move, many buy their products(non-gun) because of the S&W name.  Now they will be one of many selling those products with no name-recognition to aid them.  We currently stock their handcuffs and collapsible batons, and I bet the name had something to do with it.

My money says the handcuffs and everything else will still be S&W

[DaveTN]

I don’t understand why they are doing it either, but I don’t see it as a big deal. Like Mike said Remington is owned by Freedom Group, which is owned by Cerberus Capitol Management.

A couple of years ago Smith & Wesson bought Battenfield Technologies which is Caldwell Shooting Supplies, Wheeler Engineering, Tipton Gun Cleaning Supplies, and some others. Smith & Wesson also does a lot of casting that doesn’t have anything to do with guns. So maybe they think a name change will help them there.

Like any company; they have made some mistakes. Their first entry into the Tupperware gun market didn’t work out so well. But they corrected that with the M&P line that has taken the market by storm. They also became the importer for Walther for a few years, which started damaging their customer support reputation, which has been the gold standard for the gun industry.

I hope it works out for them, with the possibility of a ban on imported guns we need all the American gun manufacturers we can keep.  I hope that S&W, Ruger, Remington and all the others made here do great. If not we could be in trouble.

[Pete123]

They want S&W to be one of their brands.  They'll have other products under different names.  Rest assured, the guns will be S&W.  I would think they'll put of S&W brand on everything where it makes sense - what a powerful brand.

[shotgunshooter]

Really rolls off the tongue. 

[Oh Shoot]

2 hours ago, Pete123 said:

They want S&W to be one of their brands.  They'll have other products under different names.  Rest assured, the guns will be S&W.  I would think they'll put of S&W brand on everything where it makes sense - what a powerful brand.

Like their junk knives. Cheap and yet still overpriced for how crummy they actually are.

- OS

[Oh Shoot]

double tap

Edited November 8, 2016 by Oh Shoot

[monkeylizard]

This is really a non story. The Smith & Wesson brand isn't changing on the firearms. If it's branded S&W today, it will almost certainly continue to be branded that way in the future. The parent company is simply renaming itself from Smith & Wesson Holding Company to American Outdoor Brands Company. It makes sense when a parent company buys enough child companies in different product markets to do something like this. It makes it clearer to investors that there's more to the company than just the S&W brand.

From their Annual Report:

We sell our products under the Smith & Wesson, M&P, Thompson/Center Arms,Caldwell Shooting Supplies, Wheeler Engineering, Tipton Gun Cleaning Supplies, Frankford Arsenal Reloading Tools, Lockdown Vault Accessories, Hooyman Premium Tree Saws, BOG-POD, and Golden Rod Moisture Control brands.

Toss in the new acquisition of Ultimate Survival Technologies and it's clear that they're trying to build out a full outdoor lifestyle company, not just firearms and handcuffs (and misc. doodads) sold under the S&W brand. I expect the acquisition of a hunting accessory company (tree stands, game calls, etc.) to be in their future, and/or maybe a sport optics company.

Edited November 8, 2016 by monkeylizard

[Pete123]

3 hours ago, Oh Shoot said:

Like their junk knives. Cheap and yet still overpriced for how crummy they actually are.

- OS

I always shake my head when an iconic brand puts their name of a piece of crap.

[monkeylizard]

I wonder what they'll do with their mountain bikes....

[JohnC]

I happen to like the name S&W and feel the new one is a bit too corporate and bland.

 

[musicman]

All of this is just corporate/conglomeration structuring.  This will not effect any  of the S&W products and guns you are used to.  Honestly, this thread is probably the sum total that you will ever see/notice of this entire thing.  Smith has been building their company steadily and wisely for years.  Crimson Trace, including all the brands above are now under the umbrella.

With a Trump win, I believe we will see gun sales cool... quickly.  Wise brands are those who are ready for booms and busts.  Smith has been vocal and upfront that they want to broaden their revenue stream for some more stability. I think they have been a great job so far.

I am, however, worried that they need to come up with a fresh mainstream handgun design.  Not a tweaked M&P, but something of substance.  The M&P pistol is about a decade old or so and I believe is getting close to reaching saturation for the product line.  

[Wingshooter]

I understand what they're thinking, but I'd still be more inclined to buy a S&W. backpack, sunglasses, watch, whatever than I would the same items branded American Outdoor Brands.

 

I guess they just want a catch-all brand to sell the "made in China" stuff so they don't tarnish the S&W name

 

[musicman]

17 minutes ago, Wingshooter said:

I understand what they're thinking, but I'd still be more inclined to buy a S&W. backpack, sunglasses, watch, whatever than I would the same items branded American Outdoor Brands.

 

I guess they just want a catch-all brand to sell the "made in China" stuff so they don't tarnish the S&W name

 

It's interesting to read the market news on this.  A similiar company, Vista Outdoors (ticker VISTO) who own Savage and a bunch of ammo companies, among others, has already done this.  Whereas Ruger and Smith took a 20% hit in valuation after the election, Vista remained pretty much untouched, even though they are arguably subject to nearly identical market and political forces.  Many think that's because they don't have a gun brand for a name, and I have to agree.  The market is not always (ever?) logical.  S&W would probably like to avoid all of that hysteria as well.

[monkeylizard]

1 hour ago, Wingshooter said:

I understand what they're thinking, but I'd still be more inclined to buy a S&W. backpack, sunglasses, watch, whatever than I would the same items branded American Outdoor Brands.

 

I guess they just want a catch-all brand to sell the "made in China" stuff so they don't tarnish the S&W name

 

They already sell cheap China-made knives under the S&W brand, and nothing stops them from selling the outdoors stuff under the S&W brand. You could conceivably buy a S&W sleeping bag in the future if they choose to brand their gear that way.

musicman is hitting this on the head. The company has grown beyond just firearms and accessories, so it makes sense to rebrand the overall company. It makes them less susceptible to market forces in any one section of their business because that one section isn't perceived as their only business like it is today. If the rebranding bothers you, then you can think of it as if a company named American Outdoor Brands that makes outdoor gear just bought S&W. The renaming is of course a different process than a buyout would have been, but the end result in this case is the same.

[Peace]

To sum it up:  Everything you know and love about S&W will most likely be MORE secure as we walk into the future because the corporate umbrella carries a name that reflects the diversity of its holdings.  

[btq96r]

On 11/8/2016 at 11:15 PM, musicman said:

With a Trump win, I believe we will see gun sales cool... quickly.

Get this guy a beer...he called it.  The gun industry is going to have to learn how to handle revenue cycles without the Democrats doing 75% of their marketing and sales work for them.

Demand slows for firearms, sending shares of major gunmaker down 5 percent

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/02/demand-slows-for-firearms-sending-shares-of-major-gunmaker-down-5-percent.html

[mikegideon]

It was a no brainer. Obama stoked the anti-gun panic hard for eight years. Everybody that ever wanted a gun wound up with at least four. It's saturated.

Edited March 3, 2017 by mikegideon