Saturday, October 31, 2009

'Playtime' and building a great business

The Lee Valley tool company makes great quality, well-priced, innovative tools. Period.

Over the years I have bought several of their handplanes, and assorted other paraphernalia, and their stuff and their service rocks.

Rob Lee and his crew give us everything we love about Canadians. They've taken old world quality and infused it with new world ingenuity. They've taken old style service, and somehow managed to maintain a stunning standard among customers all over the world. They have promoted gifted individuals, and yet always kept the 'top end' of the business wide open to the ideas of the masses. They have taken handtools to a new level, and yet not forgotten how to have fun. (Their new product releases every April Fool's Day capture this.)

This cool little shoulder plane is also a great example of the spirit of ingenuity and play. It is stunningly good value for the machining and tooling involved. And since this baby was launched only a few days ago, woodworkers across the various fora have been buzzing with excitement.

But it's like this every time Lee Valley release a new tool now. They know how to build the excitement so it's just like Christmas morning with a bunch of six-year-old kids. Except it happens more than once a year.

Lee Valley is a business that woodworkers love to deal with. What more could you ask for? Great quality, great fun, great service, great people, great knowledge, great accessibility, great value. They have decisively nailed a winning formula.