# Grizzly Industrial, how it came to be, by the owner ....



## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Now I understand why Grizzly customer service is so good:


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

Very interesting story. The Indians started in Africa and West Indies after abolition of slavery by the British. They were offered land in exchange for a period of labour. Many came from impoverished backgrounds and welcomed the chance to have a piece of land somewhere. Their descendants were enterprising and became traders. The British in charge were usually sons from the landed gentry who were not going to inherit the family estate and were seeking their fortune in the colonies. Often exploiting the locals.
Many became rich and in Africa were subject to envy by the locals who wanted to take away the Indians flourishing business. Mugabe in Zimbabwe was classic example. Another was Idi Amin who expelled the Indians and many came to the UK and set up businesses. 
The Grizzly founder's family went to US where the climate more agreeable. In Nairobi the weather usually sunny as I experienced when there in the 70s.
It was always a puzzle to me that India was a basket case at the time yet her citizens were so successful overseas. The British Empire had helped them. When in the Far East and East Africa, I met many Chinese business people who had similar success overseas that they would never have in China at the time. Illustrates how change of Government to one that helped business has made both India and China raise their living standards.
johnep


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## Scrappile (Jun 11, 2019)

Did I miss it. I kept waiting to hear why the name Grizzly. Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed the video.


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

I guess he just wanted something American and showed his aggressive attitude in trying to give good service.
johnep


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## Scrappile (Jun 11, 2019)

*Why did you choose the name Grizzly?*
"It is the most powerful animal in North America. It is also very easy to remember"


https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/balolia-reflects-grizzlys-30-years/


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*It was always about "service" ......*



johnep said:


> I guess he just wanted something American and showed his aggressive attitude in trying to give good service.
> johnep



As I understand it, he started out with very little profit margin and that's why he got kicked off the distributor's list. Other dealers complained he was undercutting them, but he didn't want/need a huge margin to operate. Somewhere in the video he stated that he wanted to treat his customers just like he would like to be treated if he were the customer. I also found it very interesting that he's close friends with many manufacturers in Taiwan, even names some of their children, and works closely with them to make specific product changes or innovations. 

This all started because he went to a shooting range, and made friends with a fellow marksman who turned him onto reloading to save money. This explains his interest in supplying rifle barrels, gun smithing parts and gunsmith lathes by South Bend. He is an award winning rifleman on his own shooting skills. It wasn't until later that he discovered woodworking machinery and that's now a huge part of his business. He also has an interest in musical instruments, guitars in particular. As far as coming to North America, he knew it was the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" ..... starting out with zero money with a loan from his sister of $500.00. What a success story!! :smile2:

For what it's worth for this forum, I have purchased several Grizzly woodworking machines over the years and I've been happy with them all. Fit and finish were all that I could expect and performance was as well. Great "bang for the buck" in my opinion. :vs_cool:


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## johnep (Apr 12, 2007)

I worked with a company whose policy was make friends with your suppliers and customers
.Some of the customers sent their children to school in England. They were kept an eye on by the staff. If a customer wanted a grand piano. We would locate a suitable supply and arrange shipping etc. When I left and went into export for another company, i did the same and found it paid dividends.
johnep


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

I was one of their first customers bought a G1033 planer I think that is the number, but right out of the box it was set and ready to go as soon as I powered it up, I think I got it in 1983 might be a year or two off, the only place I saw them was Fine Woodworking, I am sure they advertised in other mags too but I could only afford one


Since then I have purchased about 10 machines and they were all of very high quality, and the customer service has been great when ever I needed them


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## GordonL (Jan 10, 2020)

Looking at Grizzly Lathe: G0462, G0632Z, Go733 and G0838
Primarily I turn bowls and want at least 16" turning radius and 2 hp. The G0838 seems to be the best fit 16"x24" with the 1" post for the rest and down to 100rpm. I am not sure about the motor etc. any one have any comments?
Gordon L


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Post this a different thread!*



GordonL said:


> Looking at Grizzly Lathe: G0462, G0632Z, Go733 and G0838
> Primarily I turn bowls and want at least 16" turning radius and 2 hp. The G0838 seems to be the best fit 16"x24" with the 1" post for the rest and down to 100rpm. I am not sure about the motor etc. any one have any comments?
> Gordon L



You won't get any exposure in this thread. Post it in Power Tools and Machinery OR the Woodturning forum. This thread is about how Grizzly became a great company, not a source of information about lathes....
:|


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## miketo (Sep 2, 2019)

I'd rather hear from employees past and present about what it's like to work for Grizzly. That will tell me more about the company than a marketing-driven video. See that joystick-looking thing on his desk? That's a PTZ control panel (pan-tilt-zoom) used to control surveillance cameras throughout the company. Not too many good reasons for a CEO to have one of those, but I can think of a lot of not-so-good ones.


Yes, I'm cynical. But I've worked for enough companies to know that a CEO who paints himself as a saint is attempting a whitewash job to cover other sins.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*If the owner and founder is a "blank" .....*

......then, how do you explain the world wide reputation Grizzly has for good customer service. I have first hand experience having owned 5 Grizzly machines, all top quality for the cost. I would purchase more if the need arises. I think your skepticism is unwarranted. :|


Watch the video starting at 10:50 in and you'll see this is a humble hardworking guy who became successful as a result.


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## Terry Q (Jul 28, 2016)

Everyone has their experiences. 

I have a jointer, the fence was never ground entirely flat, there is paint on some of it and a slight twist. Another issue I have with Grizzly is shipping. You are at the mercy of the shippers and if it goes bad, like my jointer did, it’s still a pain in the butt regardless of customer service. If you order a brand that you can get through a local retailer it comes it much better shape and if it doesn’t, the retailer takes care of the problems.

I have a track saw, a bolt fell out while using it keeping the blade from retracting. Did some damage when I set it down on the track with the blade still spinning. Bolt hole stripped but not being there doesn’t seem to effect performance.

I have two shapers. I couldn’t figure out why one of them wouldn’t keep the depth adjustment that I set. Fought with it for weeks until the entire bit assembly rose up a couple inches while using it, ruining my work and scaring the crap out of me. Discovered the motor was never adequately tightened down in the assembly. The other one works as expected.

I prefer spending a bit more and buying a brand I can get “locally” and keeping a struggling woodworking store in business and not having to deal with less then perfect quality control.


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

I believe he could sell ice to an Eskimo. > I have seen that video before. He does a good job of selling himself and his company.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

miketo said:


> I'd rather hear from employees past and present about what it's like to work for Grizzly. That will tell me more about the company than a marketing-driven video. See that joystick-looking thing on his desk? That's a PTZ control panel (pan-tilt-zoom) used to control surveillance cameras throughout the company. Not too many good reasons for a CEO to have one of those, but I can think of a lot of not-so-good ones.
> 
> 
> Yes, I'm cynical. But I've worked for enough companies to know that a CEO who paints himself as a saint is attempting a whitewash job to cover other sins.



I've bought quite a few machines from them and have talked to their customer service, and they all seemed very satisfied working there. And have had very good luck with their machines



Have you ever had any employees? I have had a few hundred and there are employees you never need to check on and there are employees you need to watch all the time, or at least make them think you are watching them. As busy as he is I doubt he watches employees very much


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## miketo (Sep 2, 2019)

Catpower said:


> I've bought quite a few machines from them and have talked to their customer service, and they all seemed very satisfied working there.



That's a decent data point. Thank you for that.




> Have you ever had any employees? I have had a few hundred and there are employees you never need to check on and there are employees you need to watch all the time, or at least make them think you are watching them. As busy as he is I doubt he watches employees very much



Oh, yes. 250 developers and P/L responsibility for my division. I never had time to visit front-line devs, virtually or otherwise. I'm also quite familiar with individual-worker issues and corporate marketing efforts. There are at least three sides to every story (what A says, what B says, and what really happened) and so I prefer to collect more information before coming up with an informed opinion.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

We have Busy Bee Tools here in Canada, apparently run by his brother. My dad was visiting from Saskatchewan and saw an ad in the local buy and sell paper for metal working tools being sold out of the back of a Busy Bee Dry Cleaning shop. He checked them out and actually recommended their lathes to several of his neighbouring farmers.

It is a much larger national operation today, however shopping there still has that family run feeling.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Today I received my 2020 Grizzly catalog!*

The post office was a bit rough on it and the back cover was ripped in two large place, but I rebuilt it to be almost as good as new. It's 738 pages of stuff I've always wanted. My son saw it and said "Don't buy anything" ......:sad2:
They are showing quite a few new machines that I've never seen before. This thing is dangerous if you are a "tool junky" ....:vs_OMG:


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## shoot summ (Feb 21, 2014)

woodnthings said:


> The post office was a bit rough on it and the back cover was ripped in two large place, but I rebuilt it to be almost as good as new. It's 738 pages of stuff I've always wanted. My son saw it and said "Don't buy anything" ......:sad2:
> They are showing quite a few new machines that I've never seen before. This thing is dangerous if you are a "tool junky" ....:vs_OMG:


I was in the Springfield store last week, I could spend days there.

Looks like I will be in Springfield more often this year, not sure that will be a good thing...


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

shoot summ said:


> I was in the Springfield store last week, I could spend days there.
> 
> Looks like I will be in Springfield more often this year, not sure that will be a good thing... [/QUOT
> 
> ...


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