Personally, I think Harbor Freight’s marketing could stand to be shifted a little, but it seems to be working for them. Some of them are abysmal, others are quite usable and in fact I might even consider them competitive. I bought a whole lot of Harbor Freight hand and cordless power tools a couple of months ago.

While a lot of people scoff about Harbor Freight tool quality – and I can say I used to be in that group – Harbor Freight sells a lot of tools to a lot more people. But when it comes to tools, everyone seems to forget that Harbor Freight is an increasingly big player. Right now, there’s a lot of chatter about Lowe’s “closing the gap” and catching up to Home Depot. To me, this gives Harbor Freight great potential to be a fiercer competitor. Yes, home improvement stores also have a lot of floor space dedicated to tools and related products. Sears used to have the largest tool departments, with huge amounts of floor space committed to Craftsman tools and other brands. Companies don’t grow and add retail locations without making money. Still, we can conclude that 1) Harbor Freight is a large company, and 2) Harbor Freight is a successful company. Since Harbor Freight is a private company, there’s no sales data, information about growth, or details regarding in-store vs. Have you been to a Harbor Freight store recently? They’re big, and they’re mostly filled with tools, plus related equipment, accessories, and supplies.įrom a numbers standpoint, would it be fair to say that Harbor Freight is more than half the size of Lowe’s, and closing in on half the size of Home Depot? This seems possible, from a number of store locations standpoint. All this is to say that there are a lot of Harbor Freight stores, and they’re within reach. There are two Harbor Freight stores closer to me than the nearest Lowe’s store, and a third just beyond that.

Home Depot, according to their corporate website, has more than 2200 stores in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.Īt this time, Harbor Freight has “1000+” stores in the USA.

Rivet punch home depot