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Article: Pliers poker: retail bet at Klein Tools.
- Article from:
- Crain's Chicago Business
- Article date:
- July 8, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In the years before the Civil War, Mathias Klein took to the road each summer with the pliers he'd forged all winter long in his Chicago blacksmith shop, selling them from a wagon throughout the countryside. Now, five generations later, Klein Tools Inc. is following the same path, again taking its products directly to the masses.
Founded in Chicago in 1857, Skokie-based Klein Tools has made the hand tools of choice for professional tradesmen. In launching sales through Home Depot Inc., Klein is making its first modern attempt to sell its high-end products to customers other than the electricians and construction workers who've been willing to pay the company's ...