A lot of time has passed – 15 years, to be exact! – since the humble beginnings of Ultimate Tools.
Back then, I was working in the film industry and had a workshop in my laundry room. To keep it clean and dust-free, I relied on Festool products, but they weren’t available in Canada at the time. After frequent trips back and forth to Point Roberts, I requested to be set up as a Canadian dealer. So began my makeshift shop: I told as many people as I could, and started selling Festool inventory out of my rental suite.
Word spread and so did the demand for Festool products. Luckily, I happened upon an introduction to a small e-commerce company that was just starting up, and they offered me a deal to use their platform. (Maybe you’ve heard of them? They’re called Shopify.)
After that, I started selling to customers around the country, and opened up a dedicated retail space under the name Ultimate Tools. I’ll let you in on a trade secret: When we first opened the store, we made sure to get a really nice coffee machine, and offered a free coffee to our customers when they came in. This bought us about 20 minutes of their time to get to know them and teach them about the products we sold. Quick tip: offering your customer a coffee without a lid organically presents an opportunity to sell dust-free tools.
That’s just one example of our core business philosophy in action: to provide top notch service and be experts on all of our products. Starting with Festool, we’ve always been committed to bringing in the latest and greatest quality tools, having them in stock when you need them, and getting them to you quickly. And of course, we’re here to support you in any way you need, whether it’s an in-store demo, our money-back guarantee, or prompt communication on your order.
Fast-forward 15 years from the days of selling out of my house, and we now have a 13,000 square-foot building with a 2000 square-foot retail store, 8 full-time staff members (plus some fractional employees), and around 16,000 customers across the country. All in service of giving our customers the ability to be precise, creative, and efficient in everything they do.
Thanks to everyone who has helped put the “Ultimate” in “Ultimate Tools” over the years: our customers, staff, suppliers, partners, and families.
Cheers to many more years!
Dan Clermont
CEO, Ultimate Tools
You can shop the 15th Anniversary Sale HERE.
1 comment
John Thomas
Congratulations Dan! You’ve carved a niche for yourself and many employees as well!
Your entrepreneurial spirit and vision has delivered a remarkable result!
Wishing you many more years of success! JST