![Worxsaw WX423 - 2018-12-23 (6)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Worxsaw_WX423_-_2018-12-23_%286%29.jpg)
Worx (styled WORX in the company's logo), is a line of
lawn and garden equipment and
power tool
A power tool is a tool that is actuated by an additional power source and mechanism other than the solely manual labor used with hand tools. The most common types of power tools use electric motors. Internal combustion engines and compressed ...
s owned and distributed by the
Positec Tool Corporation, a manufacturing company based in
Suzhou
Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, with North American headquarters in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
The brand is known primarily for its lawn and garden tools like
trimmers,
lawn mowers
A lawn mower (also known as a mower, grass cutter or lawnmower) is a device utilizing one or more revolving blades (or a reel) to cut a grass surface to an even height. The height of the cut grass may be fixed by the design of the mower, but g ...
, and
chainsaws
A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning, ...
.
In North America, Worxproducts can be found at numerous major retailers including
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...
,
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
,
The Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...
,
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations a ...
, and
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
.
The brand is also sold on other continents, such as in Europe.
History
The Positec Tool Corporation was founded in Suzhou, China, by Don Gao in 1994.
For most of its early years, Positec sold
OEM
An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
power tools to companies and brands like
Black & Decker
Black+Decker Inc. is an American manufacturer of power tools, accessories, hardware, home improvement products, home appliances and fastening systems headquartered in Towson, Maryland, north of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, where the company was o ...
.
Gao wanted to branch out by creating a line of lawn and garden equipment using his own branding. Positec launched early versions of Worx tools in China in 2004. One of the first Worx products sold was an electric lawn trimmer called the Worx GT.
Also in 2004, Gao met Tom Duncan, an entrepreneur and former executive at Vermont American, a company owned by the
Robert Bosch Tool Group of
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Duncan brought the
Rockwell Tools
Rockwell Tools is a line of power tools that is currently owned and distributed by Positec Tool Corporation, a China-based company with North American headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina. The brand offers power tools and hand tools that ar ...
brand name under the umbrella of Positec and became the head of the company's North American division in 2005. He would eventually sell both the WORX and Rockwell brands from the headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Positec initially had trouble selling Worx products to major retailers because those retailers wanted to sell them as an in-house brand (rather than an independent brand). In order to sell under the Worx brand name, the company decided to employ
direct response marketing
Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. By ...
including the use of
infomercials
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
. The Worx GT electric trimmer was the first Positec product to be sold using an infomercial in the United States in early 2007. By the end of that year, the company had sold 313,000 Worx GT units.
The first retailer in which Worx products appeared was Lowe's in October 2009.
By 2012, the Worx brand was in Walmart, Costco, and The Home Depot (among others).
Also in 2012, Positec's increased sales required the company to move its U.S. distribution center from
Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
to
Huntersville, North Carolina
Huntersville is a large suburban town in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, United States. A part of the Charlotte metropolitan area, the population was 61,376 at the 2020 census, making Huntersville the 15th largest municipality in North Caroli ...
to be closer to the headquarters in Charlotte.
Products
The Worx brand is composed of numerous lawn and garden tools. The brand's flagship product was the Worx GT, a lightweight electric trimmer. Updated iterations of the Worx GT continue to be made and sold by Positec.
Worx is also known for selling items like lawn mowers and chainsaws. It offers cordless electric lawn mowers that run exclusively on battery power and have zero carbon emissions.
In 2014, Worx released a
fully robotic lawn mower (dubbed the "Worx Landroid") that will mow the lawn, returning to a charging station if the battery begins to run low.
The Worx JawSaw is a chainsaw with a partially enclosed blade that is designed for safety.
Other products include
leaf blowers
A leaf blower, commonly known as a blower, is a device that propels air out of a nozzle to move debris such as leaves and grass cuttings. Leaf blowers are powered by electric or gasoline motors. Gasoline models have traditionally been two-str ...
,
yard carts, and other accessories. The Worx TriVac is a cordless electric leaf blower that doubles as a vacuum.
The Worx AeroCart is a wheelbarrow-like yard cart that features 8 different functions.
Recognition and awards
In 2011, Positec was honored with the Product of the Year award by ''
DIY Week
''DIY Week'' is a British fortnightly business-to-business magazine for those in the do it yourself (DIY), household hardware and homeware market. The magazine is published by Datateam in Maidstone, Kent, in England.
Founded in 1874, ''DIY Week' ...
'' in the garden tools category for the Worx TriVac leaf blower/vacuum and the Eco cordless lawn mower.
[ 11 August 2021 ]
References
External links
* {{Official website, http://www.worx.com/
Manufacturing companies established in 2004
Companies based in Charlotte, North Carolina
Companies based in Suzhou
Garden tool manufacturers
Lawn mower manufacturers
Tool manufacturing companies of China
Tool manufacturing companies of the United States