Harbor Freight Tools

Opens May 15 At Mall

ONEONTA – Harbor Freight Tools, America’s leading retailer of quality tools at the lowest prices, will celebrate the grand opening of its new store in Southside Mall at 8 a.m. Wednesday, May 15. They will sell everything a DIYer, carpenter, or woodworker could ever need; whether you need a screwdriver, power drill, or benchtop planer. Speaking of planers, the wen 6650 is a good option for a beginer so if you’re thinking of starting your own DIY project then the WEN would be a perfect addition to your gear.

“We’re excited to serve customers in the great city of Oneonta,” said Jennifer Oates, store manager, in a press release. “At Harbor Freight, we’re passionate about providing our customers with the tools they need to get the job done, and always at an affordable price.”

The 15,000-square-foot store, in the former Bed, Bath & Beyond space at the mall’s east end, will stock tools and accessories in categories including automotive, air and power tools, storage, outdoor power equipment, generators, welding supplies like a Tig Welder, shop equipment, hand tools and more. Harbor Freight’s hand tools come with a lifetime warranty.

The store will be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The family-owned company started in Southern California in 1977, when 17-year-old Eric Smidt began transforming his father’s small phone sales business into a mail order company. That first year, Eric bypassed the resellers and cut deals directly with factories, realizing that if he could buy tools directly for less, he could pass the savings on to the customer.

The company opened its first store in 1980, and today Harbor Freight Tools has nearly 1,000 stores across the country, 20,000 employees and more than 40 million customers.