Some landscapers have started using battery-operated tools. California-based Everthrive Landscape is one of the companies switching to the device.
Courtesy of Everthrive Landscapes
The auto industry isn’t the only one going electric.
exist The Home Depot and Lowe’s, one of the busiest aisles, features battery-operated leaf blowers, lawnmowers, mowers, and more. These electric outdoor tools have begun to spread in communities and golf courses across the country.
It might be a good time for both to ditch natural gas power Home improvement retailer. Both companies expect store traffic to weaken and brace for lower sales in the year ahead. Home Depot (Home Depot) announced its worst first-quarter revenue record in 20 years and lowered its full-year forecast. Sales are expected to fall by 2% to 5% this fiscal year. Lowe’s also lowered its forecast and forecast lower sales for the full year.
Wells Fargo analyst Zack Fadem said outdoor power equipment represents only a small portion of retailers’ sales. But, he added, advances in battery-powered tools have facilitated upgrade cycles and given do-it-yourself customers and home professionals a reason to head to the store for more.
“When you ask ‘what’s driving the price increases,’ the biggest driver, aside from inflation and year-over-year increases in product costs, is innovation,” he said. “That’s where these new products come in.”
Investors will be watching to see whether battery-powered tools and other new products in stores, such as higher-quality paint, flooring and appliances, can actually be “enablers,” he said.
Both Home Depot and Lowe’s see wireless battery-powered tools as an opportunity as the easy sales growth from the pandemic fades. Home Depot, which touted the products earlier this month at its investor day in New York City, recently set a goal of reducing its outdoor power equipment sales in the U.S. and Canada by late January 2029. More than 85 percent of its sales use rechargeable batteries instead of natural gas. It declined to say what share of sales it currently has.
The Home Depot estimates the market for power tool and related battery sales to be $32 billion and growing.
Industry-wide, battery-operated cordless units account for nearly 66 percent of outdoor power tool market sales by the end of 2022, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute’s Economic Forecast Report.
Lowe’s said battery-powered tools and outdoor equipment are among its fastest-growing categories. Bill Boltz, the company’s executive vice president of sales, said sales of the company’s cordless power tools and outdoor power equipment have more than doubled in the past five years, and the company expects to continue to do so over the next five years. Rapid growth.
Barriers to adoption remain. Battery-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers are priced similarly to gas competitors. But when you add batteries and chargers, the upfront costs can be higher.
One of the busiest aisles at Home Depot is the one with battery-operated outdoor equipment like lawn mowers and leaf blowers. Lowe’s also saw an increase in sales in the category.
Melissa Repko | CNBC Money
vibration of interest
Manufacturers have been offering battery-operated tools for over two decades. The first electric outdoor equipment appeared on the shelves of Home Depot and Lowe’s in the mid-2000s.
However, several recent factors have increased interest in landscape power. Technology continues to advance, bringing longer-lasting batteries and more power without the mess or gas bills. Some states and cities have proposed or passed restrictions on gas-powered equipment, or offering rebates and tax credits for battery-powered tools.
These tools, while much smaller than cars, produce large amounts of smog-forming emissions. Operating a commercial lawn mower for one hour emits the same amount of pollutants as driving a new pickup truck for more than four hours from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, according to the California Air Resources Board, a state agency. .
Plus, the surge in working from home means more and more Americans are paying attention to the annoying roar of a gas leaf blower outside their window, prompting some to buy quieter battery-powered tools for their yards or lobby homeowners associations to ban them use.
California, the most populous state in the United States, is also sparking change.it passed a law prohibiting Sales of small off-road engines that generate emissions, such as those in lawnmowers and blowers, begin in 2024.
Regardless of the policy change or not, DIY customers have been quick to embrace battery power, said Billy Bastek, executive vice president of sales at Home Depot.
Now that companies are hoping to win over professionals, they tend to place larger orders and replace equipment more frequently, he said. The Home Depot offers dedicated support, big order specials and rewards through its Professional Loyalty Program.
About half of Home Depot’s total sales come from home professionals, but power tool revenue skews toward DIY buyers. The company declined to give a more specific breakdown of the battery-powered category.
Equipment makers themselves stand to benefit as Home Depot and Lowe’s go through upgrade cycles. These include a number of companies expanding their battery and hybrid product lineups, such as john deere, travel, Stanley Black & DeckerOwns companies like DeWalt, Ryobi, etc.
Some of these have exclusive agreements with home improvement retailers. For example, Home Depot is the only retailer that carries Milwaukee and Ryobi.
Not all retailers view these tools as significant sales catalysts.
tractor supplyA home improvement player that leans toward rural areas has been slower to add battery-powered outdoor equipment. Mary Winn Pilkington, a company spokeswoman, said the company launched the items in stores and online early last year after waiting for customer interest and battery power to pick up.
It’s only a modest growth category for the retailer, which typically caters to ranchers, farmers or homeowners with larger properties, she said.
Some famous golf courses have begun to test and use electric landscape equipment. At TPC Sawgrass, Florida, the landscaping crew experimented with an automatic battery-operated lawn mower and used some electric leaf blowers.
Jeff Plotts
From Golf Course to Suburbs
At the sprawling TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, landscaping crews test a new helper: an autonomous electric lawn mower.
The course is home to The Players Championship, one of the most prestigious annual golf tournaments on the PGA Tour. It relies on approximately 105 employees to maintain a total of 450 acres of land, 240 of which are dedicated to lawns.
The course’s director of agronomy, Jeff Plotts, began mowing nearly an acre of lawn with Husqvarna equipment in January.
Plotz said he has been impressed with its performance so far. It’s a quieter way of keeping turf, helps courses compete in a tight labor market, and is occasionally a source of fascination for golfers.
“It’s very quiet. You could be standing right next to it and you wouldn’t be able to tell it was cutting other than seeing it move,” he said. “It’s a really nice little unit.”
He said the course plans to purchase 15 more mowers in 2024.
About 150 miles southwest, landscaping crews at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge of Orlando, host of the PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational, use A small number of electric blowers were installed. It also has an electric lawnmower, hedge trimmer and walk-behind mower.
Both Plotz and Flynn say ditching gas-powered equipment entirely would be difficult, if not impossible — at least with current technology. Sometimes, it’s still faster to use a gas powered tool. Specialty products needed to maintain courses are sometimes not available in electric models.
Upfront costs can also be a hindrance. According to recent estimates, an electric ride-on mower on a golf course costs $94,000, compared with $43,000 for a gasoline-powered mower, Flynn said.
“Just like the auto market, all equipment manufacturers are obviously investing a lot of R&D dollars in electric and hybrid options,” Flynn said. “Over time, there will be more options. Like anything, the longer you want it to exist, the lower the cost.”
In suburbs far from the hustle and bustle of the Florida PGA Championship, homeowners and property managers also Take a quieter approach to maintaining their yard.
Southern California-based Everthrive Landscape began working on electric appliances in late 2021, shortly after the state passed a law aimed at phasing out the use of gas appliances.
The company, which began its transition to electric in February, recently placed a large order with Milwaukee to increase the electric percentage of its fleet to about 80% in the coming months.
This commercial landscaping company specializes in maintaining homeowners association properties such as landscaping around parks, pools or clubhouses.
The company’s chief executive, Jonathan Cáceres, said the tools were well received by customers and employees. Employees don’t have to worry about toxic fumes and harsh noises. And they don’t get the same complaints from homeowners or apartment dwellers who are sleeping or on a Zoom call.
But Caceres said he had to make it acceptable to his team. Some people have been disappointed by the battery devices they tested years ago that were cumbersome and not up to the job.
Power tools are not only the right choice for the environment, but also the right choice for profits, he said. Crews are out of work as gas delivery is no longer required. The warranty on the device is also longer.
He said other businesses might also be persuaded by this.
“It all comes down to money,” he said. “If they see ‘Whoa, this will save me money,’ that’s a big boost.”
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