Editor's Note: The following guest blog was originally a reader comment from Brad Barefoot on a John Deere news article that was published July 24, 2024.

There is an old saying: "You can't be everything to everybody." I've worked in the agricultural/outdoor power equipment industry all my life. I was a Toro, Wheel Horse, and Lawn-Boy dealer. Toro bought both Wheel Horse and Lawn-Boy. Wheel Horse is gone, and Lawn-Boy is just a glimmer of what it used to be — if you can find one.

All the mergers and buyouts always scared me. After living through the Toro mergers and buyouts and seeing equipment we'd sold for over a generation disappear, I was left with bad feelings. We sold the family business in the early 2000s. Not quite ready to retire, I was sought out by a former competitor, the local John Deere dealer. I stayed there for the better part of 20 years and saw John Deere make merger and buyout moves too. Some worked; some didn't.

John Deere, if anyone in the main NC office is reading this by chance, here's a billion-dollar piece of advice: Get out of the Stihl/Honda partnerships. Anyone with a mailbox or a big-box store can now be a dealer of theirs. Turn back to your mid-1980s business model when you were the most sought-after line in America. Bring back the walk-behind mowers like the 14PB. I have a 1999 model that runs as good as day one. Bring back the fantastic rear-engine riders that used the 9.5 hp and 12 hp Kawasaki engines. I know of three that are over 35 years old and still running great. Get back with Echo and bring back the John Deere-branded trimmers, clippers, edgers, and blowers in both the gas and battery-powered lineup. And last, bring back the 100 Series like the 160/165 or 180/185 with 38" or 46" decks. As someone who competed against Deere, I tried to get the suburban contract to sell that family. Deere, you were the envy of any outdoor power equipment dealer and would have committed to being a John Deere dealer.

That's it, John Deere. Your mid-1980s business model worked. You knew your customer base and what they wanted. You can do that again. Listen to a past business owner and, for the last 19-plus years, a John Deere dealership warehouse manager. If you need help from a veteran who knows what will work and, more importantly, what will not work, contact me via this publication. Unlike those "college idiots," I've seen their mistakes, and you needed to get rid of them. I'm retired, still have a strong work ethic, and want to see the "brand" I love and used to sell and service be great again. In closing, I even have a few new product ideas that would work using existing off-the-shelf parts that wouldn't break the bank to make happen and that would be great sellers.

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