Late last year Orchard Supply sued Home Depot, Makita, and Milwaukee for running what it says was an illegal group boycott.
The suit claimed Makita and Milwaukee cut off the supply of tools to Orchard Supply, a California hardware chain, shortly after Home Depot announced plans to lock up the supply of key hardware products so it could compete with Amazon.com. They didn’t use the word collusion, but that’s basically what Orchard Supply was alleging. The judge threw out the case, saying there was no proof of an illegal act under California law. Orchard Supply has 30 days to file an amended complaint.
An interesting aside: Few of Milwaukee’s newest models are being sold on Amazon. Those that are, are being sold bare (no battery or charger) or by independent vendors – which means no Amazon Prime shipping and generally higher prices.
