From John’s Blog for Bridge City Tool Works on June 8, 2018

Last week, Bridge City Tool Works announced that it is handing over ownership to Harvey Industries Co. Ltd. John Economaki has been running Bridge City for 35 years, designing iconic heirloom quality woodworking tools, but, in the past months, he has felt career and personal shifts that have inspired him to step down and sell the business.

It began in January when two key Bridge City employees decided to resign. As John says in his blog, “I realized that after… thirty-five years of running Bridge City, I did not have the energy, or the desire, to replace two key people and maintain my manic pace of designing products for the insatiable appetites of our incredibly wonderful customers.” This is when John realized it was about time for him to retire and enjoy his grandchildren.

Shortly after, John contacted his good friend, Jack Xu, CEO at Harvey Industries, with the news that he was either selling or closing Bridge City. Jack pursued the idea of Harvey acquiring Bridge City Tools. For several years, Bridge City has had an international licensing agreement with Harvey, and Harvey has been making about two dozen tools for Bridge City, like the Chopstick Master. On June 8, John stated, “I am pleased to share that after months of discussion, we recently struck a deal to sell BCTW lock, stock, and barrel to Harvey Industries.”

In the meantime, Bridge City is on schedule with fulfilling all their pre-orders by July 31. Also, a lot of old products will be on sale and new products will be less expensive. John will continue to design and will head Harvey’s quality control department. The new business model will have items continuously in-stock, rather than Bridge City’s old model of pre-ordering.

Read some reviews of Bridge City tools:

• CT-17 Steel Block Plane
• Low Angle Block Plane
• Kerf Maker
• Wheel Style Marking Gauge
• TB-6 Sliding Bevel Gauge