Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

What does Stanley Black & Decker own?
The company owns DEWALT, Stanley, Craftsman, Black+Decker, Irwin, Lenox, Cub Cadet, and fastening brands including POP and Avdel, plus manufacturing and distribution worldwide.

Is Stanley Black & Decker publicly traded?
Yes. It trades on the NYSE under ticker SWK and is an S&P 500 component.

When was Stanley Black & Decker founded?
The Stanley Works was founded in 1843 in New Britain, Connecticut. The current company formed through the 2010 merger with Black & Decker.

Who founded Stanley Black & Decker?
Frederick Trent Stanley founded the Stanley Works; S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker founded Black & Decker in 1910.

Where is Stanley Black & Decker headquartered?
The company is headquartered in New Britain, Connecticut, where Stanley has been based for more than 180 years.

Who owns Stanley Black & Decker?
Public shareholders own it through the NYSE listing, with institutional investors dominant.

What brands does Stanley Black & Decker own?
DEWALT, Stanley, Craftsman, Black+Decker, Irwin, Lenox, Cub Cadet, plus industrial fastening brands.

The Stanley side traces to 1843, when Frederick Trent Stanley founded the Stanley Works in New Britain, Connecticut to manufacture bolts and hinges. The company grew into the dominant American maker of hand tools and hardware, a century of craftsmanship that made Stanley a household name among tradespeople.

Black & Decker began in 1910 in Baltimore, founded by S. Duncan Black and Alonzo G. Decker. It invented the portable electric drill with a pistol grip and trigger switch in 1917, creating the power tool category, and expanded through consumer power tools and the DEWALT professional line acquired in 1960.

The companies merged in 2010 in a $4.5 billion deal that combined Stanley's hand tools with Black & Decker's power tools, instantly creating the world's largest tool company. Post-merger acquisitions added Craftsman tools in 2017 (from Sears, with lifetime brand rights in a $900 million deal), plus Irwin, Lenox, and other brands consolidating the portfolio.

The post-2020 era brought inventory corrections, tariff pressures, and soft demand after the pandemic tool boom, managed through a cost program and margin rebuilding that produced 2025's record adjusted margins despite revenue declines.

The company's sustainability work covers operational emissions, product durability, and responsible sourcing across its global manufacturing footprint.

It reports through CDP and standard ESG frameworks with stated targets on emissions and sustainable product design, though no consumer-facing certification applies. Its DEWALT and outdoor lines face the industry's shift to battery power, replacing gas-powered outdoor equipment, as both a transition and a product strategy.

The most material social issue is workforce safety and labor practices in a global supply chain spanning Asia and North America, handled through supplier standards and audits.

Stanley Black & Decker is a Dividend Aristocrat with more than 50 consecutive years of dividend increases, among the longest streaks of any US industrial company.

The company is a perennial Fortune 500 member and its DEWALT and Stanley brands consistently rank among the most trusted in their categories on professional and consumer surveys.

Tariff exposure: The company is among the most tariff-affected of US industrials, with its Asian manufacturing base subject to import duties managed through pricing, sourcing shifts, and domestic investment. This is an economic issue rather than a compliance failing.

Product safety and recalls: The brand portfolio carries periodic consumer product recalls on power tools and outdoor equipment, routine for a company of its scale, handled through CPSC processes.

Craftsman licensing complexity: The 2017 Craftsman acquisition's structure, with Sears retaining limited brand rights for a period, produced litigation over the transition that resolved as the brand moved fully to Lowe's exclusive distribution.