First launched at Glee 2023 to critical acclaim, AMES Tools is fast becoming one of the most exciting launches to hit the garden retail sector for many years. Combining world-class tool expertise, a heritage few others can boast, and a dedicated team passionately advocating for the brand’s multiple ‘market firsts’, quality of construction and breadth of range, AMES Tools is “the one to watch” in the year ahead. Here, AMES Tools Product and Marketing Director, Caroline Elliott, talks us through the AMES Tools difference and how this range has come into being.
Can you introduce us to AMES Tools?
AMES Tools is brand new range of tools, introduced to the UK by the AMES Companies, home to well-known brands including Kelkay, Apta and La Hacienda. We’re a global business with 250 years’ collective experience in tool design and manufacture, and the complete range of 50 garden tools launches into retailers starting January 2024. The take up has already been excellent, with garden-centre-exclusive tools now arriving with hundreds of retailers nationwide.
The AMES Tool brand is made up of both carbon steel and stainless-steel collections, can you explain the difference between the two?
The new AMES Tools range features both carbon (24 tools) and stainless (26 tools) options, with aesthetics and price point key differentiators between carbon steel and stainless steel.
Stainless steel tools have a natural shine and metallic finish, requiring no further treatment to protect from corrosion because the metal is inherently rust-resistant. This metal boasts less soil adhesion and easy cleaning, which keeps them looking new for years to come when properly maintained. For these reasons, stainless steel tends to be more expensive than carbon and is generally the preferred choice of seasoned gardeners who shop for traditional garden tools.
Carbon steel tools in the market are available at a cheaper price point than stainless, perfect for the beginner gardener. Carbon steel tools typically require a rust-resistant coating to be added on top of the natural metal – which is why you find green and grey painted tools in other ranges.
AMES Tools innovation has created a number of market-firsts. Can you outline what these key design features and functional benefits are?
Our carbon steel spade and fork heads have been stamped from one piece of material using a uniquely designed AMES mould. This cuts out traditional welding, which fixes together multiple pieces of metal, creating a point of weakness at every join prone to failure with misuse or overloading. AMES Tools’ tempered steel and one-piece construction makes them much less likely to deform or snap.
The Comfort Step™ is a distinctive foot tread on AMES Tools spades and shovels, designed to give increased power and leverage while digging. We’ve combined it with FSC-certified ash wood handles to offer improved longevity versus larch wood, which other brands choose.
Our spade and fork handles also sit further down into the metal shank and double riveted to finish. This gives 45% more strength versus a single rivet, whilst the special arch design of the Extra Wide Leaf Rake allows almost 50% more leaves to be collected for fast and efficient tidying.
Finally, the designs provide gardeners with tools they can trust, comfortable to use, remain strong under pressure, and are all covered by a market leading 15-year guarantee across both our carbon and stainless ranges.
Bringing a new range to market is a long and complicated progress. What was the process that enabled you and your team to create AMES Tools?
The most important factor in research and development is listening to the voice of the consumer. We ran focus groups with gardeners to try and understand their pain points when it comes to gardening. One that stood out to us was a lady who gardened in her flip flops! With that knowledge we developed the ‘Comfort Step™’. We knew that designing a larger foot tread would aid in making digging more comfortable for the consumer, whilst also adding the perforated holes to give them added grip, no matter what type of footwear they chose to garden in.
How has the AMES Tools offering been positioned within the marketplace?
AMES Tools have been carefully curated to sit mid-range, bringing a level of innovation that’s currently missing from this affordable price point: our Comfort Step™ Spades, Extra-Wide Leaf Rake and Double-Sided Soil Rake offer customer-centric designs that benefit the user.
It’s important to us to make gardening more accessible and easier for our consumers, whilst giving them the confidence that their tools are built to last. We offer a breadth of choice and excellent guarantee no matter their budget.
Our stainless-steel tools have a slightly higher price point than the carbon steel collection but remain in line with other tool suppliers in the marketplace.
What advice do you have for retailers seeking to stock AMES Tools?
Consumers tend to seek education on knowing what the right tool is for the gardening task they are looking to complete. This is why we have partnered with David Domoney as brand ambassador to help us inspire and educate with free-to-use content.
We’ve also spent a long time developing our packaging to highlight the features and benefits of each item, so customers can easily find the right tool for the job and learn how to use it most efficiently. Tools are on display with strong branding and sleek hanging systems; all put together by the AMES merchandising team who deliver, unload, and set up for retailers as standard.
The AMES Tools website and marketing plans are designed to push consumers into store, with all retailers listed on the website for easy location.
With competitive commercial packages and a nationwide sales team, now is the time for retailers to act – both their orders and deliveries can be linked with those through Kelkay, which is also part of the AMES Companies.
How do you want consumers to view the range?
AMES has such a rich history, with 250 years of tools expertise, and I want our customers to trust our knowledge and expertise in bringing them the best quality tools. In addition, we are there to support them with easy to access content, with the help of David Domoney, on how to pick the right tool for the job, in doing so we are aiming to delight our customers.
Find out more
To stay up to date with all things AMES Tools, including accessing the dedicated trade portal where you will find a comprehensive image library, POS guide and Product Database alongside the 2024 catalogue, please visit www.ames-tools.co.uk.
