Blue Ridge and SMKW

chevyrulez1

chevyrulez1

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Does anybody know the relationship between Blue Ridge Knives and SMKW? I was looking out of curiosity to see if I could figure out what factory in China the Rough Ryder knives were made in, and it appears that this is actually Blue Ridge’s brand. They are a wholesale distributor, so I am assuming they are the importer/distributor of RR, Marbles, the new Queen, etc. and SMKW is just the retailer? However it may appear that these two partner on purchasing these brands? I had originally thought that Rough Ryder was SMKW’s brand but was confused as to why I was seeing it in other places too. I tried Google but since Blue Ridge is a private company there is not much info out there. Anyway, I was just curious and trying to understand the inner workings of the industry, also because I live in Virginia where Blue Ridge is operating out of.
 
They're friendly with each other, and sometimes partner up to buy out things or have things made, etc..... A lot of the older mid-south knife dealers were/are like that. Blue Ridge is huge name in the wholesale arm of the knife business, and sometimes Smoky will buy product from them. Rough Ryder is Smoky's., Marbles is Blue Ridge's.

When in doubt, try the brand name here - https://trademarks.justia.com/ .
 
tltt said:
They're friendly with each other, and sometimes partner up to buy out things or have things made, etc..... A lot of the older mid-south knife dealers were/are like that. Blue Ridge is huge name in the wholesale arm of the knife business, and sometimes Smoky will buy product from them. Rough Ryder is Smoky's., Marbles is Blue Ridge's.

When in doubt, try the brand name here - https://trademarks.justia.com/ .
Click to expand...
Ok, well SMKW must be using Blue Ridge to wholesale their RR knives to others, that makes sense. When you go on the Rough Ryder website it lists Blue Ridge as the wholesaler. I was thinking that they must have some sort of partnership between them, because otherwise you would think they would be competitors and they wouldn’t be collaborating like they do. I guess it’s not that simple though
 
The more American the name sounds, the less likely it's from here.
Look over the Harbor Freight tools crap to get an idea how bad it's become.
Friends don't let friends buy anything you can't trace to USA production and even then, check twice.
 
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Wasn’t Blue ridge knives making the esse avispa folding knives? I heard they had the parts made in Taiwan and possibly assembly by BRK here.
 
115Italian said:
Wasn’t Blue ridge knives making the esse avispa folding knives? I heard they had the parts made in Taiwan and possibly assembly by BRK here.
Click to expand...
I think so, I know the Esse Zancudo knives have the Blue Ridge Knives name associated with them. Their profile online says “importer and wholesaler” which is what got me thinking. I am wondering if alot of these imported knives being sold pretty much everywhere is being brought in the country by them, and they are probably supplying to many of the retailers, the largest of whom is SMKW. I guess they don’t get a lot of attention because they don’t sell directly to the public so they are kinda “behind the curtain” so to speak.
 
BRK is good for small dealers who can't meet the volume/cash requirements to purchase directly from manufacturers.

In the case of RR, it's for distribution of a SMKW's product.
 
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