Lee Valley Tools Ltd. is a family-owned

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

business specializing in tools and gifts for

woodworking Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinetry, furniture making, wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked b ...

and

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

History

Lee Valley Tools was founded in 1978, in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, by Leonard Lee, a recipient of the

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. Over the next ten years, the company opened several more stores in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and started manufacturing its own line of tools (starting with the Veritas Dovetail Marker in 1982). Since then, it has continued opening stores, manufacturing more diverse tools, and selling through

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

and the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. In 1998, Canica Design was launched. Canica is a medical design company associated with Lee Valley Tools which arose out of consultations between Leonard Lee and surgeon Michael Bell after Lee found that Bell was using Lee Valley tools in his plastic surgery practice. Partly because of the company policy of enforcing and codifying the concept of “pay slope” limiting the pay at the highest levels in the company based on what the lowest paid employees earn, Lee Valley Tools earned a slot in the Forbes Top 500 Employers list in 2018. In 2023, Lee Valley Tools had 18 stores, accounting for about half of its sales.The sharpest tool in the shed: How Lee Valley built a cult-like following
''The Globe and Mail'', May 25, 2023, by Susan Krashinsky Robertson]

Consumer sales

The primary business is Mail order, mail-order and retail, purveying mainly

and

tools and equipment, as well as woodworking hardware, cookware and gifts. The consumer part of the business runs under the main company name, Lee Valley Tools. In the retail stores customers make their selections from a catalogue (originally paper, now electronic), fill out a form listing what they want, and then wait for their number to be called for assistance,. When the number is called, staff will locate and retrieve the items from the warehouse. In the original Lee Valley Tools store in Ottawa there was a small framed sign behind the counter reading, "If it's in stock, we have it."

Veritas Tools

Lee Valley also has a manufacturing arm, called Veritas Tools. Veritas makes many woodworking hand-tools, including

hand plane A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each ...

marking gauge A marking gauge, also known as a scratch gauge, is used in woodworking and metalworking to marking out, mark out lines for cutting or other operations. The purpose of the gauge is to scribe a line parallel to a reference edge or surface. It is us ...

s and other measuring tools, router tables, sharpening systems, and numerous other gadgets. Veritas does research and development activities for the factory line, and has developed and patented many innovative designs.

References

External links

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Veritas Tools
Hardware stores of Canada Canadian brands Tool manufacturing companies of Canada Woodworking Manufacturing companies based in Ottawa Retail companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in Ontario {{canada-retail-company-stub