Makita vs Milwaukee： The Repair Shop and the Company That Bought Everyone

Makita vs Milwaukee: The Repair Shop and the Company That Bought Everyone**

Makita and Milwaukee are two of the biggest names in professional power tools—but the companies behind them took very different paths.

Makita began in Nagoya, Japan, in **1915**, when Mosaburo Makita founded a small business selling and repairing lighting equipment, electric motors, and transformers. It eventually transformed into a power-tool manufacturer, introducing Japan’s first domestically produced portable electric planer in 1958 and expanding internationally over the following decades.

Milwaukee’s modern story took a different turn. In **2005**, Milwaukee Tool was acquired by **Techtronic Industries (TTI)**. Milwaukee says the acquisition was followed by a renewed focus on professional trades and accelerated product development.

And Milwaukee wasn’t TTI’s only major brand. TTI built a broad portfolio through acquisitions and brand businesses involving names such as **RYOBI, Homelite, AEG, Hoover, Stiletto, Oreck, Empire, and Imperial Blades**. Today, Milwaukee sits at the forefront of TTI’s professional tool portfolio.

In this Craft Archive episode, we trace how one company grew from a tiny Japanese electrical repair operation while the other became the flagship professional-tool brand inside a much larger multi-brand corporation—and how those very different histories helped shape the Makita vs. Milwaukee rivalry we know today.


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