Harbor Freight Tools, commonly referred to as Harbor Freight, is a privately held tool and equipment retailer, headquartered in Calabasas, California, United States. It operates a chain of retail stores, as well as an e-commerce business. The company employs over 25,000 people in the United States, and has over 1,300 locations in 48 states. History In 1977, Eric Smidt and his father, Allan Smidt, started Harbor Freight and Salvage in a small building in North Hollywood, California. The company began as a mail order tool business that dealt with liquidated and returned merchandise. As the business grew, its name was changed to Harbor Freight Tools. In 1985, Eric Smidt was named president of the company at age 25; he served under that title until 1999, when he became chief executive officer. From the mid-1980s to 2010 Harbor Freight was headquartered in nearby Camarillo, California. Retail stores In 1980, Harbor Freight Tools opened its first retail store in Lexington, Kentucky, to sell returned merchandise from its mail order business. The original location was at 1387 East New Circle Road. It later moved to 1301 Winchester Road, Suite 213. The venture proved successful, and Harbor Freight Tools began to open stores across the United States. As of 2022, Harbor Freight Tools operates over 1,300 retail stores in 48 states. Exclusive brands Harbor Freight sells many tools under in-house brands, sourced directly from manufacturers. These include: Bauer Central Pneumatic Chicago Electric Daytona Drill Master Hercules Icon Predator Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Pro Quinn Titanium U.S. General Warrior Quality assurance Harbor Freight tests their tools in their own quality assurance facility located in Camarillo, California. Website Harbor Freight's website went online in 1997. It had a modest catalog of products, a brief "About Us" section and an order form for the printed catalog. There were also links to a customer service page with delivery times and return policies. In all, the original site had 10 landing pages. The Harbor Freight website has over 79,000 indexed pages. The Harbor Freight website had over 31 million monthly visits as of 2023, mostly within the United States, according to Similarweb. They now also have a cell phone app. Corporate affairs Harbor Freight Tools is headquartered in Calabasas, California. Harbor Freight has distribution space in Camarillo, California, Moreno Valley, California, Dillon, South Carolina, and Joliet, Illinois newly opened. It closed a distribution facility in Oxnard, California, in early 2013.