Craftsman shut down Texas plant

[OVERKILL]

I do like my Snap On tools, but I still have more Craftsman esp when it comes to sockets and wrenches. I think I have Snap On ratchets in many different tooth sizes from 36 beyond 80....they imho are excellent and worth it....

Yeah, I have a cross-section of US and Canadian made ratchets from Snap-On and Wright. My fine tooth stuff is all Snap-On, but made in the US not Canada, while my older coarse tooth Snap-On stuff that came from my grandfather is all made in Canada, as are the sockets.

The Gedore wrenches are incredibly good. They feel thin but are insanely strong and the matte texture works well for grip when oily.

 

[John105]

Yeah, I have a cross-section of US and Canadian made ratchets from Snap-On and Wright. My fine tooth stuff is all Snap-On, but made in the US not Canada, while my older coarse tooth Snap-On stuff that came from my grandfather is all made in Canada, as are the sockets.

The Gedore wrenches are incredibly good. They feel thin but are insanely strong and the matte texture works well for grip when oily.

Come to think of it, my metric full polish wrenches are Craftsman. I am really not sure if they say USA or not, but they were acquired likely around 2016 when Sears was giving things away with ridiculous discounts. My SAE full polish wrenches are SK and from about 2004....they are nice...my favorite go to screwdriver is a Channellock that has two size bits and flips around....those I had gotten online when there was still no sales tax so had to have been prior to mid 2018....pretty sure all Channellock is made in USA. Surprisingly? A T6 driver from them is no good lol I then got a Wiha which lasts....

 

[JeffKeryk]

I have 3 cars built in Fremont, CA plant, right up the road. Olds 4-4-2 from GM, Toyota 4wd strippie from NUMMI and Model 3 from Tesla.
There's a reason for it.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

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Kobalt warranty is as good or better than Craftsman now. With Sears gone there is no reason to buy Craftsman anymore especially at the premium they try to charge with no better quality.

 

[y_p_w]

Still have my Craftsman bottle opener. Cost me $5 at Sears (bought it maybe 2016), although it was made in China. I do understand that there were previous versions that were American made. My was more the ratchet handle style, but they still have one that uses a butyl screwdriver style handle.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Are they going to rename the tools Craftshombre or Crafts男人?

Sad that the factory is closing but I thought factory automation with robots would keep jobs in the US allowing production with a smaller payroll. I guess it's still easier to have 3x the employees offshore with older manufacturing tech.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Bad Government policy.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

This doesn’t need to go P. Follow the money. The individual person’s money.

If they were thinking about it, their money flows might go different. I wouldn’t get an email from HF about a new store opening all the time nearby (this doesn’t need to be an HF bash either, but we know their sourcing).

Years ago I was concerned about jobs. I’d rather my countryman have a job making tools than unemployed. These days it’s more of a strategic issue. Everyone in the news cycle is saying battle with China. And we just send endless money there to buy hard goods made there versus here. But Joe Consumer is saving a few bucks.

I went in a HF the other week, and it seems like on about 75% of the items there is now almost no price difference with non-MIC tools, meaning that if you are buying a tool for more than a single-time use (as HF tools used to be great for), it is pretty easy to justify the couple bucks for the MIUSA premium. Even at today’s prices.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

No general USA made goods can survive as long as they have to compete in a rigged game. If companies were rewarded for manufacturing here and punished for going overseas we would bring back factories and jobs, but just the opposite has happened, we reward leaving and punish staying. Short term gains over long term stability.

Maybe if the gov would stop writing free bazillion dollar bills for every "rainbow & lolipop" idea any one throws at the POTUS they could use that money to give incentives to keep jobs home.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I went in a HF the other week, and it seems like on about 75% of the items there is now almost no price difference with non-MIC tools, meaning that if you are buying a tool for more than a single-time use (as HF tools used to be great for), it is pretty easy to justify the couple bucks for the MIUSA premium. Even at today’s prices.

Typical business model where you:

• Beat your competition with low prices
• You become a big player or the only player
• Increase your prices
• Someone else comes along and you either pivot to a cheaper product line to stay competitive or get priced out
• Rinse and repeat

LKQ has accomplished this eating up the recycled parts market and now is charging near or at OEM prices.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Typical business model where you:

• Beat your competition with low prices
• You become a big player or the only player
• Increase your prices
• Someone else comes along and you either pivot to a cheaper product line to stay competitive or get priced out
• Rinse and repeat

LKQ has accomplished this eating up the recycled parts market and now is charging near or at OEM prices.

Yep, that was my point, and why I walked out of HF empty handed. No more “lot sales” that aren’t really, for me anymore!

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Maybe if the gov would stop writing free bazillion dollar bills for every "rainbow & lolipop" idea any one throws at the POTUS they could use that money to give incentives to keep jobs home.

Increased taxes do not make the rich “pay their fair share” *. It stifles business investment and raises prices for consumers.

*no politics here just pointing out the Econ101 lesson that seems to be missing for many people

 

[Owen Lucas]

Yep, that was my point, and why I walked out of HF empty handed. No more “lot sales” that aren’t really, for me anymore!

There might be an odd tool that HD or Lowes doesn't carry so I'll go to HF see if they have it if I need it right now but usually hit up Amazon for a cheaper deal. Their tarps and halogen bulb prices are pretty good though.

You can't beat Lowes and occasionally HD when they have their random clearances on tools.

 

[dlundblad]

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There’s a lot of truth to this. We were at Lowe’s today and I just laughed at the prices. Last I looked they weren’t even US made.

 

[andrew_j]

I'm guessing if you can make $15/hour flipping burgers or cashiering, why would you take a heavy labor job at a tool factory working on the floor in 90° heat. They probably had to pay so much more for labor and then price the tool so high to make a profit that few people would buy them.

Yes you have to pay people a living wage now.

 

[jhs914]

Need to take a look at the bigger picture. You can’t export if you don’t import and other countries don’t like to rely solely on imports either. Maybe not a specific argument to tools but still relevant.

Our trade deficit in 2022 was within a hair of $1,000,000,000,000.

America’s Trade Deficit Surged in 2022, Nearing $1 Trillion (Published 2023)

The gap between what the United States imports and what it exports hit a record as more foreign goods came into the country.

www.nytimes.com

 

[atikovi]

Yes you have to pay people a living wage now.

$15 an hour is $30K a year. Imagine two 18 year olds in a rural area working at McDonalds bringing home $60,000 a year. They would be living like royalty and saying, why should we go to college if we can make this much money.

 

[SammyChevelleTypeS3]

$15 an hour is $30K a year. Imagine two 18 year olds in a rural area working at McDonalds bringing home $60,000 a year. They would be living like royalty and saying, why should we go to college if we can make this much money.

That may explain why every day I see some new youngsters (I swear they dont look 18-19 yr old) cruising the all around here in ever type of luxury or sport vehicle, from Porche to BMW, Challengers, Chargers, Bentlys, Vettes of course MBs etc.... and they sure dont even look old enough to be in college so????

 

[KenshinHimura]

So will this affect Proto and Mac tools or just craftsman?

 

[nomas]

$15 an hour is $30K a year. Imagine two 18 year olds in a rural area working at McDonalds bringing home $60,000 a year. They would be living like royalty and saying, why should we go to college if we can make this much money.

Most of those fast food jobs are not full time .