Yeah, I saw this coming years ago. I'm surprised it took Sears this long.
Sears has been circling the drain for a long time. Bad investments, inept management of the Craftsman line, failure to adapt to the shift to the e-marketplace, failure to keep up with their B&M competitors... They've been bleeding cash for a long time. I have absolutely no clue how Sears is still in business. Now, they're playing the only card they have left.
WRT Craftsman products: I was once a huge fan of Craftsman tools. Most of the Craftsman stuff I purchased ~15+ years ago was great. Most of the Craftsman stuff I bought 5-15 years ago was OK. A lot of the Craftsman stuff I've seen at stores over the past 5 years has been borderline garbage. Ratchets that skip right off the shelf... Combination wrenches forged so off center they look as if they're waiting to break... Screwdrivers with coatings so bad that they rust within months... horrible. It almost isn't worth the drive to Sears to take tools back for warranty, because the replacement might just be even worse than the broken tool it is replacing.
The worst part is, you can find better homeowner-grade tools almost anywhere now. Usually for cheaper than what they're asking for the Craftsman branded stuff. A lot of it even USA-made.
I would have been happier if this acquisition would have happened 10-15 years ago... Stanley/Black & Decker also owns Mac, Proto, Facom, DeWalt, Porter-Cable... good brands. SBD could have saved Craftsman's reputation, but Sears Holdings did their best to run it into the ground instead.
I really hope that SBD puts some thought into restoring the Craftsman name and puts quality back into the entire Craftsman line... but I have a feeling that isn't going to happen. In 6 months, you're going to see Craftsman tools in every Walmart, Target, and other mass-market retailer, and they're going to be the same homeowner-grade stuff currently under the Stanley/Black&Decker name. Honestly, I really won't mind.
