Sears sells Craftsman tool brand to Stanley tools

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Originally Posted By: Doublehaul
OH MAN...I never thought they would be that stupid...its their strongest brand. The just sold the most recognized tool brand in N. America! Before anybody [censored] about Snap-on let me just say that Ive got more Snap-on than the average tool truck. Get over it...the average Joe doesnt even know what Snap on is...my Mom knows what Craftsman is

Its over for Sears.

It is a sinking ship and they are selling off Kenmore and Craftsman because it is the only thing worth any money that they have. The banks want their money. Sears will be dead soon. Too bad, they had everything you needed, but about 5 years ago all the stores looked like they were going to close any minute.
 
Originally Posted By: Rickey
Caution!!

Justifiable rant and venting ahead:

No tears to shed for Sears here.

I've been eagerly awaiting their downfall since they wrecked the exhaust system on my beloved low mileage '96 Caprice during a new tire installation.

Their tech apparently used the exhaust system on my car as a lift point for the tire installation procedure.
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The proof was the fresh shiny abrasions and dent on the exhaust tubing that matched their floor lift hardware.

Upon discovering the damage and immediately returning to the store, they unanimously denied any responsibility.
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I then escalated this to no avail.
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I haven't darkened their door since this occurred in the late 90's.

Costly repairs were paid for out of pocket by me.

I plan to go to their bankruptcy liquidation when it occurs to pick their bones.

Maybe I will remind them that cheated customers have a long memory and tell scores of others.

Rant off.


I've got an eerily similar story. I had purchased a new Ford Ranger in '98. Shortly after buying it I ended up with a nail in the tire. Dropped it off at Sears to get the puncture repaired. Came back in an hour or so, took care of the paperwork/bill and walked out to my truck.

I immediately noticed they had damaged the wheel near the valve stem.. I'm guessing when they ripped the valve stem out, the pliers slipped and gouged the wheel. To try and cover it up,they took a grinder of some sort and went at the wheel. I'm sure you can imagine what an alloy wheel with a 2"x 2" grinder "repair" looks like...lol

Returned to the store,and got in touch with the automotive manager. Things quickly went south from there. He flat out accused me of damaging the wheel myself,and trying to get Sears to pay for it.

Long story short,after the automotive manager and store manager unsuccessfully tried to bully me into giving up on Sears replacing the wheel, the district manager approved the purchase of a new wheel.

IIRC the wheel was almost $400 from the Ford dealer.
 
This kind of stuff reaches far beyond any one company - I had a dealer not even torque my lug nuts. Good thing I was not listening to loud music that day ... If I'm not doing things myself - now at the point where I drift around near the service bays - some of these guys working on your wheels started shaving two years ago.
 
Originally Posted By: wtd
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: wtd

I just got a Sears gift card for Christmas. I guess I had better use it soon.
At my local Sears, gift cards can be used to purchase other gift cards. Worth trying IMO if you want to get rid of it fast and don't have anything you need at Sears.
I may have to try that if I don't see anything I want. I've not been in a sears store for probably a couple of years.

Wayne

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Good luck. I've never had an issue doing it (I've bought tons of Amazon, Shell and BP gift cards with discounted Sears GCs from ebay), but I have seen online that people have trouble with some cashiers. FWIW, the Sears GC should work at Kmart too.
 
Craftsman being sold is not a surprise... for the last few years it was more of a question whether it would be sold before or after the bankruptcy filing. Something kept telling me that Craftsman would eventually end up being owned by Techtronic Industries (owners of Milwaukee and Ryobi among other brands) but I'm kind of glad to see it go to an American company instead. And it sounds like Stanley intends to bring some Craftsman production back to the US like they have been doing with DeWalt, so that is good as well.

I do wonder what this will mean for the warranty on hand tools. Also, I would have concerns about buying Craftsman power tools since many are made by Stanley Black & Decker competitors so replacement parts (particularly batteries) might be a concern at some point.

I'm surprised Sears (and particularly K-Mart) have held on as long as they have. Their stores feel outdated and neglected. They have not responded well to competition and let Lowe's and Home Depot get ahead of them in appliances, previously one of their strongest businesses. Their customer service has a generally poor reputation. One thing for sure: Selling off iconic brands does not feel like a long term plan, but rather a desperate attempt to stay afloat for just a little bit longer. Craftsman, while not the powerhouse it once was, still has a good name overall and history behind it. Kenmore will likely be next. These are brands that people still go to Sears to seek out, even though they may not do so in as great of numbers as they did in the past. Now the only unique thing about Sears is that they're the only place in the mall that sells something other than clothing and jewelry.

I don't say this as someone who hates Sears, but as someone who is disappointed in how badly managed the company has been. I wonder how things would have turned out if they had held onto their catalog business for a few more years and put it on the Internet. Or if they had maintained their stores better and focused on customer service.
 
I suspect Kenmore will be sold to a Chinese OEM wanting to quickly gain entry into the US market. After GE sold to Haier, I suspected Midea (who bought Toshiba) will buy Kenmore a long time ago.

My guess is Sears auto center will be sold to a Korean that want to enter the US auto service market, like Kumho or Hankook.

Who will buy the mall real estate? If Sears closed then the mall is likely not going to worth much, especially if Macy's in the same mall closed as well. Other than redeveloping into mixed use office / apartments they will likely not worth much.
 
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Originally Posted By: jim302
Craftsman being sold is not a surprise... for the last few years it was more of a question whether it would be sold before or after the bankruptcy filing. Something kept telling me that Craftsman would eventually end up being owned by Techtronic Industries (owners of Milwaukee and Ryobi among other brands) but I'm kind of glad to see it go to an American company instead. And it sounds like Stanley intends to bring some Craftsman production back to the US like they have been doing with DeWalt, so that is good as well.

I do wonder what this will mean for the warranty on hand tools. Also, I would have concerns about buying Craftsman power tools since many are made by Stanley Black & Decker competitors so replacement parts (particularly batteries) might be a concern at some point.

I'm surprised Sears (and particularly K-Mart) have held on as long as they have. Their stores feel outdated and neglected. They have not responded well to competition and let Lowe's and Home Depot get ahead of them in appliances, previously one of their strongest businesses. Their customer service has a generally poor reputation. One thing for sure: Selling off iconic brands does not feel like a long term plan, but rather a desperate attempt to stay afloat for just a little bit longer. Craftsman, while not the powerhouse it once was, still has a good name overall and history behind it. Kenmore will likely be next. These are brands that people still go to Sears to seek out, even though they may not do so in as great of numbers as they did in the past. Now the only unique thing about Sears is that they're the only place in the mall that sells something other than clothing and jewelry.

I don't say this as someone who hates Sears, but as someone who is disappointed in how badly managed the company has been. I wonder how things would have turned out if they had held onto their catalog business for a few more years and put it on the Internet. Or if they had maintained their stores better and focused on customer service.


I think there can be a lot to compare them (Sears) with the now defunct Radio Shack. Very poor management over a long time period killed them both off. Now it is only a fight over the spoils, of which the Craftsman brand is the best known.
 
Originally Posted By: BigD1
Originally Posted By: Chris B.
That is not completely factual across the board. Garage journal has done many tests of many different brands and snap on has lost many of these tests. There are definitely better tools then snap on in many cases. Probably the most famous test was the torque wrench test where the $15 harbor freight torque wrench beat every other torque wrench on the market including a $300 snap on torque wrench. This test was done with multiple examples of each over 10,000 repetitions and the harbor freight held its calibration longer and more accurately than the snap on across all examples.
I'll agree overall snap on is the best made brand out there. But there are other tools made by many other companies that are better than a lot of what snap on has to offer. That is not an opinion and it is fact.


Calling B.S on the Harbor Freight torque wrench. That wrench was cherry picked, and I bet it did not come from one of their tent sales. When a person has to buy three or more to get one that actually works from Harbor Freight, and on top of it still wonder whether or not it is accurate.


I have the 1/2 and 1/4 HF torque wrenches and they perform very well and have used them often.
 
Originally Posted By: PandaBear

My guess is Sears auto center will be sold to a Korean that want to enter the US auto service market, like Kumho or Hankook.


Does anyone remember when Daewoo entered the US market, they used Kmart's Penske auto centers for warranty repairs? That went well.
 
Originally Posted By: WhizkidTN
I think there can be a lot to compare them (Sears) with the now defunct Radio Shack. Very poor management over a long time period killed them both off. Now it is only a fight over the spoils, of which the Craftsman brand is the best known.

I agree. Some other BITOGer mentioned ages ago that Sears had the shot to be the current Amazon. It's not like they had zero experience with providing product by mail order to remote locations. They took to long to bridge that gap from the catalogue to the web.

On a positive note, I had the opportunity to pass through the local Sears the other day. They have done a few improvements to the store. Things are a tad easier to find, selection is a bit better, and there is some signage up. But, it's still the little things. The signage isn't sufficient, and with the layout of the store, particularly over more than one floor, and no store directory, and inadequate signage, unless you know the store, you're wandering around fairly randomly unless you find a staff member. At least in Walmart, of all places, they have some signs nice and high pointing the way. I'm sure as heck not going to wind up on the wrong floor for something.
 
My current store has a showroom no bigger than my house - with a warehouse attached about the same size.
Really all lots of folks in small towns ever had ...
Guessing the new store will be much like that (small inventory) - it's going inside a big furniture store ...
 
The official email I got concerning this:
"Dear XXXXXX,

I'm writing to let you know some exciting news about Craftsman that will enable us to put even more hardworking tools in the hands of makers everywhere. On January 5, Sears Holdings announced that it will sell the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker.

Craftsman is and has been an important part of the Sears family for ninety years. And that’s not going to change. The research and development team at Sears and Craftsman will continue to develop new innovations that will be available exclusively at Sears and Kmart stores and online. However, as part of this transaction, Stanley Black & Decker will gain the rights to develop, manufacture and sell Craftsman-branded products outside of Sears and Kmart, which will make Craftsman products more broadly available in the USA and internationally.

Craftsman remains committed to maintaining the very best aspects of the Craftsman brand. You'll still find the most high quality tools available at the best value, along with our exclusive lifetime warranty on Craftsman hand tools, which has been a hallmark of the brand for generations.

Sears will continue to have the most extensive range of Craftsman tools and lawn and garden products, along with the same trusted service you rely on. In addition to being sold primarily at Sears and Kmart, Craftsman will soon be available at other retailers nationwide.

Your membership in Craftsman Club will not change and we will continue to provide you with exclusive offers, tips and information to help you with all your projects.

Thank you for your membership and loyalty to Craftsman. We look forward to supporting makers everywhere and providing you with the tools you need for many more years to come.

Sincerely,
Tom Park
President Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard"
 
We used Craftsman tools all the time at the truck garage. My dad always thought they were a good tool for the money. SK and Snap On were overpriced and over inflated. We used all Craftsman and I continued to as a adult. Last 1/2" drive I took back to Sears broken. They gave me a beat up used one in exchange. I said what's this. This thing had scars on it, gouges where it looked like a pipe wrench was on it. I want a new rachet.I want the manager, I always got a new tool. Manager showed me where Sears has garrantee a replacement tool. Not necessarily a new tool. I told him to keep it. I would not need it, I will never be back and he didn't try to make me change my mind. So I never bought a Craftsman tools again. I buy Kobalt or Husky or Harbor Fright. Sears wonders why they are losing bussiness??
 
If you look at the list I posted earlier SK was one of the companies that manufactured them for Sears at one time along with some other really good tool companies.
I still have some what appear to be SK made Craftsman raised panel wrenches, they were definitely underrated even back then because of the uncomfortable raised panel and partial satin finish but were top shelf quality nonetheless.
Today's version certainly isn't underrated they are pure garbage.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I'm surprised Stanley thought Craftsman was worth 900 million.


That was my first thought.

The Craftsman name took a huge hit when the tools went to China. I don't even consider Craftsman when I buy tools anymore. If I want Chinese tools, I go to Harbor Freight. If I want good tools, I go to Proto, Wright, SK, etc. Craftsman no longer fills any of my needs.

I guess there are enough people out there that still think Craftsman makes worthwhile tools for Stanley to justify paying 900 million for the name.
 
Or nearest HF is 60 miles ... and I don't know the product line.
The whole China thing is interesting on many fronts. American's that don't want to spend more also don't want China made ? Unless it is Apple ? We are seeing more and more heavy industries kit coming from China - and it is a full time job making sure it is up to par with what had come from other parts of the world.
S. Korea is not treated the same - they tend to be very honest people. However - they are loyal to their brands so free trade with them has failed and BHO would never admit that.
 
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