End of the KOBALT Brand

[Tractor Seabee]

I was at Lowes today and noted all the isles were full of Crafstman brand tools and tool boxes. Ran down the tool guy and asked, what's up with all the Crafstman stuff. He stated Lowes decided to drop KOBALT and adopt Crafstman as their lead brand. I noted prices are way over comparable KOBALT items in my limited survey. Stand by for a huge sale on KOBALT if this is all the straight scoop.

Ron

 

[Wagtail]

I was at Lowes today and noted all the isles were full of Crafstman brand tools and tool boxes. Ran down the tool guy and asked, what's up with all the Crafstman stuff. He stated Lowes decided to drop KOBALT and adopt Crafstman as their lead brand. I noted prices are way over comparable KOBALT items in my limited survey. Stand by for a huge sale on KOBALT if this is all the straight scoop.

Ron

Do you mean "Craftsman" or is this some oriental manufacturer trying to sound German?

 

[mcfarmall]

Good catch, Wagtail.

 

[Thomas]

Didn't see that one coming.

 

[MossRoad]

For anyone that's been living under a rock lately....

The Craftsman brand was purchased from Sears by Stanley

Craftsman (tools) - Wikipedia

From that link....

"In March 2017, Stanley Black & Decker acquired the Craftsman brand from Sears Holdings. Sears maintains the right to manufacture and sell tools using existing supply channels under the Craftsman name for 15 years after the deal closed. In April 2018, Lowe's now sells the Craftsman tools.[1]"

 

[jeff9366]

Brand new Craftsman sockets and wrenches are for sale on eBay very cheap.

 

[smstonypoint]

I'm missing something.

Kobalt is (was?) the house brand of Lowes, while I understand Craftsmen tools are sold at a variety of outlets. At first blush, it seems to me that the Kobalt brand allows (allowed?) Lowes to differentiate itself from its competitors on the tool front.

BTW, I've been satisfied with the Kobalt tools I have purchased, but I would be overstating my skill set if I claimed I was a "shade tree mechanic."

Steve

 

[CajunRider]

Hmm... I wonder how Lowes will handle those lifetime warranties on Kobalt tools.

 

[newbury]

Probably the same way Sears did for me - TS
A long time ago I bought a Sears "closed back" shovel, with lifetime warranty, which was at least 3 times the cost of their low end shovel. Besides the extra strength I wanted the closed back because I was digging in really sticky clay fairly often and the closed back was easier to clean.
Cracked the handle, took it back, they had discontinued the closed back and had no replacement.
The lifetime ran out.

 

[Tomtint]

Interesting..I was always a Craftsman fan and had a great set of almost everything they offered.. numerous in double or triple. ..it was almost all stolen about 7 years ago and I have been replacing it slowly with Kobalt and Husky products as the Sears. Ear me closed quite a while back. So far I'm pleased with the Kobalt and Husky stuff..( I only use them on occasion and not for my job ) I wonder what differen price points will be between the 3 brands.