Sears Selling Craftsman Brand

[Snobdds]

I have two craftsman drills that I can not kill. Sears is the product of corporate raiders understanding the real estate holdings are far more valuable than the retail business. A hedge fund owns it and runs it like an asset holding company as opposed to a retailer.

 

[tman1020]

Very disappointing. I was very fond of the craftsman brand but have to say I was often disappointed at there quality. I had always thought that if you needed a quality product (maybe not the best but very good) you could count on Sears. I found this to be more and more false as time went on and pretty much everything I bought became a cheep import with a high price and flashy marketing.
I still have a lot of the older tools that were made in USA that have held up well. As others have said if you are going to get cheep China stuff why pay for a name brand. And I don't fall for the whole (built to our spec bs) either.

Side note: I bought a American flag emblem on line the other day and when I opened it up it was made in China. My wife saw my disappointment and said hey at least it was designed and engineered here.

 

[kenmac]

I'll bet Harbor Freight is tapping into their business. If you're going to buy chinese junk, you might as well buy cheap chinese junk. I will say that Harbor Freight ratchets are leaps and bounds better than Craftsman these days.

Harbor freight tools are much better now, when they were when they first started out.
I have several of their socket sets,that I use with my 1/2'' impact, and they're not impact sockets. Non have broken.

 

[Grouse09]

The Sears here in Traverse City was not on the list. I was wondering what I was going to do with the 3 year warranty that came with my power washer this summer.

 

[Bird]

I, too hate to see Sears go, but I think that's what is going to happen; just as it did for Montgomery Ward. Sears is about the only place we've bought such things as appliances. Right now we have 2 refrigerators, washer and dryer, a roll away tool box, table saw, bench grinder, shop vacuum, half-inch drill, and a lot of other tools from Sears.

I occasionally see a Craftsman Tool Truck, just as you see Snap-On, MAC, and Matco tool trucks. I've sometimes wondered how well they do.

 

[Deere Dude]

I haven't bought tools from Craftsman for years but in the day everything I needed had to be Craftsman. Their stuff seemed to last forever and I still have a bunch of floor and hand power tools that I had for 30-40 years. I hope their brand is able to compete with the better brands.

I can still remember using those 2' thick Sears catalogs to make my Christmas list and when mom and dad weren't looking I would accidentally look at the women's bras and panties. Those magazines ended up as TP in the old 2 holer. But they were handy at the time.

 

[radioman]

selling out craftsman is a way of saying this will be sears demise. why else would guy tag along with wifes/girlfreinds to sears while they shop thier favorite thing while we shop for our thing in a single store.
i agree the hand tools is getting better at hf but the power tools still have a long ways to go. i would rather buy sears c3 stuff over hf battery tools . looks like if black and decker start changing electric power things - then i most likely will switch to another brand like dewalt,kobalt,etc . I am at the age where i just need tools to last the rest of my life- not replacing it often.

 

[oldballs]

I, too hate to see Sears go, but I think that's what is going to happen; just as it did for Montgomery Ward. Sears is about the only place we've bought such things as appliances. Right now we have 2 refrigerators, washer and dryer, a roll away tool box, table saw, bench grinder, shop vacuum, half-inch drill, and a lot of other tools from Sears.

Same here, Bird. The 60's, 70's and 80's tools, Fieldmaster clothes and even field fence/posts from the catalog. Same for Montgomery Ward.
Somebody could write a book about the demise of such stores as this, as well as TWA, Braniff etc.

Mike

 

[riptides]

Add Macy's to the list of major retailers closing up space.

The internet is a major factor in their decline. It is a different shopping experience and retail model than the box stores offer.

My 20 year old Sears lawnmower is still running. I actually replaced an axel and the handle of all things. They fractured out from the stress of me pushing it through the yards. LOL.

 

[Toyboy]

If Stanly/Black & Decker don't change the Craftsman hand tools source from China back to the USA, they still won't sell well. None of my friends and myself included will buy those tools anymore since they went to China. Flea markets/garage sales are where we will look now to expand our tools. We don't care about warranty's when your buying at $.20 on the dollar.