Craftsman tools being sold

Seth Swoboda said:
JM35 Sedan worked for Black and Decker/DeWalt. He may be able to chime in here and add some insight.
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Seth, fortunately, I retired from B&D/DeWalt about 12 years ago with no regrets, and never looked back. This was prior to Stanley buying the whole operation which is another crazy story in itself. On the positive side, I am hearing what I consider to be good news, that Stanley Black & Decker is bringing some of their DeWalt line back to the USA. So maybe this will happen with the Craftsman line as well.
 
I still have a set of Allstate tires on one of my vehicles. I don't have a clue how old they must be. I remember, back in the day, while Mom and Dad shopped, I would go to the auto shop and look at the display of blue and orange rebuilt flathead V-8s. Boy were they pretty! I only bought Craftsman tools for decades. I'll miss them.
 
We used to buy from Sears. Back when I was a lot younger than I am now, Sears stood behind their products. That was especially true with Craftsman. These days if you go into a Sears, and its not just Sears, they want to sell you a warranty.
 
If Stanley is building a plant and plans of manufacturing on-shore - which seems to be a focus of a few folks these days . . . wonder why? :) - that could actually be a very good thing for the 'Craftsman' name and product. I'd love to see more companies starting to give a **** about their products again - and consumers thinking about more than just price. It takes both sides to make it work . . .

Okay - too much damn coffee!
 
went to Sears two months ago and nobody, I mean nobody was in the store on a Friday eve.

The one counter person was hiding in a corner and I had to seek her out.

Kmart and Sears are definitely done.

If you cant move up to the times, you go by the wayside. They have had years to correct themselves and havent.
I will just buy husky at HD.
 
The Sears nearest to me closed last summer and the next closest store is closing at the end of March. Macy's is also closing stores in the area and J.C. Penney is gasping for air. I guess Amazon is really putting the hurt on traditional brick and mortar retailers. I would imagine there is going to be a bunch of empty/abandoned malls in the near future.
 
I've had issues with both B&D and Stanley. B&D never had parts available for an angle grinder and "Skil" saw (That's my generic name for any hand held power circular saw.) I bought a few years after I bought them. Stanley had the nicest tape measure ever. They dropped it and then brought back the name on a "piece of ____" product. I guess I'm going to have to buy the few tools I don't already have from someone else.
 
my best friends father was an electronics tech for sears in the springfield mass. area for years. think he was the last actual technician they let go before they closed the repair center. I remember being able to take a power tool back when I was a kid in the 80's and get it replaced with a refurbished unit if it had a problem.

the real killer is places like harbor freight that also offer the same warranty on hand tools. if I'm going to buy chinese made products why would I spend much more for craftsman when the "good" harbour freight stuff is less than 1/4 the price.

make it made in the USA again and I'm all on it. I currently have a $100 gift cert. to sears from my MIL. walked through my local sears looking for a miter box and they have nothing. only thing they stock is wrenches sockets and electronic tools... getting bad.
 
Corporate America seems to be well versed on how to run a very profitable business into the ground, ie; Sears, Penny's, Montgomery Wards, etc. All three of those company's had the best mail order divisions prior the the invention of the internet.
Wards was the first to shut down it's mail order division, and phase out automotive and appliances, In it's day Wards was the largest tire dealer in the nation. Penny's followed suit. Wards sold off it's stores because the property was in some cases worth more than the company, in other cases the property's had been neglected to the point that nobody wanted to go in them.
The town I live in, So Cal the Wards store sat vacant for over ten years, it was finally demolished and a new Lowes, two banks and three fast food establishments were built in it's place.
KMart suffered the same fate in most of the So Cal area, there again the property had more value than the stores, they were located in areas that had fallen on hard times. Most of these locations have evolved into Wallmart's. Of course in new buildings
Penny's and Sears finally relocated, building very nice new stores, without automotive facilities.. Hmmmmm?
Henry Ford had a lot of one line phrases that are quoted today by many people. I like the one. "When service ceases to be good, it ceases to be a service".
Prior to me starting my own business in 1969 I worked for a company for fourteen years that was the largest in the industry, 58 branches across the US, the majority in California/Nevada.
I sold my business to my son eight years ago, he has prospered, maintaining market share and expanding the business into importing. The business emerged from the recent "depression" in better shape that it was in 2008.
My former employer closed down in 2012, it had shrunk down to one location, located in El Monte.
 
Very well said, Blucar.
In Northern Calif., Wards was a great Company. Penney's too. Sad to see the results today.
Now, Sears sells some of the same tools that Harbor Freight sells, but at a much inflated price.
Maybe it's only us older folks that notice all the changes, but not many seem to be for the good.
Happy New Year
Jim
 
I was in a sears store a while back getting a pump for my washing machine, and I cruised thru the tools. I remember thinking that the pricing seemed decent and I said to myself " you should come here instead of harbor freight".( for those types of items)
On another note, the Seattle store, among other things is the Starbucks head quarters. Upstairs in the cafe is a wall of great pictures from early 1900, thru the seventies?. Some neat engineering of the building ( stress test) and lots of great car shots. Even some railroad boxcar sales. Really interesting history.
 
I used to buy Craftsman. My box is full of Sears tools. You could get what you wanted and the sales were pretty good. Then they started selling what I call gimmick tools. I guess they have their uses but I want good basic tools that get the job done. Looking through my local Sears store the other day, inventory was way down and I couldn't find the things I used to buy there. I guess I don't have much reason to shop there anymore.
 
One has to wonder how many younger "kids" even buy hand tools these days? We used to fix things like washing machines at home - nowdays . . . everything is thrown away and you just go buy another one (and so few things actually last). This is not true in all cases - but in many cases. How many folks can or do even change their own oil?

And modern cars - most of them do run for long periods of time without any tune-ups . . . nobody changes 'plugs, point, condensers and wires' these days - not on modern engines.

I was working with my 16 year old nephew last summer - teaching him 3D CAD design in the process of repairing an implement for a BobCat. I handed him a 1/2" drive ratchet to take a bolt off - he didn't know how to use it (didn't know there was a selector for drive direction). I think it was the first time he had one in his hand! He figured it out in short order - but it was a new experience for him. Now show him a computer gaming console - and look out!

Our world has changed from when lots of people worked on and fixed whatever they could - usually because it was the only way they could afford to get it done.
 
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I still have and use my Montgomrey Wards lawn tractor which I bought used in the early 90's. My neighbor has gone through at least four John Deer's during this time and we cut his lawn with ours sometimes. My wife cuts a path through the woods several times each year with it (to my chagrin). All I have replaced are blades, belts sparkplugs and a few missing bolts from time to time.

I bought a set of Craftsman screwdrivers about a year ago. What junk, even at my age, 82 the blades bend easily. I still have a lot of Craftman tools that I bought back in the 50's.
 
Our local Sears store is closing in March,we have probably had a Sears store in town,Lancaster Ohio for all of my 71 years probably more. I have only had to return one Craftsman tool a ratchet a few years ago and I was surprised that they did not offer a new one but a refurbished one that was junk so nothing I am going to miss.
 
Retail is in trouble. Macy's is laying off 10,000. People don't buy today like they used to. Apparently women's apparel is where most of the sales are and those are getting picked off by upscale and specialty retailers. It's a tough world out there. Not to say that Sears and others haven't made mistakes. I have had a lot of loyalty to Sears over the years, but that loyalty has been pretty strained of late.
 
At our sears the other day I to returned a failed 3/8 drive ratchet and the salesman turned around to a roll away next to the register and opened a drawer and gave me a remanufactured one. And I was the only one speaking English in the whole store.
 
Many of us started out with Craftsman tools. I still have some I bought in my early teens (I am now in my 80's). If you broke one, they gave you a free replacement. It wasn't long before they started selling foreign made versions that were poor, but continued to charge USA prices. Top quality tools by SnapOn and others cost more, of course, but have proven to be much better.No tears here for the loss of the brand, or Sears.
 
Ace hardware now sells craftsman.

All my craftsman tools are now 25-30 years old, only had to return a socket once that rusted.

Now that Stanley is building plant here, let's hope US made will bring quality back.
 
I am still using my S-K tools I bought 46 years ago when I worked in a auto parts house. Never had to replace any of them.
 
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