Craftsman Tools Coming to Costco

[mmhouse]

Craftsman tools will now be sold by Costco. So the Craftsman brand will now be represented at ACE, Costco and Menards (as well as Sears). This is a marketing strategy of Sears to leverage one of the most valuable assets they own - the Craftsman brand - but as the article states it could come back to bite them in the end.

"Sears' brand strategy runs counter to what most retailers are doing these days. Stores from Macy's to Home Depot are expanding their in-house brands as a way to attract shoppers, stand out from competitors and pad their profit margins. Selling Sears' proprietary brands through other retailers could raise cash in the short run but over time give shoppers fewer reasons to visit its stores and exacerbate the retailer's decline, critics contend."

IMO it's probably a smart move as there's not much left to draw people into their stores anyway. This is mentioned in the artcle as well.

"If Sears' plan is to find a way to get out from under the cost of owning and operating its own stores, running the brands as a separate business makes sense and could help the company survive, said William Brandt, CEO of Development Specialists Inc., a Chicago-based turnaround firm."

Link to Chicago Tribune article...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0831-sears-costco-20110831,0,1284253.story

 

[matty d]

I just saw a small Craftsman toolbox at Costco. $41.00 only however was cheap with no ball bearing drawers. More quality please.

Where Craftsman is sold, whether it is a good business decision etc...who knows...I am just used to seeing Craftsman at Sears. All I want to see are quality goods...

 

[Conn'swhiterose]

Sounds like a good thing, given the uncertain future of Sears stores. Hopefully Costco will stock their tools better than most of their other goods...it gets a little tiring playing the "here today gone tomorrow" thing at Costco..

It leaves me wondering how a warranty excahnge would work though...??

Something tells me it might not be over the counter....

 

[cashishift]

Sounds like a good thing, given the uncertain future of Sears stores. Hopefully Costco will stock their tools better than most of their other goods...it gets a little tiring playing the "here today gone tomorrow" thing at Costco..

It leaves me wondering how a warranty excahnge would work though...??

Something tells me it might not be over the counter....

I was told an easy way to tell if a product will be leaving soon is that there will be a * on the tag..

if there is a tag.. it's on its way out.

 

[Conn'swhiterose]

I was told an easy way to tell if a product will be leaving soon is that there will be a * on the tag..

if there is a tag.. it's on its way out.

Well thanks very much for that info.....what a frustration that is

Lets hope they don't do that with the Craftsman....also wonder if the quality will be the same, or like the "Snap on " junk they are trying to sell ?