If Sears goes under...

[Titus]

There have been a few reports in the press (such as this one) that have sears in trouble. If sears was to go under, successful lines like Kenmore and Craftsman would likely be sold off and continue to exist. This has me thinking about who might be interested in buying the Craftsman line. Who do you think would snap it up?

 

[davestlouis]

I'd be hard-pressed to see anyone buying it...all of the retailers listed have established house brands.

 

[64merc]

Man, that is a darn good question!! I really really would like to know the answer. I think time will tell.

 

[wrenchr]

I think danaher would offer them thru catalog.
The other stores have tool lines that you know have contracts.

 

[1320stang]

Kenmore isn't anything more than rebaged lines by other manufacturers. My Kenmore front loader is a rebaged Frigidare.

I could see Walmart being the most likely to do so thru Danaher.

 

[64merc]

Well, I'm probably wrong, but I voted Northern because they carry so many different brands. I know they have their Northern brand, but they aren't really at the Cman level of quality (USA hardlines, etc.). I don't know, that was just my knee-jerk reaction to the question.

 

[wrenchr]

They could offer craftsman thru the matco truck as a cheaper alternative??

 

[64merc]

Kenmore isn't anything more than rebaged lines by other manufacturers. My Kenmore front loader is a rebaged Frigidare.

I could see Walmart being the most likely to do so thru Danaher.

See, I thought about Walmart too, but they would have to dump Stanley first I think. I just don't see them wanting to deal with all of it. They are out for a quick buck with everything, so I think the warranties would be a little too much work for them. You never know.....

 

[Stuey]

Well, I could fire off reasons as to why all of those options won't work, but I'll save you the boredom.

Sears will not sell of Craftsman - they'd lose way too much business. If anything, they might split it off, leaving Craftsman as a semi-independent but symbiotic entity.

Craftsman is more of a conglomerate than a standalone brand. If it does fall, we're going to see a lot of other companies affected - Danaher, Vaughan, Waterloo, to name a few.

 

[wrenchr]

See, I thought about Walmart too, but they would have to dump Stanley first I think. I just don't see them wanting to deal with all of it. They are out for a quick buck with everything, so I think the warranties would be a little too much work for them. You never know.....

Yah if elwalmartay took it over I think the hassle free warranty days are gone.

 

[64merc]

Well, I could fire off reasons as to why all of those options won't work, but I'll save you the boredom.

Sears will not sell of Craftsman - they'd lose way too much business. If anything, they might split it off, leaving Craftsman as a semi-independent but symbiotic entity.

Craftsman is more of a conglomerate than a standalone brand. If it does fall, we're going to see a lot of other companies affected - Danaher, Vaughan, Waterloo, to name a few.

So you mean that if Sears goes under we would see Craftsman stores?

 

[wrenchr]

That could work!! That is the only reason I go to sears!!

 

[Stuey]

If Craftsman tools do make it to Walmart, it'll be as a secondary market. I can see the Companion or Evolv tools at Walmart, but not Craftsman.

Lowes is a possibility, but they have their own contracts on many products. While some Kobalt tools are produced by Danaher, a good deal of them are not.

Home Depot - out of the question. Home Depot barely has a mechanics' tool section anymore, and the selection of their other tool products have been dwindling.

Those other stores, such as Ace Hardware, migth not be able to sell at a high enough volume to keep prices relatively stable.

 

[Uncle Buck]

So you mean that if Sears goes under we would see Craftsman stores?

Actually that sounds quite logical, but another company big enough that already has a strong connection to the Craftsman line, and worthy of speculation might be Fastenal. For those that do not know, Fastenal is a monster with a catalog as big if not bigger than many others.

I would hate to see Sears go the way of Montgomery Wards.

 

[elect]

I don't think Sears would sell off the Craftsman line.

 

[wrenchr]

I don't think Sears would sell off the Craftsman line.

If they went belly up they would.

 

[Titus]

I'd be hard-pressed to see anyone buying it...all of the retailers listed have established house brands.

They all have established brands, but no tool brand has anywhere near the brand power as Craftsman. I don't know many that would go out of their way to find a HD just to buy a Husky tool, but there are a ton out there that will drive past HD, Lowes, etc to get to Sears for a Craftsman. Heck, ask the average house wife to name a tool brand and I bet 95% would start with Craftsman and many of them would be hard pressed to name any others. Any company that bought Craftsman and was willing to dedicate a decent amount of floorspace would see an immediate measurable increase in sales.

 

[Stuey]

So you mean that if Sears goes under we would see Craftsman stores?

I don't think so. A few years ago when I was in upstate NY, there was a Sears hardware that closed down due to declining sales. Standalone Craftsman stores simply won't see widespread success. I can find one Sears hardware store in my area, although I've never been there let alone driven by, but know of about 7 standalone or mall Sears stores within 40 miles, 6 of which I've been to, and there are at least two others that always pop up when I search for locations near me that I haven't yet been to.

I'm just saying that independent control over the Craftsman brand could help things, possibly under joint 3rd party co-ownership.

 

[wrenchr]

Circuit City is going out of Business.

 

[musgofasta]

Rutland Tools already sells Craftsman tools. They're the Anti-Harbor Freight, with mostly USA branded tool companies. And their catalog is freaking enormous, like phone book big.

ShopRutlandTool.com

I think they may just go off into history.

 

[Titus]

I would hate to see Sears go the way of Montgomery Wards.

That brings up a great point. Anyone who thinks that there is no way that Sears could/would go away completely needs to look no further than Montgomery Wards.

 

[64merc]

Rutland Tools already sells Craftsman tools. They're the Anti-Harbor Freight, with mostly USA branded tool companies. And their catalog is freaking enormous, like phone book big.

ShopRutlandTool.com

I think they may just go off into history.

Oh no, don't say that!! You had to be the one who spoiled it for us. Seriously though, we've seen it happen to a bunch of old USA brands (Bonney, Fleet, etc.)

 

[stioc]

File chapter 11, open for business following day...isn't that what typically happens? Do you really think they'll close their doors? If they do close doors I'd be concerened about their life-time warranty. As for new tools I think whoever's manufacturing their tools will probably keep doing it under a different name.

 

[Fedwrench]

I voted other because, I really don't any of the stores listed wanting to carry Craftsman. Lowes and Home Depot only carry a fraction of the mechanics tools that Sears does. Craftsman is too high of quality for Mao Mart to sell. Honestly, the people that frequent Harbor Freight and Northern aren't necessarily looking for a quality US made product. I think Ace is too small. I think Target would be the same as Mao Mart and wouldn't be a contender.You would have to have a large established network of stores to make it work. Perhaps the brand could be split into two divisions. The mechanics tools could be picked up by a national auto parts chain and the construction, wood working type stuff could be sold by a home improvement chain. Honestly though, I don't see alot of future demand and perhaps the Craftsman brand will fade away into history. After all, there were once over a 100 different automobile manufacturers in this country and now there's just three struggling to stay in business. I would prefer for the Craftsman brand to fade away than to be further degraded to make a buck but, that's just me. Your results may vary.
There's no sense in worrying about what may or may not happen though. If you're worried about it, go buy more Craftsman tools and shop at Sears.

 

[Uncle Buck]

That brings up a great point. Anyone who thinks that there is no way that Sears could/would go away completely needs to look no further than Montgomery Wards.

Yea, many biggies just disappear, another on par with Kmart that went away years ago for those that remember was Venture, not on par with Sears and MW but good sized at the time and a going concern at one time.

 

[Tool Pants]

General Motors would be a good suitor for the Craftsman and Diehard brand names....

 

[davestlouis]

Value City is dying as we speak. Lots of other discounters have gone belly-up. HQ and other home stores have gone the way of the do-do. There's nothing noteworthy about Sears dying, aside from the sheer size of the Sears/K-Mart organization. Let's all remember how much we complain about the awful website and poor in-store service, a company that can't get its act together will not be around for long.

 

[rocketman]

First off... K-Mart isn't gone everywhere, actually Sears bought them along with Land's End.

Craftsman would probably survive as a separate entity. Here in the Chicago area (home of Sears) we have stand-alone Sears Hardware stores which are pretty much all the tools and home repair/improvement items. It has survived well being directly across the street from a Lowes and a Home Depot.

There are even stand-alone Sears Appliance stores.

 

[DiStOrTiOn]

I think that if anyone were to pick them up should sears go under, it would be fastenal. They've already got a decent stock of the tools, and the other places already have house brands, as previously mentioned. I would hate to see sears go under, I've got a huge investment in the quality craftsman tools they sell. It would just be a major loss for many homeowners and weekend warriors, because they are the inexpensive US made tools, if they went under, how many millions of people would have to switch to the junk coming out of the Orient in order to afford what they need?

 

[krusty the clown]

i guess it's fun to think about this, but sears isn't going anywhere. and if it does i'd imagine the name craftsman would be transfered to k-mart.

 

[hguerrero]

Someone here please prove me wrong, but as I've been told/read, the Craftsman brand and the DieHard brand names are actually owned by a current executive at Sears Corporate. Not sure about the specifics as to how or why he owns them, but if/when he leaves or if Sears goes under, the brand names go with him.
He was smart enough to take ownership (not sure if that means he bought the name rights) of these two brands long ago.

 

[davestlouis]

I can't imagine that the company would have let those names slip out of their grasp...that sounds like an urban myth to me.

 

[hguerrero]

Sears and Craftsman Split

Here's some news you might enjoy
http://toolmonger.com/2008/01/21/breaking-news-sears-and-craftsman-split/

 

[J.A.F.E.]

Re: Sears and Craftsman Split

Here's some news you might enjoy
http://toolmonger.com/2008/01/21/breaking-news-sears-and-craftsman-split/

I'm no expert in business but my guess, if this story is accurate, is Sears is splitting into different entities to protect it's profit centers like Diehard and CM.

I can't imagine Sears letting go of bread and butter operations like CM. As for who would buy CM if Sears actually divested, willingly or not, there can't be many, if any, operations that would fit. Part of CM success is the convenient access (at least in urban areas), decent price point, great warranty and draw that tool shopping trips can be combined with other family needs. Who else is left that has national presence and neighborhood access?

~Steve

 

[a390st]

Sears going totally out would be a blow to a lot of malls in the US. One of the next big blows to the economy is said to be the difficulty malls are going to have making their payments over the next few years. Tennessee is already on the watch list for commercial property payment defaults. Who knows. What I do know is that it is never very good for malls to lose an anchor. Sears is an anchor at most of the malls around middle Tennessee. Then again, you know that bankruptcy has little to do with stores actually closing.

I can't see HD picking up anything. They just announced that they are going to cut the hours of some stores to 10-6 or 10-7. That will certainly help matters. Right...

Lowes already has Kobalt and has established suppliers.

Ace doesn't have the stores to support the volume of the Craftsman brand.

The other options are all in love with China or whoever can supply the cheapest version of whatever item we're talking about.

 

[Merkava_4]

I'm thinking if Sears was to go under, Sears would sell off the Orchards Supply Hardware division; whoever buys that will maintain the stock of Craftsman tools.

 

[<>Severed<>]

Circuit City is going out of Business.

no they are not they are just closing certian stores.


And has any one else noticed that some of the new CM tools are really close to some that SO sells like the indexing prybars and the ratchets that the head swivels. JW And I dont think sears would just close down im sure they would close stores that are not making as much money and try that, like a lot of other companys

 

[Merkava_4]

I do think it would be nice if Sears set up a separate store building for tools and automotive equipment....

 

[Stephenw]

Lowes and Home Depot sell a lot of the wood working tools in the Craftsman line. I could see them dropping the wood working and power tools from their lineup. They could move their hand tools into a major auto parts chain. Maybe NAPA. There is a NAPA store in every town of any size in America.

 

[daveblank]

They could offer craftsman thru the matco truck as a cheaper alternative??

No way. The trucks are cramped enough as it is.

So you mean that if Sears goes under we would see Craftsman stores?

Most likely. Due to the diversity of the Craftsman brand that would make the most sense.