Stanley Black & Decker buys Craftsman

[Fedwrench]

17 pages about the Craftsman brand being sold

Craftsman tools have sucked for awhile now. I think the bean counters, people wanting something for nothing, and warranty abusers killed Craftsman before moving production overseas. I think the main selling point was always the warranty. At any rate, do you guys really think that Stanley will make Craftsman Great Again? or is Stanley just going to slap the Craftsman name on their Fatmax and Dewalt hand tools and call it good. Time will tell but, I'm not getting my hopes up. I think the best I can hope for is that Stanley will get rid of those lobster claw open ends

 

[NUTTSGT]

17 pages about the Craftsman brand being sold

Craftsman tools have sucked for awhile now. I think the bean counters, people wanting something for nothing, and warranty abusers killed Craftsman before moving production overseas. I think the main selling point was always the warranty. At any rate, do you guys really think that Stanley will make Craftsman Great Again? or is Stanley just going to slap the Craftsman name on their Fatmax and Dewalt hand tools and call it good. Time will tell but, I'm not getting my hopes up. I think the best I can hope for is that Stanley will get rid of those lobster claw open ends

Hope for the best, expect the worst.


I think many of us here have waited for the final spin of the Sears death spiral and taking Cman with it. If, that's a big "IF" hand tool production comes back to the USA, what does that mean ? Those that didn't care about where the tools were made will continue to buy them like nothing happened. For those of us that quit buying the China -made stuff or bought very little of it, I'm sure most of the other members here like me, will start buying them again.

Bring production back to the USA should only be a win-win for S/B&D. Not only are they going to sell more tools, they will put people back to work that can buy their own product line.

Lifetime warranty, I'm sure the bean counters have checked it and know the profit/loss margin and are willing to accept it. Possibly even seeing were the losses are and QA control to fix those issues.

 

[pauls_workshop]

17 pages about the Craftsman brand being sold

Craftsman tools have sucked for awhile now. I think the bean counters, people wanting something for nothing, and warranty abusers killed Craftsman before moving production overseas. I think the main selling point was always the warranty. At any rate, do you guys really think that Stanley will make Craftsman Great Again? or is Stanley just going to slap the Craftsman name on their Fatmax and Dewalt hand tools and call it good. Time will tell but, I'm not getting my hopes up. I think the best I can hope for is that Stanley will get rid of those lobster claw open ends

Yeah, I think *most* of the hand tools will end up very much as you say Fed. Fatmax and Dewalt, which still may be a slight improvement for most of the current Craftsman China COO tools actually. But there is the potential for some real high quality US made stuff for the industrial/professional lines of Craftsman later on. The key things are that Craftsman as a brand won't die with Sears and will live on by a company that does know how to make good tools, will keep the brand going, and is a stable US based owner. Those are all good things. I'm really glad for instance Harbor Freight didn't buy Craftsman. Or a Chinese or Indian company. SBD has talked about bringing some new jobs to the US. Here's hoping that gets a bigger push now that they have Craftsman and bring back more US made tools to the lineup over time, at least for US sales. - Paul

 

[Bdgjr215]

Yeah, I think *most* of the hand tools will end up very much as you say Fed. Fatmax and Dewalt, which still may be a slight improvement for most of the current Craftsman China COO tools actually. But there is the potential for some real high quality US made stuff for the industrial/professional lines of Craftsman later on. The key things are that Craftsman as a brand won't die with Sears and will live on by a company that does know how to make good tools, will keep the brand going, and is a stable US based owner. Those are all good things. I'm really glad for instance Harbor Freight didn't buy Craftsman. Or a Chinese or Indian company. SBD has talked about bringing some new jobs to the US. Here's hoping that gets a bigger push now that they have Craftsman and bring back more US made tools to the lineup over time, at least for US sales. - Paul

Sounds good to me.

 

[Dr Stan]

Have not purchased any Craftsman tools for quite awhile due to the quality decline, especially after Ryobi began making CM power tools. So I sure hope this is for the better as long as Stanley does not offshore the production. They say it will be in the US for now, but . . . ?

The whole Sears debacle is a good case study of when a Wall Street goon takes over a company of which he knows nothing. There are a couple of major thoughts in the field of management. One says you need to have experience in the field in which one is supervising. The other claims (falsely I believe) one only needs to know how to manage a business so you can move from one industry to another and be successful.

Here in town the Sears store closed over a year ago and one of the two KMarts has just started its closeout. I'll be checking it out to see if there are any fixtures that could be used for shop storage.

 

[mperry985]

I don't think that'll justify this asking price hahahahaha

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[Loscaldazar]

17 pages about the Craftsman brand being sold

Craftsman tools have sucked for awhile now. I think the bean counters, people wanting something for nothing, and warranty abusers killed Craftsman before moving production overseas. I think the main selling point was always the warranty. At any rate, do you guys really think that Stanley will make Craftsman Great Again? or is Stanley just going to slap the Craftsman name on their Fatmax and Dewalt hand tools and call it good. Time will tell but, I'm not getting my hopes up. I think the best I can hope for is that Stanley will get rid of those lobster claw open ends

I would consider that a significant step up in quality is the thing though....

 

[cowboy73]

I think Stanley made a great buy. The name recognition is enough to justify the 900 million bucks. They could put Craftsman in a lot of store fronts. They have the capability to produce all the Craftsman labeled stuff except the powered lawn stuff. Stanley made Craftsman tools for a number of years anyway.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I'll bet a dollar (gentleman wager) that Stanley sets up the channels of selling Craftsman tools at various retails and then tries to sell the brand. They won't put Craftsman above Proto or Mac and why would they make it better than their namesake? It won't be well received that Craftsman tools are still Chinese throwaways.

 

[Fedwrench]

I'll bet a dollar (gentleman wager) that Stanley sets up the channels of selling Craftsman tools at various retails and then tries to sell the brand. They won't put Craftsman above Proto or Mac and why would they make it better than their namesake? It won't be well received that Craftsman tools are still Chinese throwaways.

True but, Stanley could take their Blackhawk line and make it the new Craftsman. Stanley did that a long time ago for the first generation Husky tools Home Depot sold. The Blackhawk line is large enough to meet the needs of the Craftsman customer. Of course, Stanley could go another direction and morph their Expert line into Craftsman but, that would be Taiwan sourced. I think it will be a year or two before we'll know which direction they'll take

 

[d.mcfarland]

^^ Good point. All valid for sure. I am wondering if they are going to take the Craftsman name and use it on tool trucks as the cheap brand. It still has name recognition but the costs of products could still be the same as the import branded ones. Craftsman warranty would be the selling point.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

^^ Good point. All valid for sure. I am wondering if they are going to take the Craftsman name and use it on tool trucks as the cheap brand. It still has name recognition but the costs of products could still be the same as the import branded ones. Craftsman warranty would be the selling point.

Tool trucks selling Craftsman products would be a good way to piss off Ace Hardware. With the Craftsman tool selection I have seen in some of the Ace stores; I would question that as being a good idea.

But, how about using that existing Craftsman product distribution network to supply Ace customers with tools from: Stanley, ProTo, B&D, and their other tool lines? Not necessarily stock all these items; but make them available at your local Ace.

 

[HCNDM]

I know ... wish I could get my hands on.... let's not talk about that











ok so I was completely wrong .. looks like 1 billion is worth a bunch of **** tools nowadays



GROWTH , I'm sorry I have an allergy of this word , profit is nothing without growth ...



Looks like only I can remember 2008

Yeah I wish I could get my hands on some....

Second thoughts... let's not go there...

On the plus side maybe gamma and praxis will start stocking craftsman instead of Stanley [emoji6][emoji13]


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[Revelations]

What will happen to Craftsman sponsored Nascar Trucks?

Sent from a Galaxy far far away.

 

[TomB19]

I own a small smattering of Craftsman tools, based on the recommendation of mechanic friends who recommended them when I was a teenager in the 1980s. I fail to see the loyalty behind the brand.

My favourite value tools have been Mastercraft Pro/Maximum. As I understand it, these are manufactured by Stanley.

I will grab a Mastercraft socket over a Craftsman, 10 times out of 10.

Maybe I haven't been exposed to the best Craftsman has to offer but I don't see how a Stanley takeover is anything but positive for the brand. I see it as an OK brand that Stanley could easily upgrade to decent.

 

[southalabama]

The question was asked about the loyalty to the Craftsman brand,

IMHO its not the quality its the nostalgia of working on things with your dad in the days gone by. It had a complete line of tools and were readily available. Dad worked with industrial tool brands all week and came home and used his Craftsman tools. They were as close as your local Sears. In the days before Amazon and the internet they offered a fairly comprehensive tool collection you could buy in sets or individually as the need arose.

 

[wssix99]

What will happen to Craftsman sponsored Nascar Trucks?

They stay with the brand (like the loyalty club) and keep going on to keep demand and to keep the $900M goodwill in the brand name worth something.

... Then when the contract expires, maybe it becomes the Stanley/Craftsman Truck series??? lol

 

[Brownsfan]

Some questioned what will happen to Western Forge and Wilde. I don't think much will change. I don't think Stanley has a USA based pliers manufacturer. All their USA made pliers in the Mac line up are Channellock made. Some PROTO are Wilde if not all Wilde made. Maybe with the craftsman relationship more of that business will go to WF and Wilde. Now Stanley does have USA based plants making screwdrivers. So that part could be a blow to WF. USA MADE craftsman pliers are fantastic quality for the money. I really like their slip joints. Craftsman WF made pliers are far better than any of the other store brands.

 

[EOC_Jason]

The question is will Sears Holdings buy their Craftsman stuff from Stanley manufacturing, or continue to buy from their regular suppliers? I guess only time will tell. But again we don't know if Stanley is going to have common part #'s or are they going to produce a whole new line that Sears can't duplicate or sell?

Sears has at least done well to keep the Craftsman "name" out there. There are many many tool brands of days gone by that current generations don't remember.

I was with my neighbor a couple weeks ago at an estate sale. He found an old Montgomery Ward's cast iron wood burning stove out in the back yard. It even had some piping and a chamber built into the side where you would plumb your water line through to heat your water! I never noticed the "MW" logo on it till he pointed it out. I doubt anyone under the age of 30 or 35 probably remember Montgomery Ward... In the future people probably won't remember Sears Roebuck, but they will remember Craftsman.

 

[rick carpenter]

Craftsman's future is going to be determined by what level and type of product SBD wants that label to be on. Remember, CM has lawnmowers, garage door openers, snowblowers, electronic toothpick holders, etc.

I hope SBD (mostly tools and service products/solutions) decides "Craftsman tools" is resurrectable as "everyman's tools" again. The warranty may be different for SBD CM though. As for the pre-SBD CM warranty, who knows.

 

[wssix99]

I doubt anyone under the age of 30 or 35 probably remember Montgomery Ward...

Just tell them that they were the company that used to run out of the Groupon Headquarters and they'll say, "Whoah..."

 

[sublime68charger]

I'm glad the craftsman stuff will be around for years to come.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

If Sears doesn't carry Craftsmen, I can't think of anything to take me in there. Even while only swapping a broken tool we were exposed to the rest of the place.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I'm not sure what Sears was thinking. If SBD does start making and selling Craftsman hand tools, every sale SBD makes is just one less for Sears Holdings...

 

[B_Bimmer]

I'm glad the craftsman stuff will be around for years to come.

That is an excellent summary of my feelings as well.

 

[reddog289]

30 years ago I would really not think about buying anything other then Craftsman. But that was then this is now. Sears is a sad side show. Most of my recent tool purchases in the last 10 years have been from other places, And when I do buy Craftsman, I usually order it online and pick it up.
I hope Craftsman does well with this deal. I would hate yo see them go.

 

[avmaine]

I have to be honest, I have a 1/2 drive set of Stanley metric six points and they're pretty solid. I don't know how it will work out of course, but I hope it turns out decently. I agree though, it doesn't necessarily mean a reversal of poor quality, but maybe they can shore things up.

 

[BDFan1981]

Very interesting.

Sears did have Black & Decker make numerous power tools for them since 1979, as that was the first year Sears put the Craftsman name on a line of their industrial (later known as Craftsman Professional) power tools sourced from B&D.

I own one: a Craftsman Professional 1/2" variable speed reversing drill with a 7.8-amp motor and 0-850 RPM, which is based on the DeWalt DW235.

~Ben

 

[Bdgjr215]

Very interesting.

Sears did have Black & Decker make numerous power tools for them since 1979, as that was the first year Sears put the Craftsman name on a line of their industrial (later known as Craftsman Professional) power tools sourced from B&D.

I own one: a Craftsman Professional 1/2" variable speed reversing drill with a 7.8-amp motor and 0-850 RPM, which is based on the DeWalt DW235.

~Ben

I have that same drill and it is my go to drill to this day!

 

[Mechanical Noise]

$500 million now, $250 million in three years and an estimated $10mil/year in royalties over the next 15 years.

Seems cheap to me. Only three months ago, Sears was saying they expected $2 billion from selling the Craftsman brand. Sure, $500 million + is huge money for a powerball prize or renovating a college football stadium but I'm sure there's much disappointment at Sears HQ,

One thing you can be sure of. Stanley bought the brand to increase their market share. They may, or may not, sell better tools for less money but don't count on it. Think about price and service after all the airline mergers.

 

[mhm993]

Regarding stanley, I'm old enough to remember when they were pro tools. When i was a gofer in a scene shop decades ago, the shop supervisor bought me a stanley 20 oz hammer and combination square as a gift. I still use both, nearly 40 yesrs later. I think the hammer might still have the original handle.

it would be nice (and maybe a fantasy) if they would resurrect craftsman as a better quality Brand.

 

[BDFan1981]

I also remember when both Stanley and Black & Decker were sponsors of Hometime!

~Ben

 

[jeeper46]

You REALLY show your age when you call them "Monkey Wards"

 

[Empty Pockets]

I don't think that'll justify this asking price hahahahaha

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At least we're getting FREE shipping

 

[Empty Pockets]

Something else that nobody has brought up.... SBD can also market CM tools in sets such as the 309 or 517 piece sets through the various warehouse club stores (Sam's, BJ's and Costco).

By changing the piece count slightly, or the part numbers on some of the tools contained in the set, they could likely sell the same sets to all 3 warehouse clubs and still have a different product for the standard big box stores and for Amazon.

 

[Climatecreator]

I like this..... I'm old enough to remember when it was not an issue.....

 

[MilwaukeeFish]

I don't think that'll justify this asking price hahahahaha

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MMMM.....Only 2 G's and they still smell like vomit. Where's my credit card!?

--

 

[openwheelracing]

I don't get it. So people say they only bought Craftsman and couldn't even imagine buying anything else.

Well then today must be better because you can buy SK and Williams........

 

[Climatecreator]

Where would they go to buy sk and Williams? I'm in a lot of hardware type places and rarely if ever see them....

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[LS6 Tommy]

I got an email from Craftsman Club on Friday. Sears will continue to be the primary seller, Kmart will still have a smaller line up, Stanley has the rights to market outside of those two stores. Sears feels this will make Craftsman tools available to a wider market. The lifetime warranty on the hand tools is the same...

Tommy