Lowes Craftsman Ad, Available April 2nd

[sbyrne92]

Moderator edit: In order to keep multiple threads from being started on this subject, I have merged a few threads and make it a sticky for the time being.


Saw in another section. Didn't see in the General Tools section.

Heres the Link

https://www.lowes.com/b/craftsman.html?searchTerm=craftsman

Interesting note at the bottom.

"From automotive restoration to home DIY projects, stock your garage with Craftsman power tools. Looking for the perfect place to store your tool set? Lowe's has you covered with Craftsman tool storage. Transform your workspace with a Craftsman upright tool storage chest, or go where the job is with a Craftsman portable tool storage chest. Or keep a set of Craftsman mechanic tools in your car for every roadside job."

Many questions: Are the "new" power tools continuing the C3 line? What will the difference be between lowes Craftsman mechanic tools sets vs sears. Difference between boxes? When will US made Craftsman be available? Guess we'll have to wait.

Also the picture of the ratchet. Looks like a homage to the RP, with semi modern styling. Looks low tooth count though.

I, for one, am excited.

Edit: If you type in craftsman in the Lowes search box @ Lowes.com. It takes you to this page. Thought it was interesting.

 

[PugetDude]

Not a bad move; might be the precursor to Kenmore Appliances at Lowes soon....

 

[Yarpo]

Also the picture of the ratchet. Looks like a homage to the RP, with semi modern styling.

Not a bad looking ratchet in comparison to the super clunky looking raised panel ratchets

 

[bcexplorer]

Thanks for this, Cant wait!

 

[Moparman390]

Finally a new development!

Now as for the ratchet pictured in the hand, who can say the tooth count by looking at the outside? Not a big fan of the styling at first glance but that's not really that important as function and feel, it could grow on me.

Interesting how the main image still has the traditional tools, maybe they will keep those designs too.

COO, sourcing within SBD or 3rd party for now, price, selection, power tools, so many questions to be answered soon.

 

[Certified Drunk]

Looks like Stanley is going to turn the Craftsman name around.
Hope they make tools with COO, USA.

 

[PugetDude]

Not a bad looking ratchet in comparison to the super clunky looking raised panel ratchets

+1 on this- might be a way for me to upgrade my RP ratchets and still stay all Craftsman...nothing against other brands, but old habits die hard-bought some of my very first tools in the 1970's with my very first charge card- Sears, Roebuck, and Company...I've had four decades of good service out of them.

 

[sbyrne92]

I am glad something is coming to fruition. Watching sears die, is like watching an old friend with a terminal illness. The tools section at all 3 of the sears near me are consistently barren and downsizing rapidly.

What will be interesting is seeing how lowes handles Craftsman inventory in the future. Also, its place amongst their Kobalt line of boxes, hand tools, and tool boxes. As of present, Kobalt takes up a majority of their tool retail space.

It would be nice if they continue the C3 line, going after HD's Ryobi line. It would also allow many of us that have these tools to continue to purchase batteries. Since Eddie Lampert has been ******* off TTI lately it is still up in the air about future inventory at sears. I have since switched to Milwaukee around 2015, but still use the C3 impacts I first bought in 2012. I also lend them to friends who need a power tool here or there.

 

[Skin]

Looks like Stanley is going to turn the Craftsman name around.
Hope they make tools with COO, USA.

That's the idea. They've been retooling and building new manufacturing just for Craftsman. They even bought Waterloo to give Craftsman a dedicated box manufacturer. They appear to have every intention to make it "Americas tool brand" again.

 

[6PTsocket]

Not a bad move; might be the precursor to Kenmore Appliances at Lowes soon....

Not until Sears sells the Kenmore name, assuming anyone wants it.

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[hasco]

Glad to see Craftsman will live on. Went to sears today for the first time in six months. They had more hand tools then the last time. A few craftsman garden hoses but no craftsman nozzles. It was weird not seeing the Automotive dept. which was either moved or long gone. Their auto service has been gone for months now.

 

[PugetDude]

Not until Sears sells the Kenmore name, assuming anyone wants it.

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Oops. too late... Amazon is now selling Kenmore Appliances...
Stanley bought Craftsman.
Die Hard is their only remaining billion dollar baby...

 

[Bryanthegreat]

I like the look of the ratchet. Kind of a retro modern RP. Hopefully the internals are of better quality. If the old raised panel is discontinued in favor of that one I can see them initially having a lot of warranty claims.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

Craftsman mechanic tool sets available online-only starting April 2nd. The stores will be getting tools and tool chests in early to mid April, but won’t be available for sale in-store until mid-May, at least in our area. Craftsman outdoor power equipment coming as well, but no date yet.

 

[Buckgnarly]

Good looking ratchet, hoping for fine tooth and US made.

 

[Stooge]

I'll say that im honestly pretty surprised, even with having heard the rumors of it. I may not be the biggest Craftsman fan, and even less of a fan of my local Lowes store, but if they start carrying US made Craftsman hand tools in the stores at some point, I will be pretty impressed with that, and I actually do like the looks of that ratchet. I wonder what will happen with the kobalt line of handtools, hard to imagine they will be sold side by side in the store with the craftsman lines.

 

[JR7]

I'm not the biggest Craftsman fan but do hope it's successful. That ratchet looks neat, hopefully its got good internals.

 

[strutaeng]

So what's going to happen to Kobalt tools? I wonder if they are going to keep them.

I generally did not like Kobalt tools, although I recently bought a 27" tool chest that's really nice. I'm not into heavy mechanic tools though. I preferred Husky over Kobalt from the big box home improvement stores if I needed something right away, but this may change for me.

 

[Shane6377]

I would love to see Craftsman with some good USA tools again. I grew up with Craftsman and they have served me very well over the years. I have had to warranty a few over the years and I hate that I exchange for oversees replacements. Some of the tools aren’t bad... but it’s the principal. I bought American to support American jobs.

Good move for Lowes too. I live in the Midwest and we have Home Depot and Menards. In my city they are all about 2 miles apart. I haven’t bought anything from Lowes in years. USA Craftsman tools may change that.


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[kythri]

Oops. too late... Amazon is now selling Kenmore Appliances...
Stanley bought Craftsman.
Die Hard is their only remaining billion dollar baby...

I believe Sears still owns the Kenmore brand, I don't believe they sold it like they did Craftsman.

I believe this is just a distribution partnership.

I could be wrong, but I've yet to see anything detailing that Amazon bought the brand.

 

[Nineeightyone]

I'd love to see the Craftsman stuff be a higher quality tool, and keep the Kobalt line in the same quality. I've got a ton of Kobalt stuff and I'm very pleased with it as a home gamer, and I'd be sad to see it degrade in quality to make room for a similar quality product from a more popular brand.

I suppose we'll just have to see though once it starts coming out. If there's a closeout/clearance on Kobalt things though, I'm gonna need a new credit card.

 

[MikeF2316]

Not exactly a hand tool, and a tiny bit out of season, but you can get this today!

https://www.lowes.ca/snow-blowers/c...24-in-two-stage-gas-snow-blower_g2914142.html

 

[Crazyjake8493]

I'd love to see the Craftsman stuff be a higher quality tool, and keep the Kobalt line in the same quality. I've got a ton of Kobalt stuff and I'm very pleased with it as a home gamer, and I'd be sad to see it degrade in quality to make room for a similar quality product from a more popular brand.

I suppose we'll just have to see though once it starts coming out. If there's a closeout/clearance on Kobalt things though, I'm gonna need a new credit card.

Not sure about hand or power tools, but the Kobalt tool chests are on clearance here to make room for Craftsman.

 

[geo_08]

I am personally excited for this, curious to see where it fits in with the Kobalt and Stanley tools that Lowes already carries.

I like the looks of the new ratchet. I will be buying one.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

A few year back, Lowes had Crescent, Nicholson, CHANNELLOCK, and other USA produced tools on closeout sales. I loaded up with spares and gift tools. The replacements from ChiTaIwandia were depressing to look at, and reason enough to avoid the store.

I ditched the Craftsman name for most of their products long ago, and it has sunk further into the ditch. If will be interesting to watch the SB&D Towing and Restoration Service work their magic.

 

[pilotmotor]

Maybe Stanley will make craftsman industrial rebaged PROTO , that would be nice , and still keep the regular craftsman Chinese junk for Lowes.

 

[BDT/NWMN]

Maybe Stanley will make craftsman industrial rebaged PROTO , that would be nice , and still keep the regular craftsman Chinese junk for Lowes.

I Hope they continue to operate ProTo as a freestanding company. It is embarrassing enough to watch their step-child Blackhawk cheapened with Taiwan produced tools.

I would rather see the Blackhawk line used as a basis for Craftsman hand tools. SB&D has promised to do more tool production in the USA. Returning foreign Blackhawk production to the USA for use as a basis for the Craftsman tool line would have a double benefit.

Craftsman Industrial?? I wish they had never started with a Professional or Industrial Line of tools... People look at Craftsman as a Homeowner line.. There are enough Professional, Industrial, and higher quality lines like ProTo, USA Williams, Snap-on, Wright,and SK. It is the upper end Homeowner lines that are in the hurt bag..

 

[shanny19]

Looks low tooth count though.
.

WTF? Are you superman? Did you buy some Xray glasses from the comic book?

It looks like a ratchet. You can no more say it has 2 teeth or 200 from its looks.

 

[buffalobill]

WTF? Are you superman? Did you buy some Xray glasses from the comic book?

It looks like a ratchet. You can no more say it has 2 teeth or 200 from its looks.

I hope its one of those 2 tooth ratchets, that would be a real sweetie!

 

[KnurledNut]

Merchandising should be done by June 15.
Looks like their goal is to be ready for Fathers Day.
Tool boxes are in some stores stockrooms now.
SOME of the Kobalt goods are going away to make room initially.

 

[Moparman390]

Merchandising should be done by June 15.
Looks like their goal is to be ready for Fathers Day.
Tool boxes are in some stores stockrooms now.
SOME of the Kobalt goods are going away to make room initially.

They need to bring back more of that Kobalt power tool storage thing for around $100 they had for Christmas.

 

[Bryanthegreat]

They need to bring back more of that Kobalt power tool storage thing for around $100 they had for Christmas.

I wanted one and was disappointed that they were only temporary.

 

[dkroth]

Heres the Link

https://www.lowes.com/b/craftsman.html?searchTerm=craftsman

Nowhere on that page does it say Made in USA.

Isn't that the differentiation between Craftsman and Kobalt when you're standing there in the store? Because Kobalt is pretty darn good for the price.



.

 

[bczygan]

Nowhere on that page does it say Made in USA.

Isn't that the differentiation between Craftsman and Kobalt when you're standing there in the store? Because Kobalt is pretty darn good for the price.



.

Called the 888 number.

Lowes will be an authorized reseller, just like KMart.

They are going to be the same tools they sell elsewhere. Specific selection unknown. Mixed US and offshore COO's as with other vendors.

Bill

 

[PugetDude]

Called the 888 number.

Lowes qill be an authorized reseller, just like KMart.

They are going to be the same tools they sell elsewhere. Specific selection unknown. Mixed US and offshore COO's as with other vendors.

Bill

Dammit, Bill, why are you trying to confuse us with the facts? There was a lot of good speculation going on in this thread and you ruined it...

 

[Moparman390]

I suspected this at this early stage of the SBD acquisition. They roll out product to start filling the shelves from current suppliers and bring SBD in house items (some USA) along later as production comes online.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Saw in another section. Didn't see in the General Tools section.

There's a very, very smart person somewhere in that marketing office that was wise enough to use April 2nd. . . . other wise Lowes might have been the laughing stock of the internet.

 

[Empty Pockets]

The sooner they bring production back to the States, the better. I'll check the tools out next week

 

[Two Door]

There's a very, very smart person somewhere in that marketing office that was wise enough to use April 2nd. . . . other wise Lowes might have been the laughing stock of the internet.

My VERY FIRST thought....

 

[Moparman390]

So, according to Stuey of Toolguyd, the new ratchets are polished, 120 teeth, and COO is not displayed. I think they look better in the pictures he has than the first one we saw.