So I went to Sears yesterday...

[Houe]

After work yesterday I stopped by Sears to pick up a Craftsman 1/4" universal joint. I have a snow blower repair that would be easier with the universal although not absolutely required. I have a fair amount of USA craftsman, but I'm not above buying a Chinese tool from time to time. For hand tools - at least sockets and ratchets - I have moved on to Snap On, but for 1/4 drive I still only have craftsman. One day I'll replace it with some snap on (or maybe USA Williams).

So as I drove into the parking lot I saw one other car. The parking lot black top was is poor shape. The side walks were cracked. The cement base of the parking lot lighting was cracked and falling apart. The thought crossed my mind that this Sears maybe went out of business but last I heard our sears was never on the store closing listing. I proceeded. They were still open for business.

I walked into the store and noticed how sparsely all the isles and tools were spread out. Even the shelves were sparely populated and looked fairly empty. I saw 2 other customers roaming. I proceeded to look for the 1/4 universal and found the place it should have been but there was none. They did have 3/8 and 1/2 universals but the rack for the 1/4 was empty. Drat! Oh well, I figured I'd take a look around since I was here. I haven't been in a Sears for several years. I walked up and down the tool isles and was aghast at the Craftsman tools I saw. The lobster claw wrenches were all I saw. The pliers and screwdrivers looked truly awful. Then I saw what I was looking for(!), the 1/4 universal as part of a 3 piece set including the 3/8 and 1/2. It was only 3 dollars more than the individual 1/4 universal joint. I grabbed it and looked at it. It looked OK I thought and I proceeded to towards the checkout. Half way there I turned around - I couldn't do it! I put it back and exited. I just could not bring myself to support Craftsman anymore. I won't do it.

I'm done with craftsman. I might purchase an old stock USA on the bay or swap meet, but I don't think I will ever step foot in another Sears again. I drove home and was a bit sad. As I said earlier I'm not above buying a Chinese tool from time to time. I even have 5-6 Chinese craftsman sockets, but never again.

As I exited the Sears parking lot there was a faded stop sign that was barely readable that I stopped at before proceeding home.

 

[toolaholic]

I miss my sears . I bought my brake tool set and slide hammer there . Both craftsman made by KD. Use the 6 point Armstrong wrench I bought at sears all the time to change blades on my ariens edger . I love my wiha screwdrivers and assorted knipex I bought there. I agree most new craftsman **** but I bought other tools st sears .

 

[MikeF2316]

It's very easy for us Canadians to never set foot in Sears again. Since we now have to leave the country to do so!

 

[lotsoftools]

It seems Lowe’s has more Craftsman tools on the shelves than Sears does anymore. One of the last times I went to Sears the only employees I could find were having social hour on a mattress.

 

[Two Door]

The only surprise in all of that is that you found a Sears. I go between two of the largest cities in the country, and in both all but one has closed.

 

[Houe]

For those interested this was the Madison, wi east side sears.

 

[The Fall]

I was driving from California to Texas. My dad and I stopped in El Paso and I said, "Let's stop by Sears. The four of them within driving distance to my house have closed down."

He didn't want to go in. He'd heard stories about how bad Sears had gotten. He'd been a life-long Sears customer. "I didn't go to Wards. I went to Sears."

I finally convinced him to go in with me. A few minutes into looking at the tool department he said to me, "This is just sad. What happened?"

We all know what happened, but that's another story.

 

[zendriver]

After work yesterday I stopped by Sears to pick up a Craftsman 1/4" universal joint. I have a snow blower repair that would be easier with the universal although not absolutely required. I have a fair amount of USA craftsman, but I'm not above buying a Chinese tool from time to time. For hand tools - at least sockets and ratchets - I have moved on to Snap On, but for 1/4 drive I still only have craftsman. One day I'll replace it with some snap on (or maybe USA Williams).

So as I drove into the parking lot I saw one other car. The parking lot black top was is poor shape. The side walks were cracked. The cement base of the parking lot lighting was cracked and falling apart. The thought crossed my mind that this Sears maybe went out of business but last I heard our sears was never on the store closing listing. I proceeded. They were still open for business.

I walked into the store and noticed how sparsely all the isles and tools were spread out. Even the shelves were sparely populated and looked fairly empty. I saw 2 other customers roaming. I proceeded to look for the 1/4 universal and found the place it should have been but there was none. They did have 3/8 and 1/2 universals but the rack for the 1/4 was empty. Drat! Oh well, I figured I'd take a look around since I was here. I haven't been in a Sears for several years. I walked up and down the tool isles and was aghast at the Craftsman tools I saw. The lobster claw wrenches were all I saw. The pliers and screwdrivers looked truly awful. Then I saw what I was looking for(!), the 1/4 universal as part of a 3 piece set including the 3/8 and 1/2. It was only 3 dollars more than the individual 1/4 universal joint. I grabbed it and looked at it. It looked OK I thought and I proceeded to towards the checkout. Half way there I turned around - I couldn't do it! I put it back and exited. I just could not bring myself to support Craftsman anymore. I won't do it.

I'm done with craftsman. I might purchase an old stock USA on the bay or swap meet, but I don't think I will ever step foot in another Sears again. I drove home and was a bit sad. As I said earlier I'm not above buying a Chinese tool from time to time. I even have 5-6 Chinese craftsman sockets, but never again.

As I exited the Sears parking lot there was a faded stop sign that was barely readable that I stopped at before proceeding home.

Did you go there expecting something different, than what you experienced?

Just curious.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Thank you for your writing. Driving past the big empty mall, monuments to a different era, it's sad.

Sears in Canada has been gone for awhile. Canadian Sears sold imported Craftsman long before the American Sears did. The tool section was never that impressive, even in it's heyday.

 

[Rabid Badger]

Ace Hardware is a good place to find NOS Craftsman. I picked up a pair of Western Forge duckbill pliers not too long ago.

 

[Professional Tool User]

The writing has long been on the wall for Sears. There are loads of cheaper and better options these days than Craftsman. I am personally willing to give Craftsman under Stanley a chance if I feel like buying something that I feel isn't too badly priced. They have replaced that broken Craftsman swivel of mine with a Proto one and have shown me they are serious about supporting the brand.

 

[woody 73]

You have a sears still open ...never seen one before!

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

His comment was as both fair and well written. Much like someone muttering about changing an alternator in a modern car compared to a'60s Valiant slant six. In this case, tool purchases.

 

[Houe]

Did you go there expecting something different, than what you experienced?

Just curious.

I really didn't have a preconception of what to expect. As I've said I haven't been to Sears in years. Just needed a tool.

 

[Stinky_Pete]

As someone who loved going to Sears as a kid, that story by Houe was as depressing as it was well written.

I remember growing up in the 80's and seeing Craftsman tool commercials with the motto:
"Made in America, Guaranteed Forever"

In those days I didn't know one person who didn't have at least some craftsman stuff in their garage. Most guys I knew had toolboxes full, and the box was Craftsman too. I still have a lot of USA Craftsman sockets that I still use and like. Sears was the place to go if you needed tools. In my house almost everything, from screwdrivers to the lawnmower all said Craftsman and it was all good stuff.

Now I know Sears decline is due to many factors, competition from Walmart and online shopping, recessions, the whole nine yards, but I think one of the major reasons is they stopped selling USA Craftsman. They shipped the whole product line to China but still charged the same price. No self respecting person is going to pay 4 or 5 bucks for a Chinese socket when they paid that much a few years before for the same thing made from US steel by their fellow countrymen. And if Chinese tools are the only option, might as well go to Harbor Freight where it costs a lot less.

I used to feel good about shopping at Sears, I knew I was getting a quality product, but I wouldn't shop at one now. And there are two still open within a half hour of me. When I moved here and found out there was still a Sears open I stopped in to see what they had. The tool section was half empty, the empty shelves didn't even have labels on them, like they were never stocked with merchandise, and I couldn't find an employee to save my life.
I could have helped myself to whatever and walked out, and nobody would have known. But it was so depressing I didn't even want to be there, so I left.

 

[Fatboy148]

Last week or the week before, I wrote about the same as the OP in the Sears Tool Sale thread. Sad!

"Solid as Sears"!

 

[Wrench97]

As someone who loved going to Sears as a kid, that story by Houe was as depressing as it was well written.

I remember growing up in the 80's and seeing Craftsman tool commercials with the motto:
"Made in America, Guaranteed Forever"

In those days I didn't know one person who didn't have at least some craftsman stuff in their garage. Most guys I knew had toolboxes full, and the box was Craftsman too. I still have a lot of USA Craftsman sockets that I still use and like. Sears was the place to go if you needed tools. In my house almost everything, from screwdrivers to the lawnmower all said Craftsman and it was all good stuff.

Now I know Sears decline is due to many factors, competition from Walmart and online shopping, recessions, the whole nine yards, but I think one of the major reasons is they stopped selling USA Craftsman. They shipped the whole product line to China but still charged the same price. No self respecting person is going to pay 4 or 5 bucks for a Chinese socket when they paid that much a few years before for the same thing made from US steel by their fellow countrymen. And if Chinese tools are the only option, might as well go to Harbor Freight where it costs a lot less.

I used to feel good about shopping at Sears, I knew I was getting a quality product, but I wouldn't shop at one now. And there are two still open within a half hour of me. When I moved here and found out there was still a Sears open I stopped in to see what they had. The tool section was half empty, the empty shelves didn't even have labels on them, like they were never stocked with merchandise, and I couldn't find an employee to save my life.
I could have helped myself to whatever and walked out, and nobody would have known. But it was so depressing I didn't even want to be there, so I left.

Problem with Craftsman now is warranty replacements are trash, take a 3/8" ratchet in that use to require a rebuild kit now they hand you a cheap look a like with a plastic lever that breaks off on the second use. If you bought a Craftsman Pro full polish tool forget about warranty they don't make them anymore, it's a shame they were some decent wrenches. I'll never buy Craftsman again be Sears or Lowes too many other decent brands for the money.

 

[CJM8515]

most people dont care or have any idea about country of origin. they just want something that works. my biggest complaint is the poor quality of their tools, I have stuff made from the 60's and 70's and the quality is better but even stanley stuff has better polished, fit and feel and its brand new made in china



sears stabbed itself in the back. they had the catalogue and decided going online was dumb..jeff bezos and amazon are now laughing from his billion dollar fortune bought mansion.. sears didnt adapt, still sold the same **** and most important of all I cant recall them selling much of anything like they used to. somehow they went from being the place to get everything to barely carrying anything

 

[jgromada]

Going to Sears now is so depressing. Lots of good people have lost their jobs because of the incompetence and greed of their CEO

 

[Lassen Forge]

How far did Sears fall? When our old Sears store (which was the original anchor store in the mall) closed down, they (literally) tore down where the store sat down to dirt, and rebuilt it's old footprint as more mall. I've seen stores close, but this is the first time I saw a mall erase one.

I wish I could say it was a great loss, but it really wasn't. 10 years ago I got a card to buy something - I think it was a battery charger - and the limit was set at the $200 for the charger. Over the next 10 years, they never increased that limit. Not once. The last thing we bought there was a fridge, it was the floor demo, and it took them almost a month to get it to us - we were told it was at the warehouse, and someone decided to put it in their break room (yeah, WTF??)...

All I could think was they were so broke they couldn't care less if they tried. Now they're gone... If they were still the legendary quality reseller they were 25 years ago I'd miss them, but when they dropped "Roebuck, and..." from their company, they started to go to hell and never got better. After they closed - I realized I didn't care. Sad.

 

[Wrench97]

Worst yet the Sears closest to me is still open it was a anchor store at one end of the mall JC Penny in the middle and I think Wanamaker's(sp) on the other end, they tore the mall down to build a "Town Center" mixed use development and Sears is still there nearly empty but still there...............................

 

[welder4956]

So did someone at a Sears store piss off the CEO so much he decided to take over the company and run it into the ground? Who is he trying to get back at, the founders of the company?

 

[Bacon!]

^ That's not what happened. The CEO is foolishly trying to keep Sears open when the writing was on the wall 10 years ago.

It's just the end of an era. You can't sell *everything*, even appliances and hope to survive today unless you are unethical and sell mostly junk (tools) like Walmart, or unethical and do it online like Amazon. It was just too broad an inventory with too few choices for each widget, while people are pickier about what they want today and paying the least possible for it.

What impresses me is that any of them are still in business, that Sears has a single B&M still open when they have to be operating in the red. Maybe impresses is the wrong word, seems sort of foolish to stay aboard a sinking ship. They should have consolidated everything into a couple regional warehouses and sold what remains online.

It is sad. I have many memories of going there as a child and thinking WOW... it was even where I first saw an Atari gaming console, running a pong demo.

 

[Shadowdog500]

“So I went to sears yesterday”

Why?!?!

I gave up on sears a couple years ago. Sears was the place to shop when I was a kid, now it’s dying a slow death.

 

[welder4956]

^ That's not what happened. The CEO is foolishly trying to keep Sears open when the writing was on the wall 10 years ago.

It's just the end of an era. You can't sell *everything*, even appliances and hope to survive today unless you are unethical and sell mostly junk (tools) like Walmart, or unethical and do it online like Amazon. It was just too broad an inventory with too few choices for each widget, while people are pickier about what they want today and paying the least possible for it.

What impresses me is that any of them are still in business, that Sears has a single B&M still open when they have to be operating in the red. Maybe impresses is the wrong word, seems sort of foolish to stay aboard a sinking ship. They should have consolidated everything into a couple regional warehouses and sold what remains online.

It is sad. I have many memories of going there as a child and thinking WOW... it was even where I first saw an Atari gaming console, running a pong demo.

I just don't understand why they don't change their business model to be competitive rather than continue to run the chain into the ground. Why would any Board of Directors put up with the way it is being run? Wouldn't it be faster and easier to just prop the doors open and invite everyone to clean them out in one day than to keep throwing money away at such a slow pace?

 

[Shadowdog500]

I just don't understand why they don't change their business model to be competitive rather than continue to run the chain into the ground. Why would any Board of Directors put up with the way it is being run? Wouldn't it be faster and easier to just prop the doors open and invite everyone to clean them out in one day than to keep throwing money away at such a slow pace?

Because Eddie Lampert is still running the show. When he became CEO in 2005 he slowly ran the place into the ground and set himself up to make a fortune during the process. Once sears went bankrupt he swooped in to buy it and is still milking sears for all its worth. The only person making out is Eddie Lampert.

 

[MFolks]

Ace hardware stores and Lowes, have picked up the craftsman tool line along with the toolboxes and other items. The Kobalt line seems to be on the way out at Lowes,so watch for specials.

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Lowes in Canada took over the Rona hardware chain. In our local Rona they were clearancing Stanley and Fuller to make room for Craftsman. The American execs at Lowes Canada don't realize Stanley has a better rep than Craftsman here in Canada.

 

[Bacon!]

I just don't understand why they don't change their business model to be competitive rather than continue to run the chain into the ground.

That's a day late and a dollar short. They did try, moving a lot of product manufacturing to China and elsewhere. That kept them alive for years, but they didn't have the floor space to sell enough related items to become a one stop shop for a project, didn't want to specialize into being hardware store that offers complimentary products like wood and every nail imaginable in addition to a saw to cut it.

They tried a website but it became a cluttered mess. They tried 3rd party marketplace sellers and it looked like they wanted to become Amazon but with a customer experience sub-par to Amazon and lacking the valuable ocean of customer reviews that Amazon has.

Too slow to change with the times and too many eggs in one basket. Their main appeal was brand loyalists that they alienated by moving production overseas and then not offering a broad enough portfolio of alternate brands for fear it would complete with their own Craftsman brand.

Information killed them too. Today you can get feedback in forums, read amazon reviews, watch Youtube videos, and realize that while Craftsman or Kenmore might be good enough, they aren't the best nor the cheapest and unfortunately customers tend to be polarized in these two directions, probably because of the shrinking middle class income level, that they want best or cheapest and don't recognize the middle ground of a value priced tool.

I see it all the time, people writing "If they're going to make it in China I might as well buy the cheaper tool at Harbor Freight". Never mind if the tool at HF is lower quality, it's just too much information for today's younger generation to process with their 3 minute attention span.

Then again, Harbor Freight quality level has risen, a lot, but there is only so much space in the B&M world and Sears' slice of the pie became too small. It won't surprise me if either Lowes or Home Depot can't survive if Amazon keeps growing, and the same goes for some auto parts stores, there are too many to survive with Amazon and Rock Auto in the market.

 

[PFSard]

......I'm done with craftsman. I might purchase an old stock USA on the bay or swap meet, but I don't think I will ever step foot in another Sears again. ......

Sears seems to be dying a death from a thousand cuts. For a whole variety of reasons.

Craftsman as a brand is alive and well, as far as I can tell. Stanley, Black & Decker will probably make a significant amount of profit from the Craftsman brand name.

Time will tell.

 

[The Fall]

I've just about finished reading Barbarians at the Gate. Eddie Lampert reminds me of Ross Johnson mixed with Howard Hughes. Unwonted greed.

 

[zendriver]

I really didn't have a preconception of what to expect. As I've said I haven't been to Sears in years. Just needed a tool.

Fair enough.

I just assumed that it was known, that Sears, who have been headed toward the crapper for 30 years, was in a hedge fund takeover, milked into bankruptcy and has closed 3000 stores in the past decade or so.

I'm amazed that there are still retail stores opened - at all, so it should not be too surprising those are a mess.

 

[zendriver]

I just don't understand why they don't change their business model to be competitive rather than continue to run the chain into the ground.

What should they change their business model to? Compete with Best Buy or Barnes and Noble?

 

[zendriver]

Personally, I've been hankering for a "what's up with Sears?" thread. It's been a while.

The "news", seems to be offering mostly crickets. Maybe they just don't care any more.

This looks pretty promising.


Car Crashes Into Sears Store, Drives Through Illinois Mall

https://time.com/5682803/car-drives-through-woodfield-mall-illinois/

 

[CJM8515]

know what really killed them? they didnt focus on making quality stuff, they made mediocre ****. then they decided to make all sorts of gimmicky **** tools.. waste of time and money on that one.

 

[Maddog3355]

Sometimes you have to support yourself. You should of bought the tool if you needed it to finish a job.

 

[zendriver]

know what really killed them? they didnt focus on making quality stuff, they made mediocre ****. then they decided to make all sorts of gimmicky **** tools.. waste of time and money on that one.

Sears never "made" anything, just sold goods made by others.

They have been selling many imported goods - like most everyone else, for decades.

They no longer can compete with others, on selling mostly imported goods and Are not the only company that succumbed to this reality.

 

[welder4956]

What should they change their business model to? Compete with Best Buy or Barnes and Noble?

I don't know, except the current one clearly is not working very well.

 

[redwrench60]

My Dad bought everything Dads buy and many things for Mom from Sears. I grew up lurking in the tool and lawn/garden/automotive department drooling over all the shiny, tools and equipment whenever my Dad needed a part or tool or new machine. Guess where all of my first purchases as a green mechanic came from? OP’s post made me pause too.

I’m glad they finally closed all the Sears stores around here. It had become so depressing. My last few visits were like going to see a dear old friend slowly dying of a long hard fought illness who is too sick and weak to even know you’re there. I couldn’t even bring myself to go for the liquidation sales.

 

[Mikeske]

My dad was a manager for Sears from 1965 until 1984 when he died. Sears products were all he buy and for good reason they fed his family and so he bought from. That’s not true today as fast Eddie destroyed the company along with several CEO’s prior to him. The nearest Sears store to where I live is 55 miles away and that store is closing in December. The next nearest will then be 80 plus miles away and forget about going there as I will not. Sears abandoned its heritage years ago where you got decent products at a decent price.