An interesting Sears article today.

[woody 73]

Thought you might like to see this article from today.

MSN

 

[finn]

I didn’t see anything about Sears in the link.

 

[woody 73]

oops my bad Craftsman, and it is rather old news, but just seeing it today on MSN.

 

[finn]

Must be a slow news day.

The MSN feed is mostly junk. Truncated articles written for clickbait and set up so it’s impossible to scroll through without triggering one of the clickbait adds. Most of the articles, like this one, are months out of date.

Is this the best AI can do?

MSN is only useful for checking the stock market.

 

[TheToolEnthusiast]

The slideshow view is a PITA. SBD really screwed the pooch with everything Craftsman sadly. Had the Fort Worth plant actually been successful they had the opportunity to make USA made hand tools at a reasonable price and could have positioned the line against all the other Prosumer grade stuff. Such a disappointment.

 

[drokihazan]

None of this is news to us though, right? Craftsman is a zombie brand, SBD is in the slow but steady process of dismantling and abandoning it. I personally think it would have been better if SBD rebranded all Facom as Craftsman and doubled down on their efforts for US manufacturing, as well as selling some Proto products with Craftsman branding to keep the allure of US made tools alive.

At the end of the day, none of it matters. Craftsman is dead and gone, just like Sears, and any remnant that remains is a ghost. Their spot in the market has been completely replaced by Harbor Freight and a mish-mash of brands like Gearwrench, Milwaukee, Tekton, Capri, Astro, etc. Craftsman's spot in the market isn't even needed anymore. They used to be the place you could buy solid mid-quality tools at affordable prices, but that niche doesn't exist now - there's dozens of brands that provide solid tools at affordable prices.

Craftsman isn't coming back.

 

[Jagmandave]

Probably because the Chinese made craftsman tools I saw were absolute ****......I wouldn't buy them for any price - even free!
Which is not to say Chinese can't make good tools, they can, but these must have been made to the cheapest price possible and they were not even good enough to call junk. A sure way to kill the brand....

 

[Steve_P]

The only people that seem to think that Craftsman is dead, or makes only garbage, are on GJ. Go to Ace Hardware and Lowes- plenty of Craftsman tools. Search "Craftsman" on Amazon- plenty of stuff with thousands of 4*+ reviews. But yeah, what do those happy customers know? Instead of that $22 Craftsman hex key set that works just fine for a homeowner, they could spend $140+ and get rainbow colored PB Swiss to use the next time the kitchen faucet handle loosens up- they have no idea what they're missing

 

[zendriver]

The slideshow view is a PITA. SBD really screwed the pooch with everything Craftsman sadly. Had the Fort Worth plant actually been successful they had the opportunity to make USA made hand tools at a reasonable price and could have positioned the line against all the other Prosumer grade stuff. Such a disappointment.

They could have made those Ft Worth tools perfect and no one would have really gave a ****, IMO. They'd find something to hate about their products, probably whatever price they charged as to not lose their shirts on such folly.

That "loving feeling" about Sears/Craftsman products, left for good decades ago. IMO.

 

[drokihazan]

The only people that seem to think that Craftsman is dead, or makes only garbage, are on GJ. Go to Ace Hardware and Lowes- plenty of Craftsman tools. Search "Craftsman" on Amazon- plenty of stuff with thousands of 4*+ reviews. But yeah, what do those happy customers know? Instead of that $22 Craftsman hex key set that works just fine for a homeowner, they could spend $140+ and get rainbow colored PB Swiss to use the next time the kitchen faucet handle loosens up- they have no idea what they're missing

It's not that Craftsman makes garbage, it's that consumers don't buy it and SBD really doesn't seem to prioritize the brand, putting it first on the chopping block every time. There's no real indication that the Craftsman deal has been a big win for Lowes - that's why they've shifted more towards Klein. And Ace... well, everything there is expensive from every brand. I only go to Ace for propane tank swaps and for odd little things like ball bearings and springs, their tools are outrageously priced given Home Depot and Lowes sell the same stuff for less a few blocks away.

Craftsman is a zombie brand because SBD and consumers both think it is, and because they're coasting on reputation in an era where competition is incredibly fierce.

 

[M.Jay]

MSN is only useful for checking the stock market.

Didn't even know msn still exists. What a blast from the past.

The only people that seem to think that Craftsman is dead, or makes only garbage, are on GJ.

This is what happens when people only stay in their own bubble. Most people outside of GJ don't know and don't care about this topic.

 

[TigerDude]

"European-quality wrenches at bargain prices. "

ha ha ha ha ha! Sure, buddy.

Seriously, why buy Craftsman instead of Kobalt?

 

[neophyte]

It's not that Craftsman makes garbage, it's that consumers don't buy it and SBD really doesn't seem to prioritize the brand, putting it first on the chopping block every time. There's no real indication that the Craftsman deal has been a big win for Lowes - that's why they've shifted more towards Klein. And Ace... well, everything there is expensive from every brand. I only go to Ace for propane tank swaps and for odd little things like ball bearings and springs, their tools are outrageously priced given Home Depot and Lowes sell the same stuff for less a few blocks away.

Craftsman is a zombie brand because SBD and consumers both think it is, and because they're coasting on reputation in an era where competition is incredibly fierce.

And a lot of the Klein tools are also now imports.
It’s one thing to sell imports for items routinely made overseas, even for professional use, like multimeters, since not many US manufacturers still make those in the USA, but a lot of the other Klein tools like the more basic Plier Wrench pliers are now imports. (I think the 530 series with the reversible jaws are stillUS made, just not the newer 531 series with the orange handles).

 

[neophyte]

"European-quality wrenches at bargain prices. "

ha ha ha ha ha! Sure, buddy.

Seriously, why buy Craftsman instead of Kobalt?

Stanley now owns Craftsman, and Stanley is one of the World’s major tool manufacturers, and they can actually manufacture quality when they desire to, routinely at a decent price.
Sometimes the better patented designs Stanley owns, get filtered into the more affordable tool lines, sort of like the Craftsman V-series tools that were basically Facom designs.
Remember, Stanley is the company that bought Irwin tools, which owned the Vise-Grip brand, and when they realized the poor reputation of Vise-Grips amongst users, they examined the quality of the product they purchased, and improved the quality drastically, while still keeping the price somewhat affordable, which the only “better” similar locking pliers being the Malco ones, which cost 4x what vise grips sold for.

For all the **** Stanley gets, they’re far from the only manufacturer guilty of buying brands and outsourcing product.

Snap-On bought Bahco, one of the major, and top quality European tool manufacturers, and then moved production to Spain, lowering quality, and I think production nay be shifting again.
Snap-On also now sells imported tools under the JH Williams branding, although quality us supposedly fine.
When Snap-On fist bought Bahco, they actually put the Bahco branding on some USA made JH Williams tools, but I guess the tools didn’t sell, and so were clearanced.

Wiha used to be a German manufacturer, mostly, and now manufactures stuff made in Vietnam and I think China.
I mentioned Klein now selling lots of imported tools now in a post above.

Craftsman had a checkered history under Sears ownership were imported tools sometimes got sold at certain points under the Craftsman name.
At least during the 1990s, the imports might be sold under the “Craftsman Professional” branding, and were usually high quality, high end tools.
A Swedish made hacksaw was available that was made by Bahco, and which is still available nowadays with Snap-On branding.
It’s a very nice and functional hacksaw.
I think the Sears price for the Craftsman Professional version might have been $20.

 

[Etchase]

Craftsman sales exceed a billion dollars making it one of the largest tool brands in the world.

 

[finn]

Didn't even know msn still exists. What a blast from the past.


This is what happens when people only stay in their own bubble. Most people outside of GJ don't know and don't care about this topic.

And they buy Craftsman tools by the wheelbarrow load.

Those badmouthing Craftsman tools out of hand are living in their own little bubble.

It’s laughable to think that the average consumer would spend more than two minutes searching out nitche brands like Tectonic or Klein, which have zero name recognition compared to Craftsman.

 

[M.Jay]

Snap-On bought Bahco, one of the major, and top quality European tool manufacturers, and then moved production to Spain, lowering quality, and I think production nay be shifting again.

When they bought Bahco in 1999 there wasn't much production left in Europe. Snap-On pretty much just swept up the shambles Sandvik had left.

 

[rword]

I still buy a lot of current craftsman stuff but only the made in usa with global material boxes or taiwan tools. For the price, they're on par with anything else out there.

 

[neophyte]

When they bought Bahco in 1999 there wasn't much production left in Europe. Snap-On pretty much just swept up the shambles Sandvik had left.

A bunch of tools produced by Bahco, or Brands Bahco owned, were bring made in Sweden, including adjustable wrenches, pipe wrenches, pliers, (which were top of the line), hacksaw blades and hacksaws, (whose production may still exist in Sweden), handsaws, possibly woodworking chisels, and I gorget what else.
Bahco also owned Belzer, and other tool brands.
After the Snap-On takeover, much of the production was shifted to France and Spain, with quality going down.
Linstrom pliers (a brand that was owned by Bahco), used to be “the top of the line” pliers at jewelry tool suppliers.
Jewelry tool suppliers may still carry Lindstrom pliers, but there was a distinct change with other plier brands such as Swanstrom bring switched in as a successor as “top of the line”.
A lot of the Bahco tools that used to be available from distributors simply disappeared from the general marketplace after the Snap-On purchase, even in market segments that basically didn’t compete with Snap-On or other Snap-On owned brands.

 

[M.Jay]

@neophyte You're right with everything, I just wanted to point out that the decline began long before Snap-On got involved. They just were the ones who put the final nail in the coffin.

 

[CJM8515]

crafts could have been better once SBD bought them, they chose to keep churning out the same junk. sear's catch was they sold affordable consumer grade tools. looking back, the tools werent anything really special besides a few one off gems they basically licensed to sell under cman. reality is the brand is dead and just needs to fully die ffs. the power tools and hand tools are mostly garbage.

 

[neophyte]

@neophyte You're right with everything, I just wanted to point out that the decline began long before Snap-On got involved. They just were the ones who put the final nail in the coffin.

I remember back during the early 1990s when I started buying tools, that Bahco and Sandvik were two of the niche “quality” manufacturers of decent but modern design woodworking tools.
Both focuses on Ergonomics, with a tool line actually called “Ergo” although I forget whether Sandvik owned Bahco at that point.
At some point, I actually got the address for the USA distributor or division of Bahco/Sandvik, and requested a catalog, and there were all sorts of nice tools that seemed well designed.
Then at some point, (apparently 1999), Snap-On bought Bahco and the underlying brands from Sandvik, (which remains today as a specialty steel producer), and I was seeing Bahco branded wrenches that were made in the USA, and a bunch of the Ergonomic tools seemed to disappear, probably around the tome production shifted to France and Spain, although some were still definitely being made.
It also became way harder to find the Bahco brand thru specialty retailers.
It was almost like Snap-On bought the brand to at least partially kill it off.
The precision Lindstrom pliers changed production methods. (Snap-On still sells Lindstrom branded pliers, and Snap-On cushion grip rebranded versions).
Stanley tools, despite the not always great reputation of the brand, still seems to get distributed by major woodworking specialty suppliers.
I’ve heard Nooitgedagt in the Netherlands actually used to be the actual manufacturer of the Bahco chisels back in the day, using Bahco Sandvik steel, and Nooitgedagt seems to have gone out of business not long after the Snap-On purchase of Bahco.
I know corporations sometimes buy competitors to kill off competing products, but Snap-On really wasn’t making competing products, except for the things like pliers and wrenches and screwdrivers, etc., and the market segment for both brands seems to have been different.