Change at Lowes

[Coach James]

Not sure if anyone has seen or posted this. I was in our local Lowes today and almost all the Kobalt hand tools were gone. The remaining stock was in a ~ 4 x 4 foot display. There was a huge display of C-man hand tools and an equally large display of C-man power tools. Also a huge display of Dewalt. I mean huge as each filled one side of an entire aisle.

Coach

 

[impactsocket]

Will Craftsman replace Kobalt? There is still a lot of Kobalt tools for sale at lowes.com

Craftsman history:

https://www.craftsman.com/history

 

[PhantomEB]

Hope so. I am old school and would definitely want to replace my missing sockets etc with Craftsman!

 

[redidbull]

I work at Lowe's in CT and I asked about what I have been reading here about Kobalt and the deals elsewhere. I told him how it seems alot of the deals are in other parts of the country. He said maybe they are doing it a district at a time. I don't know if they have been replenished as Kobalt sells, but there are no great clearance deals on them here. Jim

 

[Citation]

I'm trying to decide if there are any clearance Kobalt tools I need. Too bad they don't sell "spare time". That seems to be my big limitation these days.

 

[ATC]

I wonder how they will treat the lifetime Kobalt warranty once they finally do away with them? Will they give Craftsman replacements?

 

[jeepnatv4life]

I wonder how they will treat the lifetime Kobalt warranty once they finally do away with them? Will they give Craftsman replacements?

Thats the only hope.... By the looks of my local lowes its going to be pretty difficult to get your hands on a new Kobalt tool in the next 6-8 months..

The shelves are selling off and not being restocked.

 

[Flybye]

So Craftsman is saying it will bring back more US manufacturing.

What are the chances a big whig in Lowes realizes the immense customer base it can get back from Craftsman being US made, and they are slowly prepping for such?

And then that leaves the question of will they keep the cheap Chinese stuff branded as Craftsman Evolve and have regular Craftsman as the premier US made line?

 

[Fedwrench]

And then that leaves the question of will they keep the cheap Chinese stuff branded as Craftsman Evolve and have regular Craftsman as the premier US made line?

It's going to be a matter of wait and see to determine exactly how much of the new craftsman line will be US made. I think you're still going to see a rebadging of current Stanley & Dewalt tools as craftsman which means there will be a lot of China and Taiwan sourced tools for at least another year or so.

 

[mike93lx]

So Craftsman is saying it will bring back more US manufacturing.

What are the chances a big whig in Lowes realizes the immense customer base it can get back from Craftsman being US made, and they are slowly prepping for such?

And then that leaves the question of will they keep the cheap Chinese stuff branded as Craftsman Evolve and have regular Craftsman as the premier US made line?

Immense customer base? Where?

Most people dont care. If they did, Harbor Freight wouldn't be doing so well

 

[ScottsGT]

Another forum I'm on a member discovered that Lowe's is not honoring the warranty on older Craftsman tools. He broke a couple of Made in USA branded sockets. They told him to pound sand.
Is this the new policy?

 

[BDT/NWMN]

So Craftsman is saying it will bring back more US manufacturing.

What are the chances a big whig in Lowes realizes the immense customer base it can get back from Craftsman being US made, and they are slowly prepping for such?

And then that leaves the question of will they keep the cheap Chinese stuff branded as Craftsman Evolve and have regular Craftsman as the premier US made line?

I would offer a choice of one of three names on this matter: Craftsman, Premier, or Evolve. Craftsman is the choice of Harry Homeowner, Harley Hack-Master, and Henry the Heap-Fixer. Premier would fail it's name. Evolve would be a good reason to shop elsewhere. Craftsman has always been; and will possibly remain the most popular dime store line as a household name in America.. I would not be messing with that.

 

[rlitman]

Another forum I'm on a member discovered that Lowe's is not honoring the warranty on older Craftsman tools. He broke a couple of Made in USA branded sockets. They told him to pound sand.
Is this the new policy?

Sounds like that member met an uninformed employee. The Craftsman website spells it out very clearly. Return your item to any stocking retailer for replacement.

 

[ScottsGT]

Sounds like that member met an uninformed employee. The Craftsman website spells it out very clearly. Return your item to any stocking retailer for replacement.

Thanks, I posted the warranty link in the thread.

 

[joey1320]

I posted this on another thread but yeah, you're correct. The Lowes by my job has completely replaced their cordless tools from Kobalt to Craftsman, not a single Kobalt left. The handtools are still preliminary Kobalt as Craftsman is mainly full sets as opposed to single items.

I don't know what to make of it. I thought Kobalt had a good reputation as a cheap alternative to Husky, Ryobi or HF. Seems like there's no place for it next to Craftsman.

I gotta be honest, I have grown to hate Craftsman since they brought out the Evolve line. It was as if they thought we were stupid and couldn't tell how ****** the tools were.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

I wonder how they will treat the lifetime Kobalt warranty once they finally do away with them? Will they give Craftsman replacements?

I tried to determine this when I bought a few clearance Kobalt screwdrivers a few weeks a go. The fine print on the tags mentions that Kobalt is a brand owned by Great Neck. That was news to me.
The Lowe's employees were kind of clueless, and I mean that in multiple ways.

 

[Dumber than lumber]

Another forum I'm on a member discovered that Lowe's is not honoring the warranty on older Craftsman tools. He broke a couple of Made in USA branded sockets. They told him to pound sand.
Is this the new policy?

Well before Orchard Supply closed (they were owned by Lowe's) they told me that they would not honor any Craftsman warranty, even though the had a very large selection of Craftsman tools.
Time marches on. It isn't easy keeping up.

 

[redidbull]

Another forum I'm on a member discovered that Lowe's is not honoring the warranty on older Craftsman tools. He broke a couple of Made in USA branded sockets. They told him to pound sand.
Is this the new policy?

We were in a meeting one day when Craftsman was 1st coming in and someone asked about the warranty and the uppers said we were going to honor it. We do not have the individual pieces so at this time I think it is if we have it it will be covered. I think they still have a lot to work out. I am also curious that Sears has gotten a reprieve from going out of business completely what now. Are they going to reopen select stores? Are the stores that are not closing ,~425, are they going to still handle Craftsman? Seems like there are lots of things up in the air. Jim

 

[Coach James]

I'm trying to decide if there are any clearance Kobalt tools I need. Too bad they don't sell "spare time". That seems to be my big limitation these days.

Almost all the Kobalt hand tools had clearance tags, about 50% off, but almost all were gone. There were a couple 1/4" ratchets, a few combo wrenches and some allen wrenches left, but that was about it. I could use some more allens, but I passed as the Kobalts were those folding kind that I have never had good luck with.

The store also had a lot of C-man roll arounds and top chest combos. Until now, there would be a single Task Force? box on display and 1 or 2 Kobalt boxes on display. I never liked the drawer layout or price of the Kobalt boxes. Yesterday I counted 14 C-man bottom/top combos on display.

Coach

 

[Coach James]

I tried to determine this when I bought a few clearance Kobalt screwdrivers a few weeks a go. The fine print on the tags mentions that Kobalt is a brand owned by Great Neck. That was news to me.
The Lowe's employees were kind of clueless, and I mean that in multiple ways.

I thought Great Neck made some of the Kobalt drivers. I never read that they owned the Kobalt name.

Coach

 

[joey1320]

I thought Great Neck made some of the Kobalt drivers. I never read that they owned the Kobalt name.

Coach

The wiki page shows Great Neck is the supplier of screwdrivers.

Good info:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobalt_(tools)#History

 

[bobemmerich]

I'm also in Ct, and haven't seen any "deals" on the Kobalt stuff. I have noticed that I don't see much of it left in the stores, though, mostly in sets or the universal spline kits.

 

[redidbull]

I'm also in Ct, and haven't seen any "deals" on the Kobalt stuff. I have noticed that I don't see much of it left in the stores, though, mostly in sets or the universal spline kits.

We still have single sockets and wrenches, as well as Kobalt sets. Jim

 

[bobemmerich]

We still have single sockets and wrenches, as well as Kobalt sets. Jim

If you don't mind me asking, which store?

 

[Doc995]

I went to to check the Orange, CT store today and didn't even realize they had closed!
I'm going to check the Derby & Milford stores tomorrow and see what they've got....

 

[redidbull]

If you don't mind me asking, which store?

Milford. Jim

 

[redidbull]

I went to to check the Orange, CT store today and didn't even realize they had closed!
I'm going to check the Derby & Milford stores tomorrow and see what they've got....

I can save you a trip to Milford. Not anything spectacular. Jim

 

[madison069]

I was just in Lowes on Monday and they were still selling kobalt at full price. But there was a lot of craftsman tools around the store.

I just bought my dewalt mitersaw and left without any kobalt tools.

 

[bobemmerich]

I thought that store (Milford) was closed? I checked Newington and Cromwell, but nothing spectacular, although Newington has more in their section than Cromwell.

 

[lordabraxis]

Where I live in VA we have 2 Lowes in town..one store has completely switched to craftsman (no kobalt at all) and the other is about 1/2 and 1/2.

As far as them honoring the warranties, I've had customers (I work at Sears) tell me they have tried replacing at both locations and were told if they don't have a receipt saying they bought it from Lowe's they won't replace it (our local Ace does the same thing).
I also have been told by people out of the area that their Lowe's (or Ace for that matter) doesn't have an issue replacing. So it might be just a matter of which store you go to.

I have a couple of tools that need replacing so I think I might go try myself.

 

[Revere Cycles]

My local Lowes stores have started to introduce Craftsman, but many Kobalt items are still on the floor and at full price. They just did a bunch of Q4 markdowns, but the Kobalt line was largely untouched, save for some gimmicky items here and there.

 

[mowkep]

I strolled through the Lowe's tools last night and I saw the new Craftsman adjustable wrenches for the first time. Didn't buy one, just made me say hmmm

 

[redidbull]

I thought that store (Milford) was closed? I checked Newington and Cromwell, but nothing spectacular, although Newington has more in their section than Cromwell.

Orange closed. We got about 40 workers from there. Jim

 

[ARFLY]

I strolled through the Lowe's tools last night and I saw the new Craftsman adjustable wrenches for the first time. Didn't buy one, just made me say hmmm

The local stores seem to be a mixture of Craftsman and Kobalt. Kobalt does not seem to be getting restocked.

The new adjustables do not look to be anywhere near the quality of the Western Forge adjustables.

 

[2manytools]

According to this video, Lowe's is "doubling down" on Kobalt power tools, and hand tools are transitioning out of store.

 

[Doc995]

I have a few sets of Kobalt tools...SAE & Metric wrenches and 6pt deep sockets along with 1/4. 3/8 & 1/2 ratchets. These are very nice tools-in fact, much nicer than their CM equivalents. So what will happen when I need to make a return or repair an item? As far as I know, Kobalt is a Lowes-only brand, right?

 

[joey1320]

According to this video, Lowe's is "doubling down" on Kobalt power tools, and hand tools are transitioning out of store.

Wow that was a hard video to get through...

Whatever Kobalt told him is complete bs. Like I posted before, pretty much all the Kobalt cordless stuff is gone from the Lowes by my job.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Hope so. I am old school and would definitely want to replace my missing sockets etc with Craftsman!

I'm not trying to be rude but why would you want to replace your US made Craftsman with asian made sockets? And I will also state that I'm not an Asia basher like some folks.

 

[hangfirew8]

Maybe because an Asian socket is better than a missing one?

-HF

 

[mowkep]

The local stores seem to be a mixture of Craftsman and Kobalt. Kobalt does not seem to be getting restocked.

The new adjustables do not look to be anywhere near the quality of the Western Forge adjustables.

That's why I looked and walked away.