Craftsman Adjustable Wrenches Going Overseas?

[Super Sport]

I got two emails yesterday from Sears asking for my opinion on the adjustable wrench I (apparently) purchased within the last two years. The survey was probably a dozen questions or so, and several asked if USA-made was a determining factor in my purchase. Makes me wonder...

 

[zkling]

NOW they start caring?

 

[Wamsutta]

Yeah, like Sears really cares. Why do they even bother with these surveys?

 

[Super Sport]

There was another question I wish I printscreened, but it had to do with comparable brands and to rank them in order of quality. Along with Craftsman, Armstrong, Channellock, Husky, Stanley, Crescent, and Kobalt were listed. I found it interesting that these were the brands they apparently feel are their competitors. No mention of SK, Snap-On, or any others...

(Not that I'm necessarily disagreeing with their choices, I just found it interesting.)

 

[softailgarage]

Over seas? Why not, the rest of their stuff is, why hold back now?! Farkin traitors.

 

[softailgarage]

There was another question I wish I printscreened, but it had to do with comparable brands and to rank them in order of quality. Along with Craftsman, Armstrong, Channellock, Husky, Stanley, Crescent, and Kobalt were listed. I found it interesting that these were the brands they apparently feel are their competitors. No mention of SK, Snap-On, or any others...

(Not that I'm necessarily disagreeing with their choices, I just found it interesting.)

Sounds about right. They're not stupid, they know they could never compete with Snap On, SK, Matco, Cornwell, etc. It's a shame too, besides Craftsman, Armstrong, Channellock, Crescent and even Stanley at one time were reputable tool companies.

 

[Rickedstyles]

I need to replace my 12" for work before they go away..I noticed they had a set on sale last time I was there..Im sure it will be hard for them to keep them here when most people are just gonna grab the evolv set since its so cheap

 

[Brownsfan]

I wonder if these surveys are sent with just the adjustables or any tool purchase? Wonder if they are just a template and your specific purchase is just populated? It's either they do care and realize they made a mistake or they are going to change to a over seas supplier if enough people don't care where it's made, and this survey is only for adjustable wrenches.

 

[bimmerZ5]

I wonder if these surveys are sent with just the adjustables or any tool purchase? Wonder if they are just a template and your specific purchase is just populated? It's either they do care and realize they made a mistake or they are going to change to a over seas supplier if enough people don't care where it's made, and this survey is only for adjustable wrenches.

I don't know for sure as i'm not a Sears employee or have any inside info on this matter. But having been at many large corporations making business decisions, I can almost guess what I think might be happening here. I think some front-line folks are hearing some feedback from the likes of folks here and elsewhere about the preference for made in USA. But the executive team at Sears are sweating beads because they are losing money every day and their shareholders are getting pissed and so they are mostly looking at the bottom line and trying to figure out ways to either decrease costs or increase sales or both. As much as the front-line guys keep raising their hands and trying to point out how outsourcing their Craftsman brand overseas isn't a good idea, the executive team isn't buying it at all, and instead, probably asking 101 questions about how keeping Craftsman hand tools in the USA is going to be a viable business. So, instead of listening, they are probably saying to the front-line guys, "show me some data to prove your point!" and so the front line guys work with IT to try to collect data like this via surveys to try to make a case to convince folks internally that made in USA matters. of course, this is all a futile exercise... when executive managers tell their teams "I don't buy it, go collect data" what they are really saying is that "I don't trust what you're telling me, now go do something to keep yourself busy and out of my way"... this is how typical corporate America runs businesses.... meanwhile the rest of the world is getting ready to kick our economic ***....

 

[Super Sport]

I wonder if these surveys are sent with just the adjustables or any tool purchase? Wonder if they are just a template and your specific purchase is just populated? It's either they do care and realize they made a mistake or they are going to change to a over seas supplier if enough people don't care where it's made, and this survey is only for adjustable wrenches.

i buy a lot of tools from sears, and this is the only survey like this i've ever seen.

 

[fhemm20]

Let em do it, maybe it will be the final shot sears needs to put the cman line under (as if it wasn't already there). I haven't bought anything there in a VERY long time. I don't have any use for anything in there. Our local store is closing and even at 25-50% off, I still can't bring myself to buy any of it. It's a shame, they used to be half decent. The only hope craftsman has of staying alive is if somebody buys the craftsman side of Sears and turns it back into something better than what it used to be.

 

[montanafordman]

You know they ought to almost roll over and die with dignity already. Cash out and pay as much debt as you can with whatever assets are left in the chain and put it in the history books. Maybe go all online like amazon although they probably missed that boat. The last several visits I've had to sears has been terrible with regard to staff available to help, cashiers, wait times, product displays.... Their troubles run DEEP. Much more than COO of their tools but that's a big one for me.

Sounds about right. They're not stupid, they know they could never compete with Snap On, SK, Matco, Cornwell, etc. It's a shame too, besides Craftsman, Armstrong, Channellock, Crescent and even Stanley at one time were reputable tool companies.

I sort of disagree here. Craftsman had a reputation both good and bad with professionals, and many pros who bought Snap On, SK, Matco, Mac et al also had some assortment of craftsman tools at one time. Their no hassle warranty and marketing as quality tools with a long heritage had pull with professionals that the likes of Stanley, Husky and Kobalt either never had, or lost long ago. Had they kept COO in the USA and produced a decent ratchet for the last 20 years, and stayed away from the gimmicky stuff their tool line would have had a much higher reputation. Had they kept up with changes in the retail market and gone more the way of amazon and returned to their roots a little as a mail order company in the early 2000s they might still be a strong company.

 

[woody 73]

Edward Lambert here: Net worth 3.20 billion (as of 2012) Education Yale Motto There is a sucker born every minute...(made that one up)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...D6BCB706EB2E6058EA78AD5CBE1B8&selectedIndex=9

We are running a blue light special today on adjustable wrench stock made in the USA , get one before it will gone from the shelves.

 

[X1 Mike]

So, what I take from this thread is that C-man is damned if they do and damned if they don't.


People like to cry and piss and moan so much about products going offshore then they go buy cheap import ****. The responsibility of a business is to make money for its shareholders plain and simple. They are going to listen to the consumer. If John Q. Public doesn't care where a tool is made but only wants the cheapest price Sears would be stupid to continue to make a higher priced tool.

Nothing wrong with doing some market research, if it doesn't matter to their customers why make them here?

 

[tube_guy]

Edward Lambert here: Net worth 3.20 billion (as of 2012) Education Yale Motto There is a sucker born every minute...(made that one up)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...D6BCB706EB2E6058EA78AD5CBE1B8&selectedIndex=9

We are running a blue light special today on adjustable wrench stock made in the USA , get one before it will gone from the shelves.

I must say that reading some of these articles regarding the latest structuring of Sears as a retail company, I can clearly see why the manufacture of most Craftsman tools has now been offshored. They also make me realize that as long as Lambert is running Sears, and Craftsman is a Sears brand, it's extremely unlikely that any of these decisions are going to be reversed. More and more tools will be offshored as time goes on, unfortunately.

 

[Super Sport]

Let em do it, maybe it will be the final shot sears needs to put the cman line under (as if it wasn't already there). I haven't bought anything there in a VERY long time. I don't have any use for anything in there. Our local store is closing and even at 25-50% off, I still can't bring myself to buy any of it. It's a shame, they used to be half decent. The only hope craftsman has of staying alive is if somebody buys the craftsman side of Sears and turns it back into something better than what it used to be.

The tool department is actually one of the most profitable departments of the store and definitely not the reason Sears is having financial trouble.

Most people today care about price more than anything, especially COO. I honestly think, as a company decision, Sears was smart in off-shoring production. I'm sure it came down to either raising prices or moving overseas, and as much as people on here make it a big factor, COO doesn't matter to the typical Sears shopper.

 

[Deskmechanic]

I honestly think, as a company decision, Sears was smart in off-shoring production. I'm sure it came down to either raising prices or moving overseas, and as much as people on here make it a big factor, COO doesn't matter to the typical Sears shopper.

I agree - WE may not like it, but it makes a lot of sense from a business perspective. If you can keep the warranty, and keep an 'acceptable' level of quality and performance, and if your customers are not too bothered by it, there is no downside.

Of course I believe that long-term, they will either go out of business or re-shore production since costs are rising quickly in the developing world. Or I suppose they could start lowering quality more than they already have, and keep the prices the same.

 

[Super Sport]

Uh oh...I got another email asking about my pliers...

 

[scw1991]

every six months or so I walk into a Sears, troll around, shake my head in disbelief, and walk out empty handed.

yesterday I spent quite a bit of time trolling. Could no longer find any hand tools Made In USA. All China now.......and I mean everything!

I'm just a DIY'r and have owned Craftsman my entire life. Never broke a tool, never abused them, and used them for their intended purposes. I'm thankful I spent the hard earned money back when I was a kid and built up a nice collection of good ol' Made In USA Craftsman tools.

I simply refuse to purchase any Craftsman hand tool stamped Made In China. Now, I simply go to Ebay or Craigslist and find what I'm looking for. My first question to seller is, "Does it say Made in USA"? If not, I simply look elsewhere.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Uh oh...I got another email asking about my pliers...

Next will be screwdrivers.... All Western Forge made.

The adjustable wrenches are VERY good too... will be a shame when they outsource them.

 

[fivespdcat]

I got the pliers survey, haven't answered it yet...

 

[otis66]

I will not buy any craftsman hand tool not made in the USA.

 

[beaconterraone]

I will not buy any craftsman hand tool not made in the USA.

If it's not made in USA, is it really a "Craftsman"?

 

[Brownsfan]

Yep. All those are made by western forge(owned by ideal). Wonder if that contract is coming to an end? Pliers, screwdrivers and adjustables are the only USA made stuff left. Oh well. Nothing we can do.

 

[Loscaldazar]

Yep. All those are made by western forge(owned by ideal). Wonder if that contract is coming to an end? Pliers, screwdrivers and adjustables are the only USA made stuff left. Oh well. Nothing we can do.

Punches, chisels and wood chisels also made by WF for Craftsman. Those will go bye-bye too, but won't be the biggest lose (they aren't the best by far, and mayhew or enderes punches and chisels are at the same price point).

 

[SMKS]

Next will be screwdrivers.... All Western Forge made.

The adjustable wrenches are VERY good too... will be a shame when they outsource them.

Yes, I also really like the WF adjustables. They're also rebranded by many, many other companies.

The only two companies I know of that make adjustables in the US still are WF and Klein.

There are claims that Crescent still does, since it looks like some newer USA-made stock is showing up in Home Depot stores, but we don't know for sure. It may just be a fluke.

 

[Deskmechanic]

Just to add fuel to the fire, I was in the Westminster, CA Sears store the other day and they had a "Made in USA"-themed end cap display. On it were the hammers (Vaughn I think), Screwdrivers (WF) and the adjustable wrenches!

I work in advertising and we do this kind of thing all the time to test out a new advertising strategy or creative idea. For example, Sears/Craftsman marketing department may be thinking about running a "Made in USA" campaign around those tools, and they want to know how important it is to the buyer. If a lot of buyers don't care where the tool is made that advertising campaign would be a waste of money.

 

[otis66]

Just to add fuel to the fire, I was in the Westminster, CA Sears store the other day and they had a "Made in USA"-themed end cap display. On it were the hammers (Vaughn I think), Screwdrivers (WF) and the adjustable wrenches!

I work in advertising and we do this kind of thing all the time to test out a new advertising strategy or creative idea. For example, Sears/Craftsman marketing department may be thinking about running a "Made in USA" campaign around those tools, and they want to know how important it is to the buyer. If a lot of buyers don't care where the tool is made that advertising campaign would be a waste of money.

I'm a buyer and I care. I will not buy any Craftsman tool not made in the USA. I no longer shop at SEARS because Craftsman tools are made in China. This kind of stratedgy is a FAIL.

 

[otis66]

If it's not made in USA, is it really a "Craftsman"?

All of my Craftsman tools are Made In the USA.

 

[Brownsfan]

So are mine. Every last one of them. Now my Craftsman drills not so much. I do have a made in USA craftsman rotaty (dremel) from 1996ish. Thing still works great.