Craftsman Opens Apple-Style Retail Store!

[Stuey]

Details via ToolGuyd

As the title says, Craftsman opened up an apple-style hands-on store in Chicago today.

If anyone here is in the Chicago area and can take pics of the store, please, PLEASE share them!

 

[cglasgow]

Hmm. Mayhaps Sears-mart is preparing to spin off Craftsman?

 

[jjarrell4]

That sounds bad to the bone

 

[Tool Pants]

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/arti...tore-in-chicagos-river-north-gallery-district

 

[tonydanzah]

was thinking about going downtown this weekend, if i do i'll try to stop by.

 

[Stuey]

That sounds bad to the bone

Why? Sounds like a step in the right direction to me.

 

[shorin]

I'm going to be in Chicago in a couple weeks for the IMTS show. I'm going to have to check this out....

Danny

 

[oak_park]

The downtown Chicago location seems odd. Sure hope they have free parking.

 

[Skin]

Hmm. Mayhaps Sears-mart is preparing to spin off Craftsman?

Craftsman is under the ownership of a seperate subsidiary and has been for awhile. In otherwords, they already have. Its no longer directly a part of Sears [the store].

 

[Stuey]

Craftsman is under the ownership of a seperate subsidiary and has been for awhile. In otherwords, they already have. Its no longer directly a part of Sears [the store].

That's a bit misleading since Craftsman is still a Sears brand.

 

[Skin]

That's a bit misleading since Craftsman is still a Sears brand.

yes but not in the sense that he is probably thinking. Sears Holdings owns many brands in addition to Craftsman that stand on their own. Point is Craftsman is on its own hence why you see a store and why their tools are being sold through other retail outlets [Kmart/Ace to name a couple].

 

[Az Scooter]

kmart is a sears company, too.

 

[Skin]

 

[kythri]

Got a link to a stock report or something that shows they've spun-off the Craftsman brand as an independent, or pulled it off of Sears?

Marketing a product in other channels isn't proof of that.

 

[oldtools]

Are they selling icraps?

 

[doctorschmullus]

This is a stupid thread, stop knocking this idea,

sears sells alot of things, not just tools, so making a craftsman shop is great!

A dedicated tools store

 

[Boiler]

It isn't like sears is going to drop craftsman and just send it out to stand alone retail outlets only. I will never see a store like this in Muncie, Indiana, or even Indianapolis more than likely. Its like one article said, its "destination retailing". I know there are similar places in Chicago, where people basically make a weekend out of shopping there. They go to the city strictly to go to these places. They aren't dropping in for a replacement screwdriver or a wrench they lost.

The only real problem with this whole idea: what can you buy there that you can't buy at most fully stocked sears locations? Though I would definitely go if I was in the area, I can't imagine I'd buy a bunch of stuff that is available 3 minutes from my house, but probably at a higher price (due to what seems like would be extremely high overhead for a retail shop).

Still worth a trip I think.

 

[cglasgow]

yes but not in the sense that he is probably thinking. Sears Holdings owns many brands in addition to Craftsman that stand on their own. Point is Craftsman is on its own hence why you see a store and why their tools are being sold through other retail outlets [Kmart/Ace to name a couple].

No, CM is not on its own -- I can't go to the New York Stock Exchange and buy shares of Craftsman, Inc. It's owned by Sears Holding.

Hewlett Packard spun off its instruments division to form Agilent. I can buy shares of Agilent....

 

[Stuey]

yes but not in the sense that he is probably thinking. Sears Holdings owns many brands in addition to Craftsman that stand on their own. Point is Craftsman is on its own hence why you see a store and why their tools are being sold through other retail outlets [Kmart/Ace to name a couple].

Craftsman tools are sold at Ace Hardware through a special Sears-Ace agreement.

It isn't like sears is going to drop craftsman and just send it out to stand alone retail outlets only. I will never see a store like this in Muncie, Indiana, or even Indianapolis more than likely. Its like one article said, its "destination retailing". I know there are similar places in Chicago, where people basically make a weekend out of shopping there. They go to the city strictly to go to these places. They aren't dropping in for a replacement screwdriver or a wrench they lost.

The only real problem with this whole idea: what can you buy there that you can't buy at most fully stocked sears locations? Though I would definitely go if I was in the area, I can't imagine I'd buy a bunch of stuff that is available 3 minutes from my house, but probably at a higher price (due to what seems like would be extremely high overhead for a retail shop).

Still worth a trip I think.

It's not just about you can buy there, it's how they educate you about what to buy and whether to buy. My understanding is that every tool can be tested, and that there will be special projects and interactive clinics and whatnot.

It's all consumer about interaction, not necessarily immediate sales.

 

[kythri]

A store that fully-stocked ALL Craftsman hand tool items would be pretty awesome.

I'm going to be in Chicago in mid-September for a couple of days (yay for all-expense payed "work" trip from a vendor!), maybe I'll get a chance to stop by!

Edit: Or not. The store is in River North, I'll be in Lincolnshire, 31 miles away, and I don't think "all-expense" includes a rental in this case. Was hoping to be close enough to grab a cab or something.

They're even in opposite directions from O'Hare. ****.

 

[arkangel06]

Are they selling icraps?

I promiss you there will be chinese tools.

 

[pfbz]

They could start with looking at the Apple store web site, and learn maybe a thing or two about marketing your products online. The Craftsman online store is a disaster!

All flash (literally), no substance.

 

[jjarrell4]

Why? Sounds like a step in the right direction to me.

Bad to the bone, means like badass,, it's a good thing.
Let me re-phrase that sounds awesome!

 

[Bolster]

Meh. I can already see the tools at my local Sears. A stand-alone store with a "genius bar" and "interactivity" with tools sounds superfluous to me.

Hipster with soul patch: "Excuse me sir, you look interested in those screwdrivers. Would you like me to give you a demonstration?"

Seems to me the gravity would necessarily shift to the entertainment value of the sales process...requiring informed salespeople. If they can pull that off, maybe I'll join the fanboi club.

But I got to admit, I like being left alone as I browse the tools, and my local Sears does that in spades.

 

[loj]

Sounds like a great idea to me. They urgently need to do something to modernize the shopping experience. The traditional indoor mall is dead. Other retailers are moving out of malls and into mixed-use areas and outdoor faux-downtown malls as fast as they can. Our local Sears is a depressing, empty place.

 

[Deskmechanic]

I agree about the 'modernized shopping experience'. Also I think there is an opportunity to sell tools (particularly shiny ones) as a kind of luxury good, like more than just something to get the job done. That ain't gonna happen in a skeezy 1960's sears store in the 'burbs.

I have read on here about Snap-on stores in Canada, I think retail high end tool stores is an excellent idea.

Sell them to people with more money than skills...

 

[warmpancakes]

snap on tried this years ago it failed big time but it was handy for warranty

 

[atari]

Adam Carolla is doing and appearance to open the store. He talked about it on the pod cast yesterday and today.

 

[kythri]

Adam Carolla is doing and appearance to open the store. He talked about it on the pod cast yesterday and today.

Adam Carolla could get me to STOP buying Craftsman...

 

[back2class]

Sears did not spin off Craftsman. They did however make it a seperate company within sears holdings about a year or two ago. I think a previous poster made ref. to the Wall St. reports on it. The brand has great value and I think everyone realizes it was done to make a selloff of Craftsman an option and therefore a more valuable asset to the parent company.

 

[dede2897234]

I do not think it was a good idea for Sears to open a flagship store in that upscale shopping area of Chicago. I predict the store will only be open for the next year before Sears Corporate decides to close it due to poor foot traffic and sales. There is nothing innovative in terms of design or quality associated with Craftsman hand tools for the targeted affluent buyer to purchase them. Most of their ratchets have a clunky tooth count of 36 or less (except the Next Generation Thin Profile ratchets with 60 teeth). The quality of the interior chrome plating on their sockets is poor compared to Gearwrench, Toptul, Genius, and SK. The move to replace the U.S.A. made Craftsman Professional wrenches (with no similar high-end feature such as Snap-on's "Flank Drive Plus") with Chinese equivalents will not go well with affluent buyers. They will see the "made in China" COO on the back of the packaging with the high price tag and run out the door. How embarrased do you think the affluent buyer purchasing the new Chinese Craftsman full polish wrenches would be when showing them off to his affluent next door neighbor who owns Snap-on hand tools? The former guy might as well bury his head in the sand afterwards! I think the affluent tool aficionado would rather buy top quality and world renowned Snap-on hand tools at the comfort of their home from the Snap-on website with free shipping to boot!

If Sears was smart, they should eliminate reduntant products that appears at the mall stores that are also sold by nearby Sears Hardware and Orchard Supply Hardware stores. This means that the mall stores should remove from their retail space lawn mowers; tractors; paint; power (push mower and tractor parts) and hand lawn equipment (rakes, shovels, etc.); household products (clothes detergent, electric heaters, adhesives); and garage door openers. With all this new space, installation of more space efficient shelving, and reorganization, I am sure they could section off the stores to create a new premium "Craftsman Experience" area. With this reorganization of the store layout; live how-to clinics and product demos to increase foot traffic; and significant reduction in prices of all Chinese-made Craftsman hand tools to increase sales volume (while maintaining a small profit margin like Harbor Freight Tools), it will reverse the trend of falling Sears same-store sales during the last 5 years.


Dave

 

[dede2897234]

In addition to what I said above, there is no reason why Sears Corporate should have moved with establishing a Craftsman stand-alone store as compared to Apple Computers in affluent areas of the country. Apple has been striving for the last 10 years to design and build artistic, sleek, and powerful industry-leading business desktop computers and laptops; multi-functional wireless communication and portable audio products. Compared to the competion, they are innovative, smartly engineered (except the latest iPhone 4 debacle), reliable, and backed up with great customer service (see Consumer Reports for the last 2 benchmarks). The premium price charged by Apple for their products mostly justifies the engineering prowess; innovative marketing; brand recognition and product awareness; mystic; and financial success that represents Apple these days.

Unfortunately, Craftsman only has brand recognition that was built from word of mouth and clever advertising about their hand tools communicated from one generation to the next during the last half of the twentieth century. Craftsman's brand recognition has degenerated during the last 15 years due to poorer manufacturing quality, increased stocking of Asian made hand tools, and the increase of denied warranty claims at the stores (some of it justified). The increased introduction of Chinese made Craftsman hand tools will keep destroying Craftsman's reputation of moderately price, decently made, reliable hand tools manufactured in the United States. Craftsman's reputation will never recover with Sears' current corporate strategies.


Dave

 

[jake00]

Edit: Or not. The store is in River North, I'll be in Lincolnshire, 31 miles away, and I don't think "all-expense" includes a rental in this case. Was hoping to be close enough to grab a cab or something.
.

catch a commuter train (metra) from buffalo grove into chicago

 

[Stuey]

dede, first, the new store ties in with Craftsman's recent social media marketing projects. They're trying to appeal to younger folks now, and imho they have an edge against competitors who are not actively marketing their products.

Second, there aren't any OSH or Sears hardware stores in many parts of the country. In areas where there are overlapping stores, the management of the Sears stores would not willingly give up their overlapping products or sections. Doing so would hurt their store's overall sales and performance and would likely inconvenience shoppers.

As far as setting up Craftsman Experience shops in the middle of mall stores, that's highly unlikely. It would be more cost effective to open up standalone stores nearby where the safety equipment (dust collectors, barriers, etc), tools, and projects can be located.

How embarrased do you think the affluent buyer purchasing the new Chinese Craftsman full polish wrenches would be when showing them off to his affluent next door neighbor who owns Snap-on hand tools? The former guy might as well bury his head in the sand afterwards! I think the affluent tool aficionado would rather buy top quality and world renowned Snap-on hand tools at the comfort of their home from the Snap-on website with free shipping to boot!

I'm not quite sure what to say about this. Most people don't buy tools to show off to their golfing buddies or neighbors.

Ultimately what Craftsman is trying to do is complement their word-of-mouth brand recognition with interactive marketing.