My Two-cents worth.
As the owner of a fair amount of Craftsman tools it is my opinion that management does not understand the value of its brand or the brand name. Sears has had lower priced and lesser quality lines for years, i.e. Companion or Dunlap, but Craftsman always seemed to be about the highest affordable quality, tools for the non-professional DIY'er and homeowner because it was suitable quality to the tradesman.
The "Made in USA" mark also has value, it still speaks to pride in craftsmanship and quality. Sears must compete in a global market where very low priced tools exist and consumers will accept the associated lower quality, but why lower Craftsman when other lines can fight on price? If anything Craftsman should hold up quality and adjust upwards in price.
I feel they could hold market share in that mid-level and their Professional or Industrial lines could compete at the higher levels. At least that was historically what Sears did. I still buy Craftsman and Made in USA. As Craftsman moves to Country of Origin Unknown I move to other USA tool brands, even if higher priced. I do not feel alone in my decision.
Why does Sears want to be another Walmart? They will lose to them. Up market is the future of Sears, not down market. But what do I know, I am just a customer. I hope they listen, but then again maybe not, my Craftsman tools gain collector value as they implode the brand and will get even better when they are another footnote of American companies that died.
Sears has seen the willingness of many Americans (and illegals) to buy tons of Chinese junk they will never use to fill up their Chinese toolboxes, they'd be fools not to jump on the bandwagon. A store can't sell what people won't buy.
In other news, the Chinese did very well in the Olympics this year. Not as well as the USA but with the continued support from the USA they can expect to kick our *** at the next Olympics.
I went out of my way to purchase the last remaining Made in USA craftsman stuff and refuse to purchase any foreign stuff.
But Sears execs are not tool guys, they see the department number as a revenue code on an earnings report. If everyone who has ever visited Garage Journal stopped buying Craftsman today it would not even be visible to Sears. They may segment a demographic that is the professional (at home), but it is obvious they don't care since the professional line has evaporated.
They have a strategy that is cost management and sourcing tools OUS and charging the same price is a great short term business move and is why their stock is doing well even though Sears ***** and Kmart *****. Until they see a major downturn in sales or revenue directly attributable to brand reputation COO (which they would have to conduct a market research study to detect - not emails, phonecalls, or GJ forums), they will continue this strategy indefinitely.
The war is over, we lost, they won, and it will never be the same again...
Reading in 2024…Its where they have been going for a long time.
I see sears going belly up in 5 years.