Huge Craftsman Selection at Lowes
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WWheeler
Well-known member
Stanley bought Craftsman name from Sears in Jan 2017 and immediately announced plans to "expand our manufacturing footprint in the U.S. This will add jobs in the U.S., where we have increased our manufacturing headcount by 40% in the past three years". Then they bought Waterloo from ATI in July 2017.
I believe the first of the tariff wars was a Jan 2017 anti-subsidy duties of up to 95 percent on Chinese tool chests (imposed based on size and the only effect at least at first was that many chinese-made tool chests suddenly became a lot deeper to get around the new restrictions - HF's boxes got a lot better) and then on March 1, 2018 announced a 25% tariff on steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum.
All that to say that, no, the tariffs probably didn't have anything to do with Stanley's plans, as almost none of the affects of the tariffs have been felt by consumers yet, but it won't be long before we all do in the form of higher prices for a lot of what we buy, but the 2017 anti-subsidy decision might have played a roll. Not really sure about that.
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Moparman390
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Waterloo made most here that weren't low end for Craftsman before this for Sears. SBD just bought Waterloo after buying Craftsman to in house it. Now they slap the big stickers on to emphasize that they are made in the USA with global materials. To SBD's credit they did bring back production of the lower end ones.
Yeah it was waterloo
Jaysreal
Well-known member
Recently took a trip to my local Lowe's and found that very little Craftsman has made it's way into tool world. The only Craftsman items I found in there were the new Versastack. Any of you have images of this new "craftsman-ized" tool world?
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Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
rijndael
Well-known member
There's almost nothing Craftsman at my Lowes too, just a couple of tool chests. And, I found no deals/sales on Kobalt items.
RangerChief
Well-known member
Went to my Lowe's last night. They had the tool chests and the versastack on display. They also had wrench sets and socket sets out.
Also had an endcap with the brushed drill and impact set for 159. But, no models on display to handle.
They also had all their tape measures out. I bought the Red 25'.
Also had a big shelf full of their new Craftsman lighting. Flashlights and lanterns and personal lighting like headlamps and the small pivoting head flashlight.
Also had an endcap with the brushed drill and impact set for 159. But, no models on display to handle.
They also had all their tape measures out. I bought the Red 25'.
Also had a big shelf full of their new Craftsman lighting. Flashlights and lanterns and personal lighting like headlamps and the small pivoting head flashlight.
Your Lowe’s sounds exactly like every location I’ve hit here in Cincinnati and SE Indiana. It baffles me to hear other people talking about how their stores are almost complete with the reset while others haven’t done jack ****.
RangerChief
Well-known member
Your Lowe’s sounds exactly like every location I’ve hit here in Cincinnati and SE Indiana. It baffles me to hear other people talking about how their stores are almost complete with the reset while others haven’t done jack ****.
Heard a rumor that most if not all Lowe's will be fully stocked by Sunday.
I'll take that with a grain of salt. Mine has a long ways to go.
John in OH
Well-known member
Like many others here on GJ, I walked away from Cman when they went Chicom. It will be a long time before I go back ... if ever. Have since fallen in love with many other brands ... Wright, Proto, SK, Carlisle, etc. I know they cost more, but they sure are nice!!
Yammie
Member
Home Depot is closer so I usually go there. But this morning I took a trip to Lowe’s to return a screwdriver I grenaded and I was stunned to see Craftsman EVERYWHERE! I have a soft spot for the old red and black chests and their US made tools and it was funny - the unexpected sight of so much Craftsman made me think of my Dad and grandfather, both of whom used only Craftsman. I still have my grandfather’s 1/2” socket handle, and I choked up a little looking at some of the toolboxes thinking of those two wonderful men who taught me that anything mechanical can be fixed..
I looked for the tool department manager, and it seems like even they aren’t sure exactly where they are headed, or they’re not free to discuss yet. He did say that Stanley is making a push to make as much Craftsman in the US as possible and dump the Chinesium - specifically wrenches and sockets. Low’s will warranty all Craftsman hand tools.
Tool boxes were a little meh. They had a wood topped 63” wide rolling chest, red with black drawers, but is was (I think) $898 and the top was only 20” deep so 18” drawers. I can get two 46” wide, 24.5” deep (~22” deep drawers) Husky rolling cabinets for $309 each at HD, so they missed the mark. Usual narrower Craftsman chests abound, 41” wide being common. Oddly, Kobalt boxes were down by the Pro desk, and Craftsman on the regular register side of tools.
The women working the returns desk both said separately that they think Kobalt hand tools will go away soon, next two weeks in our store, and they’ll convert fully to Craftsman, blowing out the Kobalt. I like Taiwanese Kobalt just fine for everyday beaters, and on super sale i’d load up my truck! They have a really nice set of metal drawers where they keep their Kobalt individual socket inventory and it would look really good in my workshop��
One oddity was a new Kobalt rolling cart, 24.5 deep by mid 50s width. All the marketing materials focused on there being storage accessible from all four sides: stacked drawers around 36” wide on a long side, drawers on the right end, shelves behind the first set of drawers, limiting them to 36” depth, and pegboard on the other end. Seems like an answer to a question no one asked - keep all four sides of your toolbox accessible or some tools go undercover, and now if you forget where a tool is, you can open all the drawers, then spin it and open MORE drawers!
I’ll be haunting Lowe’s regularly while this plays out. There is a potential for good deals, and I suspect Black Friday may be pretty interesting.
Hope everybody had a great summer!
Bill K
Now in Sarasota, FL, hopefully to stay
I looked for the tool department manager, and it seems like even they aren’t sure exactly where they are headed, or they’re not free to discuss yet. He did say that Stanley is making a push to make as much Craftsman in the US as possible and dump the Chinesium - specifically wrenches and sockets. Low’s will warranty all Craftsman hand tools.
Tool boxes were a little meh. They had a wood topped 63” wide rolling chest, red with black drawers, but is was (I think) $898 and the top was only 20” deep so 18” drawers. I can get two 46” wide, 24.5” deep (~22” deep drawers) Husky rolling cabinets for $309 each at HD, so they missed the mark. Usual narrower Craftsman chests abound, 41” wide being common. Oddly, Kobalt boxes were down by the Pro desk, and Craftsman on the regular register side of tools.
The women working the returns desk both said separately that they think Kobalt hand tools will go away soon, next two weeks in our store, and they’ll convert fully to Craftsman, blowing out the Kobalt. I like Taiwanese Kobalt just fine for everyday beaters, and on super sale i’d load up my truck! They have a really nice set of metal drawers where they keep their Kobalt individual socket inventory and it would look really good in my workshop��
One oddity was a new Kobalt rolling cart, 24.5 deep by mid 50s width. All the marketing materials focused on there being storage accessible from all four sides: stacked drawers around 36” wide on a long side, drawers on the right end, shelves behind the first set of drawers, limiting them to 36” depth, and pegboard on the other end. Seems like an answer to a question no one asked - keep all four sides of your toolbox accessible or some tools go undercover, and now if you forget where a tool is, you can open all the drawers, then spin it and open MORE drawers!
I’ll be haunting Lowe’s regularly while this plays out. There is a potential for good deals, and I suspect Black Friday may be pretty interesting.
Hope everybody had a great summer!
Bill K
Now in Sarasota, FL, hopefully to stay
xin
Well-known member
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
I went to Lowe's on Friday, as I read here about them closing out the Kobolt tool boxes at cheap prices but they had sold their last one just before I got there...
So, I checked out the new Craftsman boxes. They aren't bad, but the slides on the drawers are kind of weird. I assume it's so they don't slide out accidentally, but you have to pull really hard on the drawer for the first couple inches to get them to open or close. I didn't like it.
So, I checked out the new Craftsman boxes. They aren't bad, but the slides on the drawers are kind of weird. I assume it's so they don't slide out accidentally, but you have to pull really hard on the drawer for the first couple inches to get them to open or close. I didn't like it.
Fedwrench
ALLIANCE MEMBER
xin
Well-known member
AS long as they bring it back to the USA - and drop the CHINA garbage - all good.
WWheeler
Well-known member
Just in to say that though Stanley has announced plans to bring back a large percentage (not all) of Craftsman back to the US, there's been nothing to indicate they plan to do so with hand tools like ratchets, sockets, and wrenches.
Stanley did buy out Waterloo so those "little meh", as you say, boxes are now made in the USA, and they have rebadged some of their Dewalt 'Made in USA with global materials' line of tools as Craftsman, and just recently they bought out a 20% stake in MTD with the option to buy out the rest in 2021, so we can expect to see those USA stickers all over Craftsman lawn and garden equipment also.
BUT all of their Craftsman hand tools so far have been rebadges of Stanley tools made overseas. I'll venture that if they had any plans to make them in the USA they would have been pulling from their MAC and Proto facilities by now.
Methinks that tool dept manager doesn't know what he's talking about.
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Made in China Craftsman just does not sit right with me. Don't get me wrong, I got tons of China made tools, some of them I would say are very well made. My issue is taking an American icon like Craftsman and slapping that name on the same **** I can get from harbor freight for half the price.
WWheeler
Well-known member
That ship sailed a long time ago. Sears Craftsman moved almost completely from being US made to China back some 7 or 8 years ago. Stanley at least has committed to bringing some of it back.
Which boxes? They have a range offerings from cheap $99 ones to some approaching 4 figures. I saw the top line series 3000 version yesterday. Seems like it was sturdy and the drawer layout was something that was better than many offerings at that price point. Obviously it won’t be giving an Epic a run for its money but it’s not trying to.
The cheap/entry model ones there seemed over priced and poorly made. Almost Stack On quality for a bit higher price. Definitely charging a premium for that name. The mid-tier line was okay. I know what you mean about the strange pull on the quiet close drawers. I think I’d get us do to it but it was a strange feel at first. As Fed said, some weight may help.
Stuart in MN
Well-known member
It was a 2000 series top box and roller cabinet that they had on display. They seemed pretty solid and well built, it was just the resistance on the slides that was an issue. As someone else mentioned earlier it may be something that goes away once the drawers are loaded, or maybe they just need to be broken in or something.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...-Ball-bearing-Steel-Tool-Chest-Red/1000462555
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...all-bearing-Steel-Tool-Cabinet-Red/1000462557
It was a 2000 series top box and roller cabinet that they had on display. They seemed pretty solid and well built, it was just the resistance on the slides that was an issue. As someone else mentioned earlier it may be something that goes away once the drawers are loaded, or maybe they just need to be broken in or something.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...-Ball-bearing-Steel-Tool-Chest-Red/1000462555
https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...all-bearing-Steel-Tool-Cabinet-Red/1000462557
That’s the setup I have. It does get slightly better with weight in the drawers.. my socket drawer especially. Good quality boxes. I got them on sale when they first arrived at Lowe’s.
Qualitytools
Well-known member
I walked into my store in Burbank California and all they had was a small section on an end cap and the wrench sets were made in China
ARFLY
Well-known member
I went to a local Lowes yesterday. They are getting more Craftsman stuff in. It is just mixed in with the other tools and not a huge amount like some of you are talking about. I did buy a new Craftsman hand saw, not that I needed it, but I didn't have this particular saw. It is made in USA with global components. I wonder if the blades are still made in Denmark like the other saws I bought earlier in the year. It still advertises a lifetime warranty.
Went to three of the five w/in 10 miles of me and only one had swapped over. They had big red/black craftsman signs hanging from ceiling and had tons of craftsman from boxes to individual sockets and truck boxes. The Kobalt tools were not on sale and were just on one aisle. The other two only had an end cap or two of craftsman. Tried to see if the Kobalt tool carts people were getting on clearance for $75-100 were available there (they had two of the exact same tool carts on display) but was told best price was $350 as that is just a few dollars over their cost...so I politely declined.
I will go back next sale and get one of the 41" craftsman top boxes to go with the bottom I have had for awhile. The 41" top at Lowes was much better quality than the 41" top at Sears.
I will go back next sale and get one of the 41" craftsman top boxes to go with the bottom I have had for awhile. The 41" top at Lowes was much better quality than the 41" top at Sears.
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