Is Lowes going to take on Craftsman?

[IndyGarage]

I was in my local Lowes yesterday. I noticed all Kobalt hand tools in stock were 25% off. I wondered why...

I also noticed they are now selling Stanley socket sets and hand tools next to Kobalt.

With Stanley Black and Decker's acquisition of the Craftsman brand, is Lowe's getting ready to switch over to Craftsman?

Crazy speculation on my part? If this has already been confirmed I apologize

 

[Gmonkee]

More probably the Stanley brand. Its already there next to the other.

 

[mudflap]

Lowes has the room to display the entire Craftsman line....so that would be cool.. But i cant see them abandoning Kobalt....and wouldnt make sense to compete with their house brand on a scale like that...

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

I'm still really surprised one of the retailers didn't buy Craftsman and rather than split the profit with a middle man like Stanley Black and Decker ... take it all for themselves.

I was expecting Ace (which already carries Craftsman) to do the deal.

 

[Brownsfan]

Kobalt while has brand recognition it is not on the level of craftsman. I don't see this happening but it would be huge for both. I think it could absolutely work in Lowe's HD or menards.

 

[1982fxr]

More probably the Stanley brand. Its already there next to the other.

My guess

 

[mudflap]

Kobalt while has brand recognition it is not on the level of craftsman. I don't see this happening but it would be huge for both. I think it could absolutely work in Lowe's HD or menards.

Especially Menards...they have no house brand really...it would be huge for them..

 

[Moparman390]

I don't think Ace could swing the $900 million in financing to buy Craftsman.

 

[Dick in Wisconsin]

Especially Menards...they have no house brand really...it would be huge for them..

That would have been a good move for Menards, but they don't have a national footprint. Could have done the national thing by partnering with Ace.

 

[6PTsocket]

Why is everybody getting so excited about a new Craftsmsn/B&D line that does not yet exist

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[6PTsocket]

Why is everybody getting so excited about a new Craftsmsn/B&D line that does not yet exist

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Sears Craftsman has been in the dumper for years. The Stanley hand tool brand is pretty low end. Lowes and HD have gone to a lot of trouble to develop house brands to maximize profits. The customers at almost all the places mentioned are not in price market fot Wright or SK, much less Snap On. TSC and HD both have Tekton for online purchase. I wish they would give them some shelf space. They are a lot of bang for the buck. The assumption that Stanley is going to make super quality tools in the USA and sell them at bargain basement prices is IMHO, totally unrealistic. Nobody goes into Ace hardware ready to spend 12 bucks on a socket that he can now get for 4.


Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[R5P7Duster]

Craftsman started going downhill when they stopped making USA tools. Don't get me wrong they are still a decent tool for the money, just not what they used to be. I'd like to see Menards pick them up. They need a good brand. Because let's face it toolshop tools ****. Might as well buy harbor freight junk. However they do carry gearwrench and Irwin which are both pretty decent for the money.

I'd hate to see Craftsman disappear or get even cheaper. Hopefully someone buys them that's not all about making a few extra pennies.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[6PTsocket]

Craftsman started going downhill when they stopped making USA tools. Don't get me wrong they are still a decent tool for the money, just not what they used to be. I'd like to see Menards pick them up. They need a good brand. Because let's face it toolshop tools ****. Might as well buy harbor freight junk. However they do carry gearwrench and Irwin which are both pretty decent for the money.

I'd hate to see Craftsman disappear or get even cheaper. Hopefully someone buys them that's not all about making a few extra pennies.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

I question several of your assumptions. HF's Taiwan made Pittsburgh Pro line is decent. The Chinese made craftsman is JUNK. They are not a decent tool at any price. Tekton is similarly priced and far, far better. The last of the USA Craftsman was made to a price and was poor quality as well. The current owners of Apex(Bain Capital), the makers of Gearwrench are bleeding it dry and they are no prize either. They just shut down their Allen, Armstrong and KD brands.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[R5P7Duster]

I question several of your assumptions. HF's Taiwan made Pittsburgh Pro line is decent. The Chinese made craftsman is JUNK. They are not a decent tool at any price. Tekton is similarly priced and far, far better. The last of the USA Craftsman was made to a price and was poor quality as well. The current owners of Apex(Bain Capital), the makers of Gearwrench are bleeding it dry and they are no prize either. They just shut down their Allen, Armstrong and KD brands.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I never said any of these tools were great. I was trying to relate to most guy's that just spend time in the garage that buy these tools. I use proto, snap on, vessel, love my wera Jokers, and wiha. The only one most people know are snap on usually. To be honest I think snap on has gone down hill, especially for that price. Not having a rep makes having snap on even worse. But eBay is a great place to buy used tools for reasonable prices.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[nieuport17]

All the Stanley tools will just have Craftsman stamped on it.
I don't think that's exciting.

 

[pawnworld007]

I don't think Ace could swing the $900 million in financing to buy Craftsman.

With sales of only $5 billion in 2015, that would be a bit much to finance $900 million.

 

[nes999]

My local ACE has craftman tools. Personally of craftsman disappeared completely I wouldn't mind. If I want made in China there are plenty of options.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Richard Cranium]

We all will just have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Moparman390]

I don't think Menards, like Ace, could have financed the $900 million to buy Craftsman either.

SBD did because they not only had the financial means to buy Craftsman but a big enough national distribution network to sell beyond single outlets to make money on it. I don't think Ace and Menards would be able to sell enough Craftsman to break even on $900 million even if they could afford to buy them. Now Lowes, I don't think they will replace Kolbalt with Craftsman but I do think SBD will be successful in getting them to take some Craftsman product on in store, how much, we wait and see.

 

[jeeper46]

Jeez-just face it: Craftsman is dead, and has been since all the manufacturing was outsourced. Just slapping the name on some junk won't make it what it once was.

 

[notlob]

All the Stanley tools will just have Craftsman stamped on it.
I don't think that's exciting.

I think it's more likely that Stanley will start stamping Craftsman on their Blackhawk tools. Doing so would leave them with three hand tool lines, and would not further dilute the Craftsman brand that they paid almost $1B for.

Stanley - el cheapo.
Craftsman - higher end homeowner, intermediate level
Proto - professional level

 

[Casey69]

Jeez-just face it: Craftsman is dead, and has been since all the manufacturing was outsourced. Just slapping the name on some junk won't make it what it once was.

unfortunately, yes. craftsman will always be around, but it'll be like schwinn bicycles. the old, made-in-usa schwinn bikes are sought after, while the new overseas junk is sold cheap at the discount stores.

 

[pstemari]

I think it's more likely that Stanley will start stamping Craftsman on their Blackhawk tools. Doing so would leave them with three tool lines...

A lot more than that. You're forgetting about Mac, Porter Cable, Delta, and B&D, just for a start.

That said, Mac pretty much is Proto, ttbomk, and the others I mentioned are power tools.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Tallpilot]

Sears Craftsman has been in the dumper for years. The Stanley hand tool brand is pretty low end. Lowes and HD have gone to a lot of trouble to develop house brands to maximize profits. The customers at almost all the places mentioned are not in price market fot Wright or SK, much less Snap On. TSC and HD both have Tekton for online purchase. I wish they would give them some shelf space. They are a lot of bang for the buck. The assumption that Stanley is going to make super quality tools in the USA and sell them at bargain basement prices is IMHO, totally unrealistic. Nobody goes into Ace hardware ready to spend 12 bucks on a socket that he can now get for 4.


Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I agree. There seem to be some people here who think Craftsman is going to come back and be what it used to be 20 years ago. I disagree but time will tell.

The current tools in the hand tool / automotive aisles at Lowe's are kind of crappy. Tekton for the same price would be more utility value.

For tool snobs it would be awesome to have a Harry Epstein down the road in every town but that isn't very likely. The best we can hope for is Tekton as the low end and Gearwrench/KD as the 'good' brand. But even that is probably a pipe dream.

 

[M_George]

From what I've read, Stanley can't do anything yet. The deal could get ripped out from under them if the courts determine that Sears was insolvent at the time of the deal.

 

[mrjaw14]

IF Stanley makes good on their promise to bring back more American manufacturing, then shelf space in a big box store like Lowes would be great. I'd be curious how the Craftsman warranty would be handled. That might be a deal breaker since Stanley has said they are keeping the warranty. If Lowes would have to honor and be a replacement venue for Craftsman they might not want to deal with that. If they didn't, I'm not sure what value would be brought by incorporating Craftsman into their stores since most people buy Craftsman for the warranty.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I don't think the Stanley deal is "cast in concrete" yet. I heard it may be up in the air since the Sears finance team has said they may not be a "going concern".

 

[amason3]

My local ACE has craftman tools. Personally of craftsman disappeared completely I wouldn't mind. If I want made in China there are plenty of options.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

 

[928'er]

With Stanley Black and Decker's acquisition of the Craftsman brand, is Lowe's getting ready to switch over to Craftsman?

OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) which is now owned by Lowes has carried the Craftsman line for years.

So, there is precedent for Lowes carrying the Craftsman line....

 

[dnschmidt]

Anybody that thinks that Craftsman is coming back to it's former glory is like a coal miner in West Virginia waiting for the coal mines to reopen. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN.

 

[M_George]

You never know dnschmidt, I hope your wrong. Never know which the pendulum will swing.

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

Time will tell with what becomes of Craftsman, it seems like $900 million is a lot for only the Craftsman name, considering the drop in tool reputation and quality from Chinese manufacturing and the liability of future warranty issues.

 

[laser3kw]

Kobalt while has brand recognition it is not on the level of craftsman

thank god! I would rate Kobalt above the current Craftsman

Stanley - el cheapo.
Craftsman - higher Lower end homeowner, intermediate level
Proto - professional level

fixed it ^^^^

 

[drink]

I was in my local Lowes yesterday. I noticed all Kobalt hand tools in stock were 25% off. I wondered why...

I also noticed they are now selling Stanley socket sets and hand tools next to Kobalt.

With Stanley Black and Decker's acquisition of the Craftsman brand, is Lowe's getting ready to switch over to Craftsman?

Crazy speculation on my part? If this has already been confirmed I apologize

I heard something about "buy American, hire American" going on today. Maybe it has something to do with it. Maybe Lowe's is having a sale on Kobalt. Did APEX drop Kobalt and GearWrench from production today? From what I have seen articles about SB&D buying Craftsman have said SB&D will be marketing them at several places but I have read something somewhere saying Craftsman will be sold at Home Depot. Power tools, hand tools, who knows which of them they are talking about?

 

[crewchief888]

Craftsman started going downhill when they stopped making USA tools. Don't get me wrong they are still a decent tool for the money, just not what they used to be. I'd like to see Menards pick them up. They need a good brand. Because let's face it toolshop tools ****. Might as well buy harbor freight junk. However they do carry gearwrench and Irwin which are both pretty decent for the money.

I'd hate to see Craftsman disappear or get even cheaper. Hopefully someone buys them that's not all about making a few extra pennies.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

local menards here also carries crescent branded tools...

i have a couple chrome sets of MM 1/4" dr in my service truck.

 

[Citation]

I question several of your assumptions. HF's Taiwan made Pittsburgh Pro line is decent. The Chinese made craftsman is JUNK. They are not a decent tool at any price. Tekton is similarly priced and far, far better. The last of the USA Craftsman was made to a price and was poor quality as well. The current owners of Apex(Bain Capital), the makers of Gearwrench are bleeding it dry and they are no prize either. They just shut down their Allen, Armstrong and KD brands.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I have both US and China made Cman stuff. I don't see a reason to prefer one vs the other. Both are functional. Blanket statements are JUNK.

 

[Moparman390]

I have both US and China made Cman stuff. I don't see a reason to prefer one vs the other. Both are functional. Blanket statements are JUNK.

 

[cheechi]

Given the choice between chinese Kobalt or chinese Craftsman, I'd have to go Kobalt.

If any store gets the level of craftsman-ness that sears currently has, it's going to be HD. The Husky line has been sucking it too hard for too long. There's a lot of overlap with Craftsman/Ryobi & Craftsman/Ridgid. Whether or not Stanley changes some things, I doubt they're going to bother cutting out Emerson & TTI on day one.

If the Stanley deal falls through I doubt anyone but HD would buy it.

 

[James-W]

Personally, I think that in the minds of an awful lot of people the Craftsman name has gone downhill drastically. I also tend to think that unless something is done to change the country of manufacture for Craftsman tools, the brand name will fall on even harder times. Some people feel that Craftsman tools are the same now as what they once were, I don't happen to subscribe to that school of thought, but in any case the Craftsman tool name is not so well "loved" as it once was and I have my doubts it will change anytime soon.

 

[M6erfan]

The best we can hope for is Tekton as the low end and Gearwrench/KD as the 'good' brand.

That's a very depressing thought...