Sears carrying Dewalt hand tools now?

[byoungblood]

You realize, of course, that they did this because it's almost certainly a good business decision.

Your personal preferences and prejudices do not define the market as a whole, and Sears is only concerned with the market as a whole, not with one single customer.

I'm quite confident that, as far as the bottom line goes, Sears did anything but "shoot themselves in the foot" by moving their manufacturing to China.

Granted, I feel like I probably buy fewer Craftsman tools, and I have a lowered opinion of their quality, but neither of those things necessarily imply less profit for Sears.

Short term, maybe. Long term, I think Sears will still fail unless they make some huge changes. Moving Craftsman offshore improves their margins in that department for a bit, but their foot traffic still *****, so all it really does is mean they don't have to sell quite as much to make the same amount of money. It really isn't much of a long term strategy unless they make serious changes to get more people coming into the stores. What brand differentiation they had with Craftsman they have completely squandered by going to China and allowing QC to slip over the past decade. Being a "me too" isn't a plan for long term success.

They have very noticeably changed the design, and likely cut corners on the quality of the Chinese made stuff. Make no mistake, when a retailer makes a move like this, it is to cut costs, period. I don't think it will take very long for the semi-pro and professional crowd (that hasn't already) realize that Craftsman isn't what it used to be, and unless they start charging HF style prices, folks are going to realize they're paying too much for another cheap import tool.

 

[biscuit141]

2 points to make:

1- we need to keep in mind that we Garage Journalers are in the minority when it comes to the Craftsman customer base. It's sad but true. Many of these customers see a tool as a tool, they don't care about the COO, they buy for the brand name and the lifetime warranty. Switched to imported tools will allow Sears to increase the profit margins they make off 90% of their Craftsman customers more than enough to offset any sales lost to people like us. It's easy to forget WE are the minority customer because there are so many of us on this site and we all feel the same way about tools.

2- is it just me or are those Dewalt ratchets freaking HEAVY! The 1/2 dive felt like I weighed a pound or two.

 

[allinon72]

My observations are that Sears is a holding company. As a store, I haven't really seen any wholesale changes to their business model for that matter. The shop your way rewards program lures people into the stores but it doesn't seem overly successful. I'd say that the tool department at Sears is the best performing part, so I don't think a lot of attention is paid to that area.

 

[Spudland_Dave]

2 points to make:

1- we need to keep in mind that we Garage Journalers are in the minority when it comes to the Craftsman customer base. It's sad but true. Many of these customers see a tool as a tool, they don't care about the COO, they buy for the brand name and the lifetime warranty. Switched to imported tools will allow Sears to increase the profit margins they make off 90% of their Craftsman customers more than enough to offset any sales lost to people like us. It's easy to forget WE are the minority customer because there are so many of us on this site and we all feel the same way about tools.

2- is it just me or are those Dewalt ratchets freaking HEAVY! The 1/2 dive felt like I weighed a pound or two.

I agree with point 1...very much so. BUT, I will say that I work with some guys who are not GJ'ers and since they've closed the full line store and a new Hometown (with barely no tool stock) has gone in, they are all now shopping other brands. I'd say that Kobalt is winning right now. They walk into Lowes, fully stocked with all kinds of tools, from my point of view, Lowes is becoming what Sears used to be (tool wise).

 

[cburnscrx]

For me personally, I started shopping Sears because of my father and grandfather which got me in the door. That said, what kept me there was the selection. I could buy a P4 screwdriver right off the shelf when I needed it. It didn't really matter what tool I needed, it seemed they had it. Now? Not so much. The discontinuing of the professional line will keep me from making frequent trips. If I am going to get the same selection as Lowes, I might as well buy from them as I'll already be there picking up drywall, hardware, ect. Somebody said it earlier, but unless they differentiate themselves from Lowes, Home Depot and Menards, and even to some point Harbor Freight...

* I still think somebody will buy the Craftsman name before it's all said and done when Sears goes under. Six straight years of declining sales - the writing is on the wall.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/24/business/la-fi-sears-earns-20130524

 

[the1nonlyjl]

totally no brainer- promoting dewalt tools will jumpstart the sears business from being in blood bath? Where did craftsman go? I guess Sears aint proud of the name of its own brand? PRetty fkd up!