Sears

[Sevenhills1952]

Just wanted to mention Sears. I searched their site Monday for some Craftsman tools I didn't have. I filtered by sale price, but had trouble ordering on line. Then a chat pop up appeared and I got assistance from an employee.
Bottom line, I received excellent service, great prices and free shipping. I got everything the next day!
Just thought I'd mention my good experience, hoping it may be helpful.

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[Moparman390]

Grabbing popcorn...

 

[four.cycle]

here we go again....

 

[metaldad]

oh boy!
after visiting their non functional web site
ordering a part
wasnt told unavailable until after paying, and they did take my money
took forever to cancel order. and forever to get refund.
f' em, die already.

 

[Jeremy77]

Yay! Another one...

 

[WWShop]

I couldn't resist

 

[mudflap]

3 more closing closing in S/W Ohio by the end of the year..nearest one to me will be about 30min away so as far as im concerned they are now dead. And im starting to think SBD paid WAY.....too much for Craftsman. With no sears stores..Lowes selling a few socket sets, Ace and a few other rinky-dink retailers selling some stuff.....? I dont see any way they re coop that kind of investment..

 

[WWShop]

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/sears-and-kmart-closing-another-40-stores-heres-where/

 

[four.cycle]

^ The Tacoma Mall Sears store, which is not on that list in the CBS article, closed down several months ago.

 

[M_George]

3 more closing closing in S/W Ohio by the end of the year..nearest one to me will be about 30min away so as far as im concerned they are now dead. And im starting to think SBD paid WAY.....too much for Craftsman. With no sears stores..Lowes selling a few socket sets, Ace and a few other rinky-dink retailers selling some stuff.....? I dont see any way they re coop that kind of investment..

SBD has been around a lot longer than Sears. I wish them all the luck with Craftsman. Tried one of the new tape measures, easy to read, and doesn't flop around when I'm trying to measure a long wall.

 

[woody 73]

OP I hear tell if you wait around long enough they are going to close your sears store...

 

[PFSard]

I guess I like train-wrecks. Looking forward to seeing the status of Sears in a couple of years. I won't shop there. See metaldad Post #4 for basic reasoning.

 

[rsanter]

I was at SEMA and talked to a couple,folks in the craftsman booth.
I asked about sears bankruptcy and potential that they could,be gone.
They said it doesn’t matter because you can get the tools at Lowe’s.
I mentioned that Lowe’s had a limited selection.
All I,got was a shoulder shrug

 

[Steiger9]

Sears gave me my first credit card when I was 16, with a whopping $500 limit. Bob Vila convinced me Craftsman tools were the cats meow and I would frequently walk the aisles, drooling over them. Bought my first CD player there when tapes dodo'd, and doubled my computer RAM with a 4MB chip (cost me $200!) Ah, the memories...

Back in today times, I've placed two orders through the sears website in the last two years. It's no Harry Epstein, but I managed okay.

 

[mudflap]

SBD has been around a lot longer than Sears. I wish them all the luck with Craftsman. Tried one of the new tape measures, easy to read, and doesn't flop around when I'm trying to measure a long wall.

Im not sure what who's been around longer has to do with anything...? But another thing i wonder.. Was a big part of Craftsman appeal the easy/no hassle warranty (not so easy any more).. or the fact that the tools were backed by our hometown Sears store that we went to for family pictures when we were kids, and got our school clothes there every year, and where Dad bought the lawn mower, and his tools.. Who will back Craftsman tools going forward...? SBD....ok...wheres that..? It's just another homeowner grade tool brand now...with poor distribution.

 

[M_George]

Im not sure what who's been around longer has to do with anything...? But another thing i wonder.. Was a big part of Craftsman appeal the easy/no hassle warranty (not so easy any more).. or the fact that the tools were backed by our hometown Sears store that we went to for family pictures when we were kids, and got our school clothes there every year, and where Dad bought the lawn mower, and his tools.. Who will back Craftsman tools going forward...? SBD....ok...wheres that..? It's just another homeowner grade tool brand now...with poor distribution.

SBD bought the Craftsman line, not clothing. My tool box is full of Craftsman tools. They have always been a quality DYI grade tool. I bought most of mine during the sixties and seventies and they are still going strong.
Sears was destroyed by poor or greedy management. Just hoping SBD steps up to help America Great Again. As they bring manufacturing back, I'm all in.

PS, Try out the new tape measure... they sure take a lot of the frustration out of keeping them in place and reading the scale for us older folks.

 

[MarvinBerry]

I was at SEMA and talked to a couple,folks in the craftsman booth.
I asked about sears bankruptcy and potential that they could,be gone.
They said it doesn’t matter because you can get the tools at Lowe’s.
I mentioned that Lowe’s had a limited selection.
All I,got was a shoulder shrug

Craftsman had a booth at SEMA & that was the response?! Eh...

My nearest Lowes is 45 minutes door to door. Don't get there very often, not in the usual travel paths. And fwiw the other nearest store is 45 in a totally different direction.

Happened to be in that hood a few days ago, Mt Olive NJ and stopped to see what the CM rollout was like. Expected to see red all over the store, pre Black Friday yeah?!

Not so much.

Sub $100 blow mold sockets, $20 screwdriver sets, cordless power tool kits & a **** ton of plastic toolboxes. That was it. No individual tools. Zilch.

I have a fair amount of CM. Worked at Sears in hardware mid 90s while in high school... Hope there's a revival for a once strong American brand but they're mostly dead to me.

Had actually tried to replace tools back in May or June @ Sears, had a bad go of it which is how I found this little corner of the interknot...

Sears?! Somebody needs to be the bad guy & pull the plug from life support machine.

 

[Sevenhills1952]

So strange how my experience was the opposite. Overnight free delivery at great prices? The closest Sears is 40 miles away, I don't imagine they'll be around much longer. There's a Lowes 9 miles either direction from me, the one I shop the most has a huge Craftsman selection and they honor the warranty.
The problem is an older USA made one is replaced by Chinese.
There's a huge Ace hardware store opening soon 5 minutes from here and they sell Craftsman also.


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[jdlong]

I cruise the Sears on line sales frequently and have gotten a number of good deals. The freecash awards make the deals even better. For DIY, the tools have been fine. I started with Craftsman in the 70's. Even with the China grade stuff, I still get the warm fuzzies picking up a craftsman tool.

 

[mudflap]

Is Sears sourcing Craftsman tools from a different manufacturer than SBD..? Is that why they continue to warranty older tools, and Lowes will only warranty tools they have sold..?

 

[nmantas]

Is Sears sourcing Craftsman tools from a different manufacturer than SBD..? Is that why they continue to warranty older tools, and Lowes will only warranty tools they have sold..?

From what I understand the Lowes Craftsman is rebadged Stanley but it is supposed to evolve to be a better quality stand-alone (not just a rebrand) brand with 85% American made products. While the Sears/Ace Craftsman is still mainly China Apex companies like SATA and the like. SBD is probably now waiting for SEARS to die before making a major push to redesign the Craftsman lineup.

 

[mudflap]

From what I understand the Lowes Craftsman is rebadged Stanley but it is supposed to evolve to be a better quality stand-alone (not just a rebrand) brand with 85% American made products. While the Sears/Ace Craftsman is still mainly China Apex companies like SATA and the like. SBD is probably now waiting for SEARS to die before making a major push to redesign the Craftsman lineup.

So does that mean once Sears is gone..so is the warranty on older Craftsman tools...? If thats the case..SBD did us no favors by saving the brand.

 

[Sevenhills1952]

The Lowes I frequent the fellow I spoke to there last week was putting up tons of Craftsman stuff, even large racks of sockets and wrenches sold individually. He said a customer just left before I got there and returned a 1/2" ratchet wrench the mechanism failed. The Lowes fellow gave him a new wrench no questions asked. Lifetime warranty signs were around. As Lowes guy said he told him he was swapping a 60s USA one for a new China one. Lowes guy I said I would take USA made one home and order a rebuild kit for it.
Life is strange...if I was 25 or knew I'd live to 200 I'd have all Snap-On probably especially if I had money to burn.
I don't work for Sears or own Sears stock, but hard for me to pass up a deal...something that works.
Some of this stuff came in mail today, I was like a kid on Christmas.
I got my first Craftsman tools for Christmas when I was 16. When Dad passed I took his Craftsman tools home. I have a real sentiment attachment, so many memories so many years ago.

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[mudflap]

The Lowes I frequent the fellow I spoke to there last week was putting up tons of Craftsman stuff, even large racks of sockets and wrenches sold individually. He said a customer just left before I got there and returned a 1/2" ratchet wrench the mechanism failed. The Lowes fellow gave him a new wrench no questions asked. Lifetime warranty signs were around. As Lowes guy said he told him he was swapping a 60s USA one for a new China one. Lowes guy I said I would take USA made one home and order a rebuild kit for it.
Life is strange...if I was 25 or knew I'd live to 200 I'd have all Snap-On probably especially if I had money to burn.
I don't work for Sears or own Sears stock, but hard for me to pass up a deal...something that works.
Some of this stuff came in mail today, I was like a kid on Christmas.
I got my first Craftsman tools for Christmas when I was 16. When Dad passed I took his Craftsman tools home. I have a real sentiment attachment, so many memories so many years ago.

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I hope the Lowes stores neat me are planning to go in that direction. Right now they just have a socket set, a wrench set, and some tool boxes. Still dont see the logic in them putting the full line of Craftsman up against their house brand..(Kobalt).. Power tools and all...? But would like to see that happen..

 

[four.cycle]

"...dont see the logic in them putting the full line of Craftsman up against their house brand..(Kobalt)..."

The logic is: Brand recognition is everything in sales and marketing.

Coca Cola. Kentucky Fried Chicken. McDonalds. Craftsman.

The name is what SBD paid a whole lot of money for. If they can put the "Craftsman" brand on a product and the price point is competitive, they will gain market share, even if it's outsourced from China.

Who the hell ever heard of "Kobalt"? Only "tool guys" and people who shop at Lowes recognize the brand. Everybody knows "Craftsman".

 

[LB-1911]

So does that mean once Sears is gone..so is the warranty on older Craftsman tools...? If thats the case..SBD did us no favors by saving the brand.

Short version of a long story.....
Stanley, Sears to have competing Craftsman tool brands

Jan 5, 2017;
But will that famous guarantee remain now that Sears has been sold?[/I][/B]

Stanley Black & Decker spokesman Tim Perra answered yes, but with some qualifiers, Thursday afternoon:

"Today, Craftsman's warranties vary by business and product lines, and in some cases are very similar to Stanley Black & Decker's existing lifetime guarantee policies on certain product lines. It is too early to speculate on the specifics, but we would expect that to continue and we are always committed to doing the right thing to support the brand and our end-users."

More @
https://www.masslive.com/business-n...will_the_craftsman_hand_tool_lifetime_wa.html

 

[foghorn1966]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/sears-canada-eddie-lampert-dividends-shareholders-1.4896425

 

[Stuart in MN]

The original poster said

Bottom line, I received excellent service, great prices and free shipping. I got everything the next day!
Just thought I'd mention my good experience, hoping it may be helpful.

but everyone has to **** all over the discussion...aren't there enough Sears bashing threads already?

 

[MarvinBerry]

I hope the Lowes stores neat me are planning to go in that direction. Right now they just have a socket set, a wrench set, and some tool boxes. Still dont see the logic in them putting the full line of Craftsman up against their house brand..(Kobalt).. Power tools and all...? But would like to see that happen..

That's the general plan, CM sitting next to Kobalt.

I stopped into the same Lowe's today (mt olive NJ) since I had more time on the way home, been spending a bit of time out in that section of the world lately. Asked a guy in the hardware department if they had plans to stock individual tools... loose sockets, single screwdrivers & pliers blah blah blee blee for purchase & warranty.

He said absolutely and had expected to see them before Black Friday/Xmas sales but nothing has arrived yet. They do have a bunch of the 20 volt tool kits & single drills in stock, hand tools are all in kits.

Also asked him about bringing in old CM for replacement and he said sure, once we actually have them... could be 6 days, 6 months... he had no idea.

My local Sears is Rockaway NJ & I'm shocked its still in biz. Store is half empty and looks like a bomb went off in a wholesale liquidator warehouse. Even the hardware department is about 1/4 the size it was 10 years ago and for that 1/4 size? Shelves were 1/2 empty a few months ago. Its really sad.

I walked in there with a box of busted tools & left with same busted *** stuff.

They can't replace what they don't have in stock.

 

[retDAC]

... My local Sears is Rockaway NJ & I'm shocked its still in biz. Store is half empty and looks like a bomb went off in a wholesale liquidator warehouse. Even the hardware department is about 1/4 the size it was 10 years ago and for that 1/4 size? Shelves were 1/2 empty a few months ago. Its really sad.

I walked in there with a box of busted tools & left with same busted *** stuff.

They can't replace what they don't have in stock.

Actually they can. Maybe 6 months or so before they closed, my local Sears took my broken tool and ordered a new one. Gave me a receipt and when it came in, I went and picked it up. Of course you are farther away from yours and I don't know whether it's worth it for you.

 

[mudflap]

The logic is: Brand recognition is everything in sales and marketing.

Coca Cola. Kentucky Fried Chicken. McDonalds. Craftsman.

The name is what SBD paid a whole lot of money for. If they can put the "Craftsman" brand on a product and the price point is competitive, they will gain market share, even if it's outsourced from China.

Who the hell ever heard of "Kobalt"? Only "tool guys" and people who shop at Lowes recognize the brand. Everybody knows "Craftsman".

I understand that..im wondering why Lowes would want to bring in a big name brand like Craftsman that if priced competitively..would roll right over and crush their long standing house brand...? But i guess they already do that with power tools..Porter Cable is about the same price as Kobalt...guess im just thinking out load on this... And im not Sears bashing as someone suggested..i understand they got behind the curve in a brick and morter retail environment where all big box stores are struggling to compete with Amazon, etc, and Mgmt has decided their Real estate holdings are worth more than the Company as a whole.. A sad ending to such a once giant in retail..that invented shopping from home.

 

[rick carpenter]

For saying anything good about Sears you'll probably be banished from here, and if you have kids and pets be prepared to have them confiscated.

 

[intimidator782]

serious question here regarding sears.... i havent been in one in probably 4 years and now all the ones around me are closed. But i have recently been interested in a line of the diehard lace up boots that i have heard very good reviews about. They are on sale for $55 right now supposedly marked down from $110. My question is would it be worth placing an order for a pair, not knowing how they fit and possibly having to return/ship them back for a different size if they dont fit? Ive done this ordering boots online before and just ended up getting mad having to send two different sizes back and swore id never do that again. But would it be worth it to get these while i can, and if getting a pair that fit good and being satisfied with them buying several pairs before they are obsolete? I also know there is a shop your way program with cash back, i know very little about that program tho. Any insight from the sears crowd would be awesome. Thanks!

 

[retDAC]

Friend of mine has bought DieHard boots for years. He thinks highly of them for their price. He has told me they require break-in though.

 

[zendriver]

For saying anything good about Sears you'll probably be banished from here, and if you have kids and pets be prepared to have them confiscated.

It's seems pretty much, that America loves a "winner" and totally despises a "loser", so the fact, that Sears was a good company for 130 years, means nothing, if they are unable to fend off companies like newcomer Amazon, Chinese exporters and 1 million other lean Internet retail companies.

Kind of like how they love our NFL teams - until they have an off year and then they're just useless **** heads and they move on to another team.

I'll take a chance and sstate that the 19.2 V Chinese made cordless power tools I bought from Sears have held up just fine for 10 years now. The exception of their crappy screwdrivers, everything else I have purchased from them is held up fine too.

what better time to kick someone is when they're down?




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[markhm]

I bought a pair of die hard shoes last year. They disintegrated after about 3 months of light use. Soles separated from shoe. I had bought them on line. I contacted chat about getting them replaced. They said the warranty was just the 30 day return window. I told them the box said 90 day warranty. They checked some more and said no way. I tried several times with same results. Ended up disposing the shoes. I posted an entry in GJ if you want to search for it and read all the replies. Regardless, I would not buy DieHard no matter how attractive the price seems.

 

[jgromada]

My first tool set was Craftsman I got circa 1981. I still find it a shame what happened to a company that was at one time the height of retail in the US. Sure there were always better brands out there (ie. SnapOn & Proto & SK) but Craftsman were just so prevalent because of the Sears presence. I am glad the name is not going away.

The Sears fling with selling their own Craftsman sourced power tools will be short lived.

 

[Here2Learn]

I went to my local Sears last week. It is closing soon. I looked around and bought one last Sears / Craftsman / USA made tool, a 5 gallon bucket.

For some of us, Sears / Craftsman is what we like. SBD Craftsman is just Chinese stuff that some of us won't get too sentimental about.

 

[WWheeler]

I went to my local Sears last week. It is closing soon. I looked around and bought one last Sears / Craftsman / USA made tool, a 5 gallon bucket.

For some of us, Sears / Craftsman is what we like. SBD Craftsman is just Chinese stuff that some of us won't get too sentimental about.

FWIW, A lot of SBD Craftsman is made in USA, and more is coming.

** The Craftsman cordless/brushless that are 'Made in the USA with global materials' are basically rebadges of Stanley's Dewalt cordless.

New Craftsman 20V Cordless Power Tools! (Including Brushless and Made in USA*)
https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-20v-cordless-power-tools-brushless-made-in-usa/

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RzxT9pVniPY" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

^ No doubt Stanley has expanded that plant and/or others like it since that video in 2015 as Dewalt now has even more 'Made in USA with global materials' cordless tools and to incorporate the new Craftsman additions.

** Stanley Craftsman's tool chests are made here in the US in Sedalia MO (formerly was a 'Waterloo' plant)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ejy7l3uVSgg" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

** And coming soon will be made in USA craftsman lawn and garden equipment as Stanley just bought a 20% stake in MTD with an option to buy out remaining 80% in 2021

Sept 12, 2018: Stanley Black & Decker To Acquire 20 Percent Stake In MTD Products For $234 Million
- Provides Entry Into The Lawn And Garden Sector With Minority Stake In Leading Outdoor Power Equipment Manufacturer
- Option To Acquire Remaining 80 Percent Stake Beginning In 2021
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...n-mtd-products-for-234-million-300710830.html

** BUT, there's been no sign so far that Stanley plans to offer Craftsman hand tools that are 'Made in the USA'. All of the Stanley Craftsman ratchets, sockets, wrenches, etc so far have been rebadges of Stanley products made in Taiwan (or China?)

 

[finn]

The Dewalt video posted by WWheeler was interesting, but I was shocked by the lack of automation in the Dewalt Charlotte plant. Until then integrate modern assembly automation capability to their processes, I don’t see how Dewalt Made in USA can compete with Milwaukee Made in China on a production cost basis.