The former Craftsman Factory auction?

[four.cycle]

^ none of it makes any sense.

Judge Judy 101: "If it doesn't make sense, it can't be true."

There's something rotten in Fort Worth.

 

[Etchase]

I was surprised they were selling surface plates. Probably high shipping costs to their many other facilities. I imagine the stuff that was auctioned was what their other manufacturing plants didn’t need. Stanley is a large (largest?) tool manufacturer, especially on a unit basis.

 

[zendriver]

Maybe when someone there finally came up with the bright idea, of doing market research, on what consumers were actually willing to pay for American made Craftsman tools, they realized they were in over their heads.

They had to do something.

 

[PugetDude]

Maybe when someone there finally came up with the bright idea, of doing market research, on what consumers were actually willing to pay for American made Craftsman tools, they realized they were in over their heads.

They had to do something.

"Assembled in USA wih domestic and global components"
Translation: Someone making minimum wage sealed the clamshell packaging.

 

[tool_scrounge]

They're selling inconsequential supplies. Looked through all four pages; I didn't see a single piece of automated manufacturing equipment.
Totes, cabinets, surplus motors, a couple of tool room mills?? If it was ever intended to be a full-blown manufacturing plant you would expect to see cutting equipment, forming presses, forging, machining, grinding and finishing equipment, plating, packaging, etc.
I remember seeing the initial press release and thinking there was no way you could manufacture anything with the budget they announced. IIRC it was ~$80-90 million? That doesn't go very far buying high-tech custom manufacturing equipment.
A lot more to this story.

A lot of diversified companies allow divisions to buy equipment from other divisions that are being shut down for the residual depreciated value Before it goes to auction. This can be quite the deal, especially when you can call friends at that division to give you the inside information on what is good, what has been abused, etc. Been there, done that. This is one reason some industrial liquidations have a lot less quality equipment than you would expect.

 

[PugetDude]

A lot of diversified companies allow divisions to buy equipment from other divisions that are being shut down for the residual depreciated value Before it goes to auction. This can be quite the deal, especially when you can call friends at that division to give you the inside information on what is good, what has been abused, etc. Been there, done that. This is one reason some industrial liquidations have a lot less quality equipment than you would expect.

Not much of a carcass left to pick over on this one. This is more along the lines of a weekend yard sale. If they were closing the fully functioning manufacturing operation they announced a couple of years ago the sale flyer would be 27 full color pages, widely advertised, have everything from presses to paper clips and buyers flying in from all over. And, like many of these sales, have industrial surplus brought in from other locations or outside sources.
This is four pages of **** you'd expect to find listed on Craigslist by an auction vulture after the sale is over.
Something doesn't add up.