The future of Craftsman?

[Steevo]

This is a picture of a storefront in Sacramento, CA, that runs a bunch of Craigslist ads constantly, selling pretty much everything Craftsman and the Gladiator line that Sears has.

I guess this is what they have come to.
It will be like "Stanley" and be sold at every hardware, drug and variety store.
I bet this guy doesn't handle warranty returns . . .

 

[softailgarage]

Have you talked to them and asked ? How are the prices compared to Sears ?

 

[wreckerman5357]

Craftsman is done. It will be around for years to come but the name and any reputation it had for quality is done for.

 

[Dubbydoo]

ok so your saying that because the tools are being sold in a small store the craftsman brand has gone to ****?

 

[back2class]

Glad I loaded up when I did. Many great tools at great prices. Little concerned about warranty, but i don't break them too often and there is a forever supply lying used out there for the stuff that can be warranted or missing. But yes, my guess is like Stanley only worse....more like Thorsen

 

[Steevo]

ok so your saying that because the tools are being sold in a small store the craftsman brand has gone to ****?

More to the point is that the strength of the Sears name behind them is gone, and the assurance of warrantability is in question as they are sold by ever more retailers who do not also handle warranty service.
That, and the new stuff is all chinese anyway . . .

 

[mmack66]

Hard to believe that Sears would have this guy as an official vendor.

 

[PinkLinc]

 

[NC-Fordguy]

Many Sears stores were shuddered. Is it possible that the craftsman inventory from some of these stores ended up at this location?

One of the local Sears stores that was shuttered nearby had some guy come in during the last day they were open and bought all of the remaining store inventory. Turns out he has a couple of second hand stores and does this. He did the same thing when home depot shuttered all of their stores in the area a couple years back

 

[Steevo]

Many Sears stores were shuddered. Is it possible that the craftsman inventory from some of these stores ended up at this location?

One of the local Sears stores that was shuttered nearby had some guy come in during the last day they were open and bought all of the remaining store inventory. Turns out he has a couple of second hand stores and does this. He did the same thing when home depot shuttered all of their stores in the area a couple years back

This is very likely where the stuff comes from.

 

[powertrip]

Cripe does the same thing

 

[Link-Belt]

Here is the thing guys. As we all know the econamy is **** Wichita I think is good in a way, not so much for the retailers and not so much for buyers of retailers but for bulk buyers who then offer the product to the public at lower then retail. Sears and Craftsmen have been around a long time and the great thing is they still have to guarantee our tools, for now anyway. I so want to believe that these company's and others like them realize that in order to survive in the US. They must bring manufacturing. Back home or our econamy will never get better and us the working man will not be able to afford there tools.

 

[woody 73]

I would not ring the death bell yet, lets say that they are dying for the sake of argument (my wife thinks they are dying) I would venture to say that someone like a big tool conglomerate would buy up the craftsman name and keep it going (at least this is what I think would happen).

I am still dumbfounded that K-Mart went belly up (not by this ) but by the fact that
they had the funds to buy Sears.

Only time will tell I wish them all the luck in the World.

 

[woody 73]

Ideal bought the SK line and they are keeping it alive why not the same for craftsman?

 

[byoungblood]

My question is, who would buy the Craftsman name?

Seems to me that most of the old tool companies have either gone bust, or have been bought up by somebody like Danahner or Irwin and then had almost all of their production moved overseas. Maybe the recent China-ization of some of the Craftsman hard line and downscaling the professional line tools is part of a bigger plan to sell the brand to Danaher? Who knows?

 

[Maexle]

I like Craftsman, since i am here in the USA (i am a german engineer and here since dec. 2006) i always bought Craftsman and used the hell out of it, i was never disappointed, even when i broke a 1/4" ratchet, no questions asked, they gave a 1/4" Craftsman Pro ratchet as replacement. BUT: if they choose to go this way, they will end up just like the Chrysler company....And i will choose another path which i prefer not to go, going back to german made tools. Don't get me wrong, i love Snap-on,.(which my best friend in Germany exclusively uses since years, he owns a bike shop, independent HD shop) Matco, etc.., but for the price i pay for snap-on i get Hazet, Gedore, Stahlwille, and my favorite (swiss made) : Kraftwerk. They've been around for a long time and i know, the only selling reason IS: QUALITY, if they would step back, nobody would even think about buying them. Who can tell me for sure that snap-on wouldn't go the same way as Craftsman (perhaps) does.....??? I am a loyal customer, but when i know i have to switch the brand every couple of years because the quality goes down the drain, i prefer to stay on the safe site.....

I don't want to choose between: craftsman evolv, craftsman basic, craftsman, and craftsman pro....all i ask for is to know: it's craftsman, it's quality...(Guess that's my wishful thinking and the past....)

Just my 2 cents....

 

[Maexle]

......i have to add something, sorry, i was shopping around for a tool box / chest, when i was looking at the Craftsman, Kobalt, etc boxes i was so disappointed i started looking for Matco and Snap-on...but hell, i don't want to sell my Harley that i can buy a tool box.
So i made my own tool box out of a good old quality blueprint cabinet and "customized" it.....i was really disappointed with the quality i've seen in my price range.

Just another example how the quality gets replaced by quantity ........

 

[TwoInch]

yes, all these small vendors are buying huge lots of clearanced craftsman stuff at discounted prices. probably a lot of it coming from closed k-marts. hell, look at how much stuff sears stores have been blowing out. lots of it out there, but from what i have seen, they prices are just under sears full price, and if you wait and look around, most o fit can be beat with decent sales. only thing, seems to be old stock USA stuff mostly.

 

[JDS968]

I don't think Sears or Craftsman are going to be gone entirely any time soon. I just think that everything will be cheap Chinese manufacture pretty soon, and at that point, even many of the tools that we already have will be far less appealing (and valuable) because they will no longer be backed up by the availability of quality, US-made warranty replacements.

......i have to add something, sorry, i was shopping around for a tool box / chest, when i was looking at the Craftsman, Kobalt, etc boxes i was so disappointed i started looking for Matco and Snap-on...but hell, i don't want to sell my Harley that i can buy a tool box.
So i made my own tool box out of a good old quality blueprint cabinet and "customized" it.....i was really disappointed with the quality i've seen in my price range.

Just another example how the quality gets replaced by quantity ........

Did you post any photos of this box you made? Sounds very cool, I'd love to see that.

 

[IndyGarage]

I think the craftsman name is now independent of Sears.

You know of course that Sears doesn't make anything, they just contract things made for them. I think Danaher has made many of the Craftsman hand tools for Sears for a long time. The air tools and power tools are all made by other companies.

I'd bet Sears has commissioned out the Craftsman brand name to other companies recently. Probably as a way to make money as their own brand fails.

Our local Ace Hardware recently started carrying Craftsman - which is nice, because I avoid going to Sears because it's at the mall and I hate the mall. I was actually looking at one of their impact wrenches at a pretty good price yesterday.

 

[mmack66]

I think the craftsman name is now independent of Sears.

You know of course that Sears doesn't make anything, they just contract things made for them. I think Danaher has made many of the Craftsman hand tools for Sears for a long time. The air tools and power tools are all made by other companies.

I'd bet Sears has commissioned out the Craftsman brand name to other companies recently. Probably as a way to make money as their own brand fails.

Our local Ace Hardware recently started carrying Craftsman - which is nice, because I avoid going to Sears because it's at the mall and I hate the mall. I was actually looking at one of their impact wrenches at a pretty good price yesterday.

Most people know that Craftsman is just a Sears brand. Same with Kenmore. And Husky at Home Depot, and Kobalt at Lowe's. All brands made for them by someone else.

 

[Obie]

Most people know that Craftsman is just a Sears brand. Same with Kenmore. And Husky at Home Depot, and Kobalt at Lowe's. All brands made for them by someone else.

Most people on here at least. Until I started reading the forums here, I thought there was an actual Craftsman factory making the tools just for Sears. Quite a few people still think that.

 

[Maexle]

I don't think Sears or Craftsman are going to be gone entirely any time soon. I just think that everything will be cheap Chinese manufacture pretty soon, and at that point, even many of the tools that we already have will be far less appealing (and valuable) because they will no longer be backed up by the availability of quality, US-made warranty replacements.

Did you post any photos of this box you made? Sounds very cool, I'd love to see that.

here a few of the tool box:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2299444&postcount=7350

 

[stratman977]

Our local ace hardware carries craftsman tools now. They just started this maybe around christmas time. I'd say that 99% of the hard line tools that they have are usa made. I don't know if they are just not selling them or if they are somehow getting usa made stuff. Their prices are the same as sears and they claim that they will warranty anything you bring to them.

 

[bcradio]

I don't think Sears or Craftsman are going to be gone entirely any time soon. I just think that everything will be cheap Chinese manufacture pretty soon, and at that point, even many of the tools that we already have will be far less appealing (and valuable) because they will no longer be backed up by the availability of quality, US-made warranty replacements.

You make a very good point here. I always figured value of USA Craftsman tools would go up when/if all production moves overseas. I failed to think about the warranty adding/subtracting value to the tool as well.

 

[JDS968]

You make a very good point here. I always figured value of USA Craftsman tools would go up when/if all production moves overseas. I failed to think about the warranty adding/subtracting value to the tool as well.

I guess it depends on what tool you're talking about. If it's some tool that is rare (not widely stocked, warehouses don't have piles of them) and highly unlikely to ever be warrantied (either a tool that rarely breaks, or a tool that is "collected" rather than used), then eliminating any possibility of new US production could increase its value. However, the vast majority of these tools are just a means to get work done. For example, I have a fairly comprehensive Craftsman chrome socket set, and while I've never broken a single one, part of the deal when I bought it, that made it worth the money, was that I could never "permanently" break any of them, since an identical replacement would always be as close as the nearest Sears. But maybe not for long...

 

[JDS968]

here a few of the tool box:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2299444&postcount=7350

Wow, that looks great! Really like that. The LED lighting is clever, too.

 

[ar2stp48]

I was in our local ACE store yesterday and asked about them now carrying the Craftsman line. The story told was (again, this is answer I was given): Sears is headed down the drain--quickly or slowly. ACE approached the supplier of Craftsman line of tools and contracted for ACE to market the tool line. They had a good selection of electric and hand tools,and prices were the same as Sears store. The ACE and Sears are less than two blocks apart

 

[shoturtle]

You realized ACE guy told you a bunch of **** to put sears in a low light. As Sears Holding owns company that owns the name and everything around the brand name. Ace went to sears to get their approval to sell craftsman. Because while allot here rag on craftsman and sears. The brand is still a big draw for diy and homer owners that just want a good price for a good tool.

 

[Super Sport]

You make a very good point here. I always figured value of USA Craftsman tools would go up when/if all production moves overseas. I failed to think about the warranty adding/subtracting value to the tool as well.

I'm already taking the value of the warranty into account on most of their tools. I was looking into buying some older SK-made Cman pro wrenches, which are now all made overseas. These wrenches used are fetching the same prices as SK wrenches, which IMO now have a better warranty since they will be replaced with similar quality USA-made wrenches. Why pay the same price for less warranty? The best warranty in the business is not the best anymore.

And speaking of ACE, my store only had some gimmicky imported Cman ****. Nothing good at all. Menards has also started to carry Cman sets.

 

[shoturtle]

but with sk, if ideal did not buy them, you would have no warranty. But there is no sure thing down the line, Ideal might not off shore their production if sales do not go well. It is a higher price tool brand. And if they do not get the sales up where it makes a profit. No telling what ideal will do.

 

[JDS968]

I just ordered some SK gear...come on guys, everybody go buy something from SK, we need to support this brand so I'll have good warranty coverage!

 

[Super Sport]

but with sk, if ideal did not buy them, you would have no warranty. But there is no sure thing down the line, Ideal might not off shore their production if sales do not go well. It is a higher price tool brand. And if they do not get the sales up where it makes a profit. No telling what ideal will do.

That is true, but either brand right now is a bit of a crapshoot. I know for a fact however that the Cman wrenches I would get after warranty today would not be as good as the wrench I'm replacing. That isn't the case with SK and why I felt they currently have a better warranty for what cost me the same.

 

[shoturtle]

It is pot luck, but I warranty a cman pro 19mm yesterday with a new made in the use cman pro 19mm. So right now I there is still allot of USA loose stock available. So I do not worry to much about getting a chinese one. As it took me 15 years to break one, and that was because of what I used it for.

 

[vintagefan]

I don't think it is actually possible to beat this horse to death... many, many consumers are still unaware that Craftsman has now become Made-in-Chinaman.

They slowly snuck the USA markings off the packaging of the few tools that are still USA made, and revamped the packaging on all of the tools so it's impossible to tell the COO unless you remove the item from the rack and search for the smallest print on the back.

It reminded me how far they've fallen, I took out an old socket set at work today when I was cleaning (one of the all-in-one sets), and the blow molded case had a HUGE red white and blue badge that said "MADE IN USA" in probably 1" tall letters.

It seems that the management is completely out of touch with what built the Craftsman name up to what it was. This is corporate Monkey-see Monkey-do in the worst kind of way. Inevitably, these companies make their once strong brand names irrelevant, unfortunately it takes a while for the general consumer to catch up.

 

[reddog289]

While at K-Mart a few months back I picked up a 1/4 ratchet set. just to get the ratchet. I didn't want to deal with fighting to get my U.S. made ratchet replaced with a U.S. made one or one made in China.
A Co Worker of mine who follows corporate stuff, Said that Sears and K-Mart would be done for in he next few years. I belive him.
I do shop at both but if I can get the same tool at Harbor Freight that I can get at Sears, K-Mart, or Ace. I will go for the best deal. Granted I looked online, At Napa, MSC, Tool Houses ETC when looking for a replacement ratche, But Craftsman still had the best deal.
Time will tell with this deal.

 

[cbracer]

but with sk, if ideal did not buy them, you would have no warranty. But there is no sure thing down the line, Ideal might not off shore their production if sales do not go well. It is a higher price tool brand. And if they do not get the sales up where it makes a profit. No telling what ideal will do.

SK will never shore off production of their main tools (sockets, wrenches, etc). Maybe small stuff like flashlights and other branded stuff, but Ideal is a full believer in USA made stuff and even their cheap plastic twist nuts are still made in the USA. With the investment put into all the new machines and factory, I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon.

Also, the sears holding corporation has a lot and I mean a lot of assets in their portfolio. They aren't anywhere close to going out of business.

 

[Burn1]

As I was reading this Craftsman thread, it hit me. I've been a pretty loyal Craftsman supporter/purchaser going on 25+ years now. Craftsman at least in US, has been a tradition for many. In some cases, several generations now. Fond memories of my father dragging me into a Sears to purchase a tool to finish a weekend project as a kid. I too followed down that path as an adult.

Craftsman like other brands has to compete with offshore cheap foreign manufactured goods. Move with the times or die. When corporations cannot save huge dollars by moving manufacturing overseas, that **** stops. Until then, labor savings and lessor enviromental overseas regulations cannot be ignored.

It seems that some American consumers are crying for US manufactured and/or "branded" goods, but yet collectively there seem to be a large percentage of the US population who don't care. Their quality value is based purely on price point and brand is secondary in nature.

Marketing/branding is something I feel Craftsman has let slip over the years. When a brand looses touch with their audience, they are to blame.

Craftsman should spin off from Sears stores. The large mall concept is done in this country for now. Craftsman independant stores around the country should be the focus. You drive to the Craftsman store and by cool tools and accessories.

The thought occured, maybe round "one" as already started via other independant distribution channels of Craftsman, selling product outside their own Sears locations. If they see signs of sucess, maybe their own Craftsman branded stand-alone stores are round "two".

 

[JDS968]

You know what I'd love to see? Tool trucks carrying Craftsman (maybe not stocking much, but at least being able to order and warranty items). Most of them already carry a lot of brands besides the one on the side of the truck. I know this won't do much for the brand as a whole, but I'll bet at least 80% of pros have at least SOMETHING Craftsman in their boxes, and might be interested in buying some more (for the simple things, at least) if new purchases and replacements arrived right at your bay. Because who wants to go to Sears for low-dollar tools when you're actually busy trying to get work done? My Craftsman Professional pliers are among my go-to tools I use constantly every day, but as long as they're even less convenient to warranty than Channellocks (not that I've needed it so far), my next pliers purchases will probably have light blue handles.

 

[shoturtle]

SK will never shore off production of their main tools (sockets, wrenches, etc). Maybe small stuff like flashlights and other branded stuff, but Ideal is a full believer in USA made stuff and even their cheap plastic twist nuts are still made in the USA. With the investment put into all the new machines and factory, I don't see it going anywhere anytime soon.

Also, the sears holding corporation has a lot and I mean a lot of assets in their portfolio. They aren't anywhere close to going out of business.

Ideal saids one the are going to building in the US. But they have been caught doing others things. At the end of the day, sk needs to post a profit, or ideal will have only two choices, close the division or off shore more production. It is business and they need to make money for ideal's investment.