When did Kmart make hand tools?

[AJH]

Inherited from my grandfather. No idea what date it's from, but seems decent enough for the home toolbox.

 

[jd_1138]

I've got a few wrenches I bought when I worked there in the early 1980's. They weren't bad, but nothing overly spectacular either. They still had a lot of name brand products made in the US back then. Not the wrenches, but a lot of other products.

K-Mart was the #1 retailer in the US for a few years, beating out Sears, and Walmart was 3 or 4 at the time.

The food in the cafeteria wasn't bad, and was priced very reasonably. I ate there quite a bit during the 4 or 5 years I worked for them.

Remember the smoky glass inserts they had at the cafeteria? So you could sit there and eat your club sandwich and strawberry Jello without having to stare at people loading up **** into their carts?

Yeah their tool lineup was pretty extensive. I believe they had K-Mart branded jigsaws, tables saws, circular saws, etc. for wood workers.

 

[Cato]

Remember the smoky glass inserts they had at the cafeteria? So you could sit there and eat your club sandwich and strawberry Jello without having to stare at people loading up **** into their carts?

You know, the only thing left of a lunch counter at my local KMart is Slush Puppy Machine - folks still buy them!

 

[woody 73]

A few years back I posted a picture of my Benchtop ratchet that I picked up in an old tool box that I bought; funny thing because I grab that ratchet first before the others because it has such a smooth action.

 

[toolmutt]

I have a set of 3/8" and 1/4" drive shallow metric sockets that I bought in the early 80's. I bought a car that had metric fasteners, but on a college student budget, I opted for "affordable". They are still going strong in my truck box, though.

 

[stage20]

K-Mart made socket sets in the 80's from Japan were very decent. I have one set of those. Really, in the 80's hard to find anything made in Japan that was bad in any way. Japan quality was rising in the 70's and it reached the top in the 80's and stayed there. Taiwan was rising in the 80's and reached the top in the later 90's and stayed there. Even Sears sold many tools in the 80's made in Japan. Craftsman was still US then, but Sears brand was often Japan. I have some Sears Japan wrenches from then that are just fine, about same as US Craftsman of that era. - Paul

There were craftsman wrenches made in Japan raised panels. You can slot them because the beams are wider and the script is larger. Mid 90s

 

[n2cuffinu]

I've been coming across several "extinct" branded tools in my dad's old toolbox. Both Craftsman's are the good ol USA made ones.