Craftsman Has Now Left the Building

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nanook

nanook

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I just received an email announcing this "exciting news" from Tom Park, President, Kenmore, Craftsman, Die Hard - which reads, in part... "On January 5, Sears Holdings announced that it will sell the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker". It went on to reassure us how "... Craftsman will continue to develop new innovations..." and how Sears will still sell Craftsman - with some items "exclusive" to Sears, blah, blah, blah.

I presume this is merely the beginning. 2017 is starting-out in 'grand fashion', ain't it-?
 
Supposedly...

Stanley/B & D will be bringing back much manufacturing to the US, a lot of Craftsman tools had been made overseas over the last 15-20 yrs, and quality had clearly slipped. Glad we bought most of our Craftsman tools in the '70s.
 
Yes, The Guarantee Continues

[COLOR=#000000; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Here's the entire email-[/COLOR]

 

I'm writing to let you know some exciting news about Craftsman that will enable us to put even more hardworking tools in the hands of makers everywhere. On January 5, Sears Holdings announced that it will sell the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker.

Craftsman is and has been an important part of the Sears family for ninety years. And that’s not going to change. The research and development team at Sears and Craftsman will continue to develop new innovations that will be available exclusively at Sears and Kmart stores and online. However, as part of this transaction, Stanley Black & Decker will gain the rights to develop, manufacture and sell Craftsman-branded products outside of Sears and Kmart, which will make Craftsman products more broadly available in the USA and internationally.

Craftsman remains committed to maintaining the very best aspects of the Craftsman brand. You'll still find the most high quality tools available at the best value, along with our exclusive lifetime warranty on Craftsman tools, which has been a hallmark of the brand for generations.

 

Sears will continue to have the most extensive range of Craftsman tools and lawn and garden products, along with the same trusted service you rely on. In addition to being sold primarily at Sears and Kmart, Craftsman will soon be available at other retailers nationwide.

Your membership in Craftsman Club will not change and we will continue to provide you with exclusive offers, tips and information to help you with all your projects.

Thank you for your membership and loyalty to Craftsman. We look forward to supporting makers everywhere and providing you with the tools you need for many more years to come.

Sincerely,
Tom Park
President Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard
 
Who will get Kenmore?

Judging from who makes Kenmore appliances these days, Home Depot and Lowe's already carry "Kenmore," but regardless of that, the Kenmore brand is still worth something -- to those who were familiar with it back when it was still synonymous with quality and bling.  Millennials, however, don't have the slightest idea about the Kenmore brand, so its value isn't what it once was.

 

I still have a lot of the Craftsman tools my dad bought in the '50s and '60s.  I'm glad that under Stanley/BD they'll be made in U.S.A. again and the lifetime warranty will continue.  It's the exact opposite of the direction Sears took with the Kenmore brand.

 

 
 
This deal will help them, I hope. Almost $900 million total...and percentage of all Craftsman tool sales for 15 years. Sears will continue to have the majority of the sales. I don't see Kenmore being sold in the near future though. Sears gets a lot of sales from appliances.
 
Craftsman Sockets Made in Springfield, Mass.

I had a summer job in 1975, at Moore Drop Forge, in Springfield, Mass. They manufactured sockets and other tools for Craftsman.

Funny story: One day at lunch, there was a stack of plastic bins, loaded with sockets. Hundreds and hundreds of them. For no reason whatsoever, the stack fell over, spilling all the sockets on the floor. Fortunately, all the sockets were the same size. I can't imagine the labor that would have been involved in sorting different sizes.
 
Interesting story-my Grandfather used to live near Springfeild,Mass.Spent some summers at his house when I was little.Toured thru the Noble gun factory when I was there.They made .22 rifles and shotguns.
 
Kenmore Appliance Brand

Will be sold but probably not till Sears closes its doors, I have long predicted that Lowe's will get the KM brand.

 

I predict that Sears will close its doors before 2017 ends.

 

What is everyone's prediction when the final curtain call for Sears and Kmart happens ?
 
Craftsman Hand Tools

As a mechanic I have always kept a box of Craftsman tools that have failed, the last time I tried to exchange a 1/2 dozen broken tools at our local Sears store they only had about four of the tools I needed, so they could not exchange the others.

 

Usually I would exchange broken tools every year and I would buy about three times as many as I exchanged to replace lost tools and add additional tools, but after this disappointing experience about 8 years ago I never bought another Craftsman tool, I guess that I should take my box of broken tools to one of the new retailers that will now be handling Craftsman tools, wounder how Costco will act if I show up with a bunch of broken Craftsman tools, LOL.
 
ACE Hardware has been selling Craftsman products for years. 

 

Kenmore is not what it used to be.  When it was the only brand Sear's sold it was something.  People went to Sear's to buy Kenmore.   When they moved to Brand Central I personally believe they diluted their brand and lost their market share, and usually still lost the sale to another store.
 
Cool! a Craftsman store.

Hello Harley, my dad had a Sears financial report when they started brand central.
It said they decided to sell and service all brands to expand both the sales and service sector of the appliance market share.
It actually did work at first, but once the big box stores cam along, it was even more competition.
Sears service up here has been outsourced for quite a while to another company.
They also used an outside company of telemarketers to sell maintainance agreements to sears customers.
 

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