Sears To License Kenmore

[mattl]

Came across this:

<blockquote>
Hoffman Estates, Ill. - Sears may be looking to license its private-label Kenmore brand.

According to a Bloomberg report, the retailer plans to hire a firm that would license out the appliance line, along with its in-house Craftsmen and DieHard badges, to third parties in exchange for a fee.

The news follows last June's licensing deal with Dorcy International that allows the flashlight maker to sell DieHard-branded batteries and flashlights to retailers.

Licensing its lines represents a new twist for the company, which has sought for several years to sell its private-label products directly to competing merchants, albeit with little success. Sears currently sells its Craftsmen tools to Ace Hardware and, according to The Wall Street Journal, may soon sell Kenmore appliances to Costco. But majap dealers are reluctant to carry a line so closely associated with their No. 1 competitor, retailers and buying groups have told TWICE.

 

</blockquote>
 

Consumer Electronic News | Blogs | Retailing | Appliances | CES | Twice

 

[lordkenmore]

If retailers aren't interested in carrying a real Sears product, because it's so closely associated with a major competitor, why on earth would anyone think that these same retailers will be happy carrying a Sears product made by a third party? The name will still be tied in with Sears. Plus most people would probably assume it's the real Sears.

 

Of course, the motive in these cases is always the same: make as much money off a name as possible before the ship sinks.

 

[mrb627]

Kenmore Name

IMO, the Kenmore name that was once associated with quality at a reasonable price is long since gone. Just look at the ridiculous pricing on the extended Warranties that the expect you to pay on their so called quality machines. Seems to me that to instill quality, extend the warranty to beat out the competitions would be the first place to start.

So, to remain on topic, I can't see anyone wanting to license the Kenmore name for their product. Unless it was, gasp, Haier.

Malcolm

 

[alr2903]

It's beginning to look alot like the final Christmas?

I really think it was Sears revolving charge that put many of the Kenmore machines in peoples homes years ago, and they were good middle of the road appliances.  Nowdays people transfer balances all the time to "new offer" credit cards to avoid paying interest.   Most folks have other credit options nowdays, and purchasing a new appliance is often done  in a hurry on a lunch break, and they definately do not like that endless extended warranty sermon.   

 

[combo52]

THE FINEL SEARS CHRISTMAS ?

I do think the end is near for Sears and there will be a scramble for the Kenmore name [ my bet is that Lowes gets it ] The Craftsman and Diehard names also have some value. It would actually be smart for some other company to make a deal now for the KM name.

 

[iheartmaytag]

ACE Hardware has been selling Craftsman for several years already.

 

Sears in circling the toliet for the last time, and with their "great" customer service they provide I am sure the glug and disappearance with happens soon.

 

 

 

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

The Kenmore brand will definitely go down in its strange & unusual history...!

I remember seeing the old Sears ads in the paper & remember learning how the KENMORE (& COLDSPOT) appliances were "exclusive" to that retailer, & unique the appliances were...

People are going to really miss it enough that those still used to it (& who have grown up w/ it) will be glad that it will still turn up somewhere even long-after SEARS is gone...!

-- Dave

Shop: Appliances, Tools, Clothing, Mattresses & More

Shop Sears for appliances, tools, clothing, mattresses & more. Great name brands like Kenmore, Craftsman Tools, Serta, Diehard and many others.

www.searsarchives.com

 

[tomturbomatic]

before the ship sinks.

I think the lower decks are already full of water.

 

[lordkenmore]

"People are going to really miss it enough that those still used to it (& who have grown up w/ it) will be glad that it will still turn up somewhere even long-after SEARS is gone...!"

 

Probably true. But--while it's sad seeing an old name go, sometimes it would be for the best. I've seen too many one-time good companies of decades past that have--for practical purposes--gone out of business, but the name lingers on. And usually the name lingers on as just a name which gets slapped on the cheapest of junk.

 

[pierreandreply4]

even if sears is gone for those that still went the brand th

Even if sears eliminates the kenmore brand there is always store that sells use applaince and sites like craig list or ebay where you may find the kenmore brand of appliance

 

[petek]

After reading this you have to think that it does probably have something to do with the closing down of the stores. I don't see how they make any money in their stores, more like losing money. Every store I go in is almost empty. Even the flagship downtown Toronto store last month on a Saturday, 4 or 5 floors of empty aisles. Our local Sears the same,, the one across the bridge in Michigan, empty. Back five years ago in Calgary all 4 of the suburban stores and the downtown store empty (except at luchtime M-F for an hour) and even then amounted to nothing. Someone I knew that worked there said they made more money on the big parking garage than in store sales. Their suburban HOME stores in Canada selling just furniture and appliances,, empty. The only store around here that has a goodly amount of cars parked outside,, Walmart and Canadian Tire.

 

[alr2903]

If you remember, Western Auto was selling "Die Hard" car batteries up until they landed in oblivion. alr

 

[whirlcool]

Actually not long ago when I was researching batteries for my car I found that the Sears DieHard battery is actually sold under several different brands. The same battery can be found without the Diehard name on it for much cheaper prices from different retailers.

We have a rather large Sears hardware store near us. They sell appliances too, but you never see more than 4 or 5 cars parked in front of it. There is never a line at checkout.

You know years ago, I boycotted Sears back when I was a teen. But I never really bought anything from Sears except for some sales on Craftsman tools. But over the years we never really considered Sears for anything at all. When we bought this house in 2003, it was full of Kenmore appliances. In 2008 they were all replaced with Maytag & GE appliances. But I should say that all those Kenmore appliances were definitely BOL models.

There is a Sears store in a mall near us, but I haven't even driven by it in years. All the stores we go to are on the other side of the mall. But we do know a few people who buy almost everything at Sears. Remember when "Sears has everything"?

 

[tomturbomatic]

There is never a line at checkout.

That would usually mean that the "terminal" was down or the most convenient and obvious checkout was closed in favor of one that is harder to find. If there was one thing Sears stores were good at, it was having lines at the registers. I guess that is harder to accomplish with no customers.

The stores here employ women who will not speak Engrish. If you ask where something is, they will point or take you to it and point, sort of like the silent last spectre that visits Scrooge and points to his gravestone. Maybe it's because the foreign women are forbidden by their culture or religion from talking to men, I don't know, but in a shoe department that sells both men's and women's shoes, it is strange.

 

[whirlcool]

At the Sears Hardware store there are only three registers. The one that is kind of built into the Customer Service desk is the one that is always used. I have never seen the other two open at all.
Speaking of Sears and Craftsman tools, if you buy Craftsman tools, join the Tool Club at Sears. They are always having unadvertised sales for members. It's free to join and can save you a considerable amount. I didn't know there was any such thing until a friend of ours told us about it. I asked a salesperson at Sears about it and he gave me a membership form to complete. That was all there was to it.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Finding someone to help with exchanging the worn out tools at Sears has become a big hassle.

 

[lordkenmore]

This should be embarrassing for LordKENMORE to admit...

I've almost never shopped at Sears. I think the ONLY purchase I can even remember making there was a Torx screwdriver. I specifically went to Sears to get it--I needed the longest screwdriver I could get, and had heard that Sears was the best, readily available option.

 

Other than that I can't recall having bought anything there. I've gone through a few times for one reason or another--but it seemed like they never had what I wanted, or had the best deal.

 

I don't recall my parents ever shopping much at Sears, either. It's strange, because (before I was born), they did shop there at least twice that I know of--to buy a washer, then a dryer. I never heard of any "This is it! I hate this place! I'm never coming back!" moments. Part of it was, I gathered, the inconvenience many years of getting to Sears--but eventually a mall location opened. That wouldn't have been inconvenient--my parents shopped other stores at that mall--but still almost never went Sears. But I think the nature of our shopping by that point probably ruled Sears out. Most of what we were buying at the mall was clothing type items, and my mother had preferred stores for that. We never bought a major appliance--my parents would have held off until the old appliance was broken past repair. And smaller appliances and tools were available at a Fred Meyer much closer to home.

 

[lordkenmore]

While my nuclear family seldom shopped Sears, at least one of my grandmother's shopped there. Sears was the place where she liked to get appliances. And I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't buy furniture and clothing there, too. Plus she liked the catalog--the day they announced the catalog's passing, she may have mourned it as much--or more!--than one of us mourned the passing of the "real" Maytag.

 

This is probably one reason I was never wild about Sears--there was too much a feeling of "this is a place where Grandma shops!" This was when I was young. Now, ironically, I tend to be frugal shopper, and do as much shopping in thrift stores as I can. And so now Sears seems hopelessly expensive!

 

[lordkenmore]

Every time talk about Sears possibly fading away comes up, I wonder something: will the laundry detergent survive? I haven't tried it yet, but I know I've heard almost nothing but rave reviews here. It might well be the most loved, least disliked detergent here.