# What?! Craftsman tools still exist?



## John Valdes (May 17, 2007)

Did they close all the sears stores? They closed the one near me.
I had just put tires on my truck and now cannot get free rotation, alignment check ect....unless I drive to Greenville. I now need to see if that store is still open. Thanks for mentioning this.

I guess I will be forking out the $20 bucks for rotation.


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-stanley-craftsman-tools-rollout-0820-story.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/sears-warranties-could-be-dissolved-in-bankruptcy-2017-3


https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2018/10/23/will-sears-survive-bankruptcy/#5ff48cbdd169

Last week I saw small crapsman tool sets in homeboys, so I guess Crapsman will go the way of Rigoid, as far as branding goes (otherwise known as "buyer beware".)


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Sears just filed for bankruptcy last week IIRC. Someone will end up with the Craftsman brand but that doesn't mean they will (or won't) honor the previous obligations with respect to replacing 50 year old broken rusted tools you dig up behind the shed.


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## 460 Delta (May 9, 2018)

Stanley Black and Decker bought the name about a year ago, It's mostly overseas[China] made now.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

There's Craftsman at Ace and Kmart for years now. 

Their screwdrivers are made in USA and not bad for dirt cheap.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

They closed one Sears store out of three on this island. The other two are still open so far. I haven't walked into either in a few months now, people tell me the shelves are pretty bare. I'm not happy about this, but it is not my issue. I used to buy all my lawn equipment, hand tools such as screwdrivers , shoes, pants, shirts, and on and on from them since I was a kid. My mom worked for them a long chunk of her life. I would get a 30% discount thanks to that. 

At some point Sears did not honor it's pension plan for my mother, and her friends who worked decades there. Karma is a bitch baby, so Mr. Sears- (pun) what goes around, comes around. You tried to make the stockholders happy by canceling the pensions and now you are in bankruptcy. The wheels of God turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine . Deal with it.


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

So did my aunt. She worked 20 years for Sears. I was a very faithful Craftsman customer especially power tools.


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Ironically they started out as a catalog company (after a one-store location in IL). I should say they grew into the behemoth as a catalog company. Then when malls came along their catalog died. Then when the internet came Amazon created the e-catalog and ran over them like a freight train. RIP Sears, an American icon.


They missed their shot at the e-catalog.


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## Bird dog (Oct 27, 2015)

MikeFL said:


> Ironically they started out as a catalog company (after a one-store location in IL). I should say they grew into the behemoth as a catalog company. Then when malls came along their catalog died. Then when the internet came Amazon created the e-catalog and ran over them like a freight train. RIP Sears, an American icon.
> 
> 
> They missed their shot at the e-catalog.


 Also, HD, Lowes & Walmart were competitors to some degree.
Surprising how long a dead company can appear alive.


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## paulengr (Oct 8, 2017)

Stanley Black and Decker bought the Craftsman name a year or two ago. Sears licenses it back for something like 10 years nd then pays royalties after that. SBD promptly started aggressively selling tools everywhere under the new name EXCEPT Sears. Any Sears Craftsman is not SBD Craftsman. So for instance if you buy a cordless drill at Sears the batteries from Lowe's will not fit. Some of it is surprisingly good. The Craftsman stackable tool box sets for instance are literally Dewalt Tstak sets just with red and black instead of yellow and black. So far they seem to be positioning it as a mid to low range brand. No word yet on what becomes of Porter Cable, B&D, etc., as far as product positioning goes. SBD says they're going to honor warranties but it's not clear how this would work in reality. Do they honor the old Craftsman name? If you bought a tool today at a going out of business sale at Sears does Lowe's honor it? No answers.

And Sears Holding owns Kmart. The Craftsman stuff that appeared there 5 years ago IS Sears Craftsman. They were experimenting with various incarnations of Sears/Kmart hybrid.

The CEO of Sears Holding has been slowly closing stores and marketing the very valuable choice real estate while as stated keeping employees on life support. The stock price has been unchanged for 10 years as the guy equity strips the company and buys back outstanding shares so that the company size slowly shrinks over time. It's a really strange business strategy. This is the only "successful" managed collapse of a business I've ever seen.

The ridiculous part is that Sears had a web site out way long ago, when Amazon was still just a book store. But they never put any money into it so it never went anywhere and ended up being like walmart.com...Just a "me too".


Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk


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## wildleg (Apr 12, 2009)

Fact is, the karma stretches way, way, way further back than that.

If you do a read on how sears managed to obtain all the other peoples' lines of products, it a tale reminiscent of the kind of moral debauchery and monopolization performed by Standard Oil.

at least, allegedly, as told to me by my boss, when we were building a sears trade center in DC back in the 80s, (hah).


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

MikeFL said:


> Ironically they started out as a catalog company (after a one-store location in IL). I should say they grew into the behemoth as a catalog company. Then when malls came along their catalog died. Then when the internet came Amazon created the e-catalog and ran over them like a freight train. RIP Sears, an American icon.
> 
> 
> They missed their shot at the e-catalog.


This is another example of what happens when you can't adapt, like the dinosaurs, you can be the biggest and the baddest and rule the earth but if you can't adapt, sooner or later you're extinct.


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

Was at Lowes yesterday, saw a ton of Craftsman stuff. Mostly socket sets and hand tools.

Sears used to sell houses, imagine that?


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

paulengr said:


> Stanley Black and Decker bought the Craftsman name a year or two ago. Sears licenses it back for something like 10 years nd then pays royalties after that. SBD promptly started aggressively selling tools everywhere under the new name EXCEPT Sears. Any Sears Craftsman is not SBD Craftsman. So for instance if you buy a cordless drill at Sears the batteries from Lowe's will not fit. Some of it is surprisingly good. The Craftsman stackable tool box sets for instance are literally Dewalt Tstak sets just with red and black instead of yellow and black. So far they seem to be positioning it as a mid to low range brand. No word yet on what becomes of Porter Cable, B&D, etc., as far as product positioning goes. SBD says they're going to honor warranties but it's not clear how this would work in reality. Do they honor the old Craftsman name? If you bought a tool today at a going out of business sale at Sears does Lowe's honor it? No answers.
> 
> And Sears Holding owns Kmart. The Craftsman stuff that appeared there 5 years ago IS Sears Craftsman. They were experimenting with various incarnations of Sears/Kmart hybrid.
> 
> ...


Just like Radio Shack


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

LARMGUY said:


> Just like Radio Shack


Now there's a place I really miss. 

Not the cell phone store, I mean the real Radio Shack that you could buy electronic parts and stuff.

The times they are changin'


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

Sears is totally gone now in Canada.
They started by closing a few stores here and there, until finally they went bankrupt. I'd think the same will happen down there.

Sears also paid their shareholders good dividends, and took away the employees retirement funds. 

As a kid, I remember the Christmas Wish Book, and there are a lot of memories there... as an adult, knowing how they treated their employees, I really hope the worst for them.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

I've always liked their sockets, wrenches and screwdrivers but nor much else. 

Well, their work clothes are pretty good too. 

I haven't liked their power tools for quite a while, too many new and innovative features and safety features that make them mostly useless.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

Signal1 said:


> Now there's a place I really miss.
> 
> Not the cell phone store, I mean the real Radio Shack that you could buy electronic parts and stuff.
> 
> The times they are changin'


And sometimes, not for the better.......


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## Switched (Dec 23, 2012)

I liked (still like) to comb through the old house catalogs. You can see them online now.

Other than that, never really liked Sears. I bought Craftsman tools for sure, but the quality ship sailed before I even started my tool collection.

As to the note about them screwing employees.... almost every corporation would/will do it in a heartbeat. That's one to add to the list of reasons small businesses fail, owners will pay employees for weeks, months, and even years, all the while taking home no salary or profit, just to attempt to treat their employees right. (Incorrect thinking though, treating them right would be letting them know and working together to right the ship IMO..)


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

splatz said:


> This is another example of what happens when you can't adapt, like the dinosaurs, you can be the biggest and the baddest and rule the earth but if you can't adapt, sooner or later you're extinct.





If you DON'T adapt.
They could have. They chose not to.
Bad choice.


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

LARMGUY said:


> So did my aunt. She worked 20 years for Sears. I was a very faithful Craftsman customer especially power tools.


I always disliked their handheld powertools, never seemed up to par.


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

The heart of Craftsman hand tools was always manufactured by EASCO. Sears spun off its brands, one by one over the last generation.

Sears became a BANK by the mid-1960s. In this it pre-peated General Electric, another BANK that most mistook for a manufacturing firm.

I say BANK because the vast, vast bulk of the profits for both Sears and GE in their heyday were derived from LENDING at interest.

The problem for both: eventually they became ADDICTED to lending to the worst risks at the highest net spreads. When the business cycle contracted, they got HAMMERED.

GE has been selling its crown jewels to Red China for YEARS.

That's what has destroyed GE.

It's what destroyed Sears.

For years on end, their financials released to Wall Street were -- at a fundamental level -- frauds.


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## Islander (Jul 11, 2016)

Well, that was a lot more information than I was expecting. :biggrin:

As emt mentioned, Sears is gone now in Canada. Can't say I'll miss them, as it was pretty rare for me to shop there.

As for the tools, I'll probably give them a wide berth for now. Maybe someday they will measure up to Milwaukee and the like. Maybe.

Thanks for all the responses.


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## catsparky1 (Sep 24, 2013)

I used my daddy's Craftmans 9"linesmens for the first twenty years of this trade after he used them . I stole them out of his tool box . Fessed up to it after they got stolen . He gave me some knipex . He kinda liked I cut my teeth with them and took care of them for so long . 

Then we had a beer and talked about old times and we laughed . Then we took some shots and then he hit me with his belt for stealing his tools . F_Cking dad good times .


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

I have Craftsman sockets from 1/4" dr to 3/4" dr and every design wrench they make from early 1960's vintage right up until maybe 1995 and they all are still in great workable order.

Always preferred Craftsman fine tooth ratchets when the only two choices for them were Craftsman and Snap-on.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

I use to spend thousands a year at sears then i fell foul of the small print on there credit card which cost me about $100. After that i never bought another thing from sears.

Funny thing is just about every mechanic i worked with told me they had fell for the same trick which is why they no longer bought craftmans tools.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

gpop said:


> I use to spend thousands a year at sears then i fell foul of the small print on there credit card which cost me about $100. After that i never bought another thing from sears.
> 
> Funny thing is just about every mechanic i worked with told me they had fell for the same trick which is why they no longer bought craftmans tools.


Yet another corporate ploy designed to increase profits but backfired instead......


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## scotch (Oct 17, 2013)

emtnut said:


> Sears is totally gone now in Canada.
> They started by closing a few stores here and there, until finally they went bankrupt. I'd think the same will happen down there.
> 
> Sears also paid their shareholders good dividends, and took away the employees retirement funds.
> ...


As I get out my "tecomaster" wrenches from Eatons ....


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

catsparky1 said:


> I used my daddy's Craftmans 9"linesmens for the first twenty years of this trade after he used them . I stole them out of his tool box . Fessed up to it after they got stolen . He gave me some knipex . He kinda liked I cut my teeth with them and took care of them for so long .
> 
> Then we had a beer and talked about old times and we laughed . Then we took some shots and then he hit me with his belt for stealing his tools . F_Cking dad good times .


That's a great story.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Switched said:


> I liked (still like) to comb through the old house catalogs. You can see them online now.


I like looking through those old catalogs too. All said and done they have held up pretty damn well for a kit / DIY house! Not just the structure, but the style, they are still desirable houses going on 100 years later. 

Different world when so many people would / could buy a house and build it themselves...


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Blowes here is crammed full of Craftsman. I walked past it all and bought me some Bosch.


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## Bird dog (Oct 27, 2015)

99cent$ said:


> Blowes here is crammed full of Craftsman. I walked past it all and bought me some Bosch.


Why the screen name change?


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Bird dog said:


> Why the screen name change?


Phone died and the password went with it. Admin never responded.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

Man I used to love laying on the living room floor and going thru those catalogs. Right before Xmas.


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## daveEM (Nov 18, 2012)

99cent$ said:


> Phone died and the password went with it. Admin never responded.


I have an app that holds all my passwords. So I use one password to unlock it and I can look up all my passwords.

App is on my phone, on my phone, on my phone... :surprise:

Jeez I better back that guy up somewhere.


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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

99cent$ said:


> Phone died and the password went with it. Admin never responded.


Yea and when they made us go to all those weird ass passwords no one remembers theirs. I have no idea. I would just have to start all over.


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## Bird dog (Oct 27, 2015)

daveEM said:


> I have an app that holds all my passwords. So I use one password to unlock it and I can look up all my passwords.
> 
> App is on my phone, on my phone, on my phone... :surprise:
> 
> Jeez I better back that guy up somewhere.


Back up the whole phone. Btw I have all my passwords, usernames, security questions etc written in a notebook.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

Bird dog said:


> daveEM said:
> 
> 
> > I have an app that holds all my passwords. So I use one password to unlock it and I can look up all my passwords.
> ...


I dont believe you. Post a picture of the note pad with the passwords.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

daveEM said:


> I have an app that holds all my passwords. So I use one password to unlock it and I can look up all my passwords.
> 
> App is on my phone, on my phone, on my phone... :surprise:
> 
> Jeez I better back that guy up somewhere.


Obviously you don't have a Samsung dumbphone that craps out after 1 1/2 years  .


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

99cent$ said:


> Phone died and the password went with it. Admin never responded.


 @Cricket can take care of it :wink:


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

scotch said:


> As I get out my "tecomaster" wrenches from Eatons ....


My grandmother worked for Eatons.
Wayyyy before I came into the world, she bought a 'Viking' 5hp outboard for the cottage. It was a rebranded Evinrude.

Good memories bombing up and down the Ottawa River with that when I was a kid.

Come to think of it ... no license, no life jacket, no bailing device or whistle... and I'm still here :biggrin:


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

Bird dog said:


> I have all my passwords, usernames, security questions etc written in a notebook.


Same here. 

No fancy electronics to fail, just a simple notebook. 

Plus, unless they break into my house, it's pretty difficult to hack a hand written notebook.


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## Admin (Jan 4, 2010)

99cent$ said:


> Phone died and the password went with it. Admin never responded.


Use the contact us link. It goes to me.
https://www.electriciantalk.com/sendmessage.php


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## electricguy (Mar 22, 2007)

Lowes is closing 31 locations in Canada


Lowe's is closing 31 locations across Canada, mostly Rona stores. (Scott Galley/CBC)
The chain is also closing 20 Lowe's locations across the U.S. immediately. The Canadian locations will stay open for a bit longer, before being shuttered for good by the end of February 2019.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/lowes-rona-closures-1.4892055


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## R777V (May 16, 2016)

macmikeman said:


> They closed one Sears store out of three on this island. The other two are still open so far. I haven't walked into either in a few months now, people tell me the shelves are pretty bare. I'm not happy about this, but it is not my issue. I used to buy all my lawn equipment, hand tools such as screwdrivers , shoes, pants, shirts, and on and on from them since I was a kid. My mom worked for them a long chunk of her life. I would get a 30% discount thanks to that.
> 
> 
> 
> At some point Sears did not honor it's pension plan for my mother, and her friends who worked decades there. Karma is a bitch baby, so Mr. Sears- (pun) what goes around, comes around. You tried to make the stockholders happy by canceling the pensions and now you are in bankruptcy. The wheels of God turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine . Deal with it.




Ditto United Airlines, and now finally lawmakers are crying pension reform. I still will get pennies on the dollar for my pension. Meanwhile Continental Airlines legacy employees have been fully funded all along. I still remember well the corrupt judges allowing this all to happen when Mileage Plus (fully owned United asset) was 12 BILLION dollars liquid while they screwed us all. Never would have happened to me if I wasn’t lured away from the trade unions. So now I have the corrupt Aircraft Mechanic pandering Teamster Union looking out for me. The only way I can retire will be SS disability and disability Insurance when I’m 90!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

emtnut said:


> My grandmother worked for Eatons.
> Wayyyy before I came into the world, she bought a 'Viking' 5hp outboard for the cottage. It was a rebranded Evinrude.
> 
> Good memories bombing up and down the Ottawa River with that when I was a kid.
> ...


Amazing some of the things we were able to survive!

I think riding bikes without helmets is a classic example along with drinking from a garden hose.


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## Islander (Jul 11, 2016)

electricguy said:


> Lowes is closing 31 locations in Canada
> 
> 
> Lowe's is closing 31 locations across Canada, mostly Rona stores. (Scott Galley/CBC)
> ...


Not surprised. The Rona near me looks like a ghost town. Minimal staff, minimal stock, and only about half the lights on during evenings. Perhaps all the Ronas will be replaced with Lowes stores eventually.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

Islander said:


> Not surprised. The Rona near me looks like a ghost town. Minimal staff, minimal stock, and only about half the lights on during evenings. Perhaps all the Ronas will be replaced with Lowes stores eventually.


Rona completely sucks. They used to be Totem stores here with a couple of guys at the lumber counter but that level of service doesn't exist anymore. Lowes sucks too but not as bad as Rona. I use them because they're close to home and open at 6 am. 

I don't much like HD either but at least they attempt to serve the contractor market. I'll play the 10% price beat game with these clowns. Last time it was with panels. Lowes was a buck cheaper so HD beat them by 10% and I bought three.


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## Norcal (Mar 22, 2007)

Craftsman is a tarnished brand, better off buying Harbor Freight, before CM became ChiCom, put some Home Depot Husky tools back on the shelf & went to Sears to by the US made CM, sadly that Sears closed, but reopened as a FEMA center for the thousands of people who lost their homes in the recent Camp Fire.


I dislike Sears, but don't care for Satanly Bleak & Dorker (Stanley Black & Decker) either.


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