Sears sells Craftsman to Stanley/Black&Decker

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2017 12:20 pm

Sears is hurting and needs cash, so they sold off Craftsman...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ ... story.html

I know there are a number of big name tool sources ranging from Snap-On, Mac, Matco, Craftsman and Harbor Freight/Generic Chinese. And that in general Craftsman is not exactly a premium brand. But... I generally like basic Craftsman tools. Any opinions on implications of Stanley taking over?

Richard

BenjaminGuardiola · **Joined:** Wed May 14, 2014 8:31 am **Posts:** 84

My Dad used to be a fan of Craftsman tools, around 15 years ago he noticed a sharp decline in quality.

He broke a pair of pliers (I believe they were 10+ years old) and the replacement they gave him came in an assorted pack of 5. He then went on to break those pliers every 3 months or so, and every time they would give him the same pack of 5.
He got tired of driving to Sears to get a replacement and switched to Snap-On.

For basic hand-tools, Stanley makes good tools. I actually prefer Stanley to Craftsman. I am interested to see what they do with the Craftsman name. Sears must be going under soon. I think the appliance department is the only thing keeping them open.

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

Going back a few years, there were a bunch of articles about how Eddie Lampert is a terrible CEO. I'm surprised Sears has managed to hold on for so long, it's a bit impressive. I'm going to bite my tongue and not touch on politics, but if you go look for any articles about Lampert, it's a deep, rich vein of everyone across the political spectrum putting him on blast.

My disappointing Sears story:
I bought a beam style 1/2" drive torque wrench online from them back in 2013 because they weren't available at the Sears in Cary or Crabtree. I received a blue recycle bin for a gentleman in Kentucky or something instead. The manager at the Cary store did the appropriate amount of freaking out and offered to let me grab the 1/2" clicker instead. Not bad, right? Scored a $80 torque wrench for like $25, eh? The clicker didn't even last a year; I think half of the teeth in the head stripped from the taxing application of torquing my wheels to 80 ft-lbs.

Has anyone here had terrible experiences with Kobalt? I know it's the Lowes store brand, but it can't be any worse than Craftsman, right?

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:20 pm

Andrew Jonell wrote:

Going back a few years, there were a bunch of articles about how Eddie Lampert is a terrible CEO. I'm surprised Sears has managed to hold on for so long, it's a bit impressive. I'm going to bite my tongue and not touch on politics, but if you go look for any articles about Lampert, it's a deep, rich vein of everyone across the political spectrum putting him on blast.

Eddie Lampert was/is a hedge fund genius that everything he touched turned to gold... that is until he was made the CEO of Sears Holdings. He never understood retail and really got into it for the capital holdings. In the end, he was compensated heavily and will be no worse the wear. I think Kmart bought Sears as part of the package to get Lampert involved. That backfired.

For basic wheel torque, go down to Harbor Freight and buy a Pittsburgh brand torque wrench. They're cheap and incredibly accurate. I have a brand new Cornwell Tools 50-250 clicker style torque wrench that I tested my 16 year old $10 Pittsburgh against for wheel torque (90 lb ft) and the Pittsburgh is still dead on. - AB

RobLupella · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2017 4:23 pm

Andrew Jonell wrote:

Going back a few years, there were a bunch of articles about how Eddie Lampert is a terrible CEO. I'm surprised Sears has managed to hold on for so long, it's a bit impressive. I'm going to bite my tongue and not touch on politics, but if you go look for any articles about Lampert, it's a deep, rich vein of everyone across the political spectrum putting him on blast.

My disappointing Sears story:
I bought a beam style 1/2" drive torque wrench online from them back in 2013 because they weren't available at the Sears in Cary or Crabtree. I received a blue recycle bin for a gentleman in Kentucky or something instead. The manager at the Cary store did the appropriate amount of freaking out and offered to let me grab the 1/2" clicker instead. Not bad, right? Scored a $80 torque wrench for like $25, eh? The clicker didn't even last a year; I think half of the teeth in the head stripped from the taxing application of torquing my wheels to 80 ft-lbs.

Has anyone here had terrible experiences with Kobalt? I know it's the Lowes store brand, but it can't be any worse than Craftsman, right?

Most of the Kobalt stuff I have has been ok. I have a set of through sockets (the ones that the bolt fits through the socket head) and they work well; I probably use them more than any others. I also have various hand tools and a compound mitre saw all of which seem to be lasting. I don't have any precision tools like a torque wrench but then again, mine is from Harbor freight which has admittedly lasted longer than the Craftsman.

BenjaminGuardiola · **Joined:** Wed May 14, 2014 8:31 am **Posts:** 84

The early Kobalt stuff (1998-2003) was made by Williams, the same company that makes Snap-On. Then from 2003-2011 it was made by Danaher, the company that makes Matco. The current stuff is made by JS Products, and I have no idea who they are. They established a good reputation and slowly reduced quality and kept prices the same. Not to say they are junk, they just used to be a really good deal.
Their sockets sets are nice (the ones I have used). I like their pass-through sets too. Everything else is just OK. Part of that might be personal preference; but I think for the money, there are better options for most tools.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2017 5:22 pm

I actually don't have a lot of Craftsman when you look at everything I have. I do have two basic craftsman wrenches plus a set of metric and SAE sockets plus ratchets. Those have been just fine. I actually like them. I know that the more expensive wrenches (Snap-on, etc.) are beefier, better finish, etc. Oddly enough I am also a fan of the Harbor Freight clicker torque wrenches. I religiously keep mine set at 0 lbs when stored and don't abuse mine and when checked against other devices (including a Harbor Freight digital torque sensor if you can trust that) and it has proven to be pretty accurate over a decade plus of use.

From a nostalgic perspective, it is sad about Craftsman + Sears, but I suspect the time to be sad was years ago anyhow when Craftsman stopped really being anything more than just "ok". My Dad who passed away a few years ago used to work at Sears in the sporting good department when he was in college. Based upon his stories it was a cool place. But that was 45-50 years ago. Things change.

Richard

Chad Culbertson · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2017 6:01 pm

I bought a clicker torque wrench a few years back from Sears, first one I got was broken from the get go. Second one I got has been holding up ok for the last few years.

most of my tools are all Craftsman, bought around the 2003 time frame. I've just now mostly worn out the 1/4" and 3/8" ratchets and they've had plenty of usage.

George Bright · **Posted:** Thu Jan 05, 2017 11:04 pm

I have number of Craftsman tools but most are around 30 years old. I do have a 1/2 inch ratchet that need s to go bck because it slips under torque. For work I recieved a Kobalt socket set. The first time I used it the ball in the ratchet that holds the socket fell out. We took it back to Lowes and were told we would have to mail it off to get the warranty. So we bought another ratchet.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Sat Jan 07, 2017 1:52 pm

Keep in mind Stanley makes DeWalt, Mac, Proto, and Craftsman back in the 80s... when the tools were actually good. I see this as a good thing for the brand, because it hasn't been doing anything spectacular under Sears recently.

I've mostly switched over to Kobalt, as good as Craftsman and is likely to exist as a brand for longer so the lifetime warranty actually still means something.

HF being a 20 minute drive and Lowes being in walking distance helps things as well.

Matthew Ryan · **Posted:** Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:36 pm

I use mostly craftsman and it was the only reason I've ever stepped foot into a sears store I'm hoping I can at least still get them replaced if I break them

Alec Moody · **Joined:** Fri Feb 15, 2013 9:02 am **Posts:** 299

For cheap tools I have had good luck with the chinese brands on amazon. I have a handful of different tools made by Neiko and they seem to be comparable to the cheaper American brands. Definitely a step up from HF.

Matthew Ryan · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:16 pm

I've heard neiko can be hit/miss so I only get the stuff with good amazon reviews. The allen drivers are great

clinehall · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2017 4:46 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

Andrew Jonell wrote:

Going back a few years, there were a bunch of articles about how Eddie Lampert is a terrible CEO. I'm surprised Sears has managed to hold on for so long, it's a bit impressive. I'm going to bite my tongue and not touch on politics, but if you go look for any articles about Lampert, it's a deep, rich vein of everyone across the political spectrum putting him on blast.

Eddie Lampert was/is a hedge fund genius that everything he touched turned to gold... that is until he was made the CEO of Sears Holdings. He never understood retail and really got into it for the capital holdings. In the end, he was compensated heavily and will be no worse the wear. I think Kmart bought Sears as part of the package to get Lampert involved. That backfired.

For basic wheel torque, go down to Harbor Freight and buy a Pittsburgh brand torque wrench. They're cheap and incredibly accurate. I have a brand new Cornwell Tools 50-250 clicker style torque wrench that I tested my 16 year old $10 Pittsburgh against for wheel torque (90 lb ft) and the Pittsburgh is still dead on. - AB

I bought a small torque wrench from HF when I was rebuilding my motorcycle. The first time I used it forced me to become familiar with Helicores so I'm very scared of them.

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