The writing had been on the wall, and now it’s official: Sears has announced that they are selling off the Craftsman brand, known in many garages, shops, and sheds as the brand to have, to Stanley Black & Decker in a deal that the company hopes will keep the ship afloat. The terms of the deal are straightforward: Stanley Black & Decker will pay $525 million up front once the deal closes, $250 million three years later, and a percentage of payments from new sales for fifteen years. Sears will continue to stock Craftsman tools at their stores as well.
The era of online shopping has hit traditional brick-and-mortar stores hard, and has done so for several years now. Many traditional outlets have reported failing sales over the years, and Sears, which also owns Kmart, has been hit particularly hard. Only just days ago, the company announced two rounds of store closings for both brand names in a move that many people have seen coming for quite some time now. Sears used to be THE place to go when you needed something. For the last couple of years, Craftsman tools were the only thing to go there for, unless the store near you was having some major fire sale and the deal was too good to pass up. Craig Fitzgerald noted in his writeup at BestRide.com: “Stanley Black & Decker sells tools everywhere, from the last few remaining mom and pop lumber yards and auto parts stores, all the way up to major retailers like Home Depot. As soon as consumers know they can purchase a Craftsman tool without entering the depressing husk of a once-proud store like Sears, they’ll shop elsewhere.”
Growing up, I heard from any and everybody I knew that worked with any kind of tool, be it woodworking, mechanic or otherwise: Craftsman was the way to go. The box of sockets, ratchets and wrenches that has served me well for over ten years is Craftsman. The name has weight, and even if you take the total value of the deal (about $900 million) into account, it just doesn’t add up. Stanley Black & Decker are getting a gold mine, and Sears is steadily creeping into the grave, especially if reports are true that the Kenmore and DieHard brands are next to be spun off. At least we will have the memories…and the old toolboxes that can be found in shops and garages.
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That is what you will find in my garage!!! Times are a changin’!!!
Sad truths…the old brands are no more. The tool counter guy (Mansfield Oh.) was so used to us bringing him 9/16 ×1/2 broken sockets he would toss ( more like throw) them to us before we got near the counter. Old memories. 🙂
When I went to college in the 70’s a local Sears would sell all incoming automotive students required tools at his cost I still have most of them and was very brand loyal until I retired. My son has no brand loyalty and buys most on lline or from the weekly tool truck
Me too. I went to college in 95 and they gave you 3 lists- generic, Snap-on, and Craftsman, as options. I dont recall cost difference but almost all had Craftsman. I turned wrenches professionally only for about 4-5 years in Ford shops, I bought some Snap-on to build up my arsonal, but my core tools were those original Craftsman. I would replace the Snap-on stuff just as much as the Craftsman. I have since switched careers and don’t turn wrenches as a job, so those tools are in my garage. I break a Snap-on, pain in the ass now to get replacement. I break a Craftsman, its a 10 minute drive. Luckily, I still have most of the original tools from 95, and most that were replaced were probably 15 years ago. I rarely need to swap them out now that they dont get heavy use. There has been a noticable slide in quality and now this, so i guess any tools I have that are getting close to worn out, I should get replaced now…..
Consider this, once upon a time Stanley/Black & Decker built the tools that built the nation. Today any tool with that name on it is a cheap piece of crap any self respecting tool user avoids buying. I foresee Craftsman tools quickly becoming just like all the other brands S B & D have bought up, devalued, cheaply built with a short warranty. ie, not worth the effort of purchasing.
S B & D is emblematic of what has happened to Corporate America over the last few decades. Large corporations living off of the past reputations of quality while delivering devalued garbage to the consumer.
Actually, a lot of the newer Craftsman tools are already at the cheaply built junk stage; it’s just that word hasn’t gotten out completely.
I have to wonder how they’ll get any value out of the Kenmore brand. After all, any appliance seller with deep enough pockets is already able to go to Whirlpool and get white-labeled appliances with their own name on them.
I suspect a lot of the Craftsman tools are also white-labeled, but most (not all) of them are a bit harder to trace to the source. The Kenmore appliances are so blatant that you can usually walk into a different store and spot the exact model wearing a different logo. It’s gone past smoke and mirrors to the point they’ve given up on the mirrors.
Likely the final nail in Sears long coming coffin. Craftsman hand tools is the only reason to go there, and if I can get them elsewhere…
This may put Craftsman in Wal-Mart.
First they buy MAC now this, Who’s next?
If you have any Sears/ K-Mart stock you probably want to dump it all while you can.
When a company is so desperate for cash begins to sell its ‘Crown Jewels’ / reliable profit generators history tells us the game is just about over.
Prediction:Sears / K-Mart sells the ‘Kenmore’ brand to some low-cost shit-show 3rd world producer, then Bankruptcy.
I predict this time next years Sears is Gone. Somem but not many K-Marts will probably exist in low-income and ghetto dwellers / perpetual welfare crowd hang outs.
Gentlemen, we all know the Truth about hand tools anyway. For the homeowner working on his lawnmower Craftsman was OK, but for the Professional wrench or those serious about the hobby, (at least foe me) it’s been Snap-On or Mac forever. I used the crappy Craftsman stuff when visiting the junkyards for parts because if I lost one or sawed a wrench up to get a bumper off – who cared ?
Wow! How disappointing. Yes I’m giving away my age remember when Craftsman was the go-to tool. You break one, they replace it at no cost. Then along came Snap-on that hands down body-slammed Craftsman. Now, selling out to the cheap and easy. Agree, there’s won’t even be a Craftsman in the next year or two.
All my shop tools are Craftsman. I never had any problem exchanging them the few times I managed to break one. I just took it to Sears and got a new one. I hope I’ll be able to do the same at any other store as the Sears store near me is rumored to be on the list for closing this year.
Selling off the house brands is like a starving man eating his own arms and legs to stay alive.
Sears’ house brands (Craftsman, Kenmore) used to be what you bought. Not so much anymore.
At work the tools are Snap-On
At home are Craftsman
In the race trailer is also Craftsman
In the tow truck and other vehicles are Harbor Freight specials of the week
As a pal says, “the internet ruined everything!”
Your local parts guy might be next, Amazon is a killer.
Summit and Jegs killed the local speed shop guy years ago, O’Reilly’s and Autozone did in the local parts guys and replaced them with teenagers..
This is just cashing out before you close the doors.
I spent short money buying snap on/Cornwell/US Craftsman tools off of Garage Journal and Ebay to build my tool set rather than patronizing Chinese knockoffs.
If I want (and I don’t) cheap Chinese crap, I’ll buy it at Harbor Freight prices not Craftsman prices.
have my toolbox i got as a kid for Christmas in 1980
Up here in Canada Crapsman has been offshore for a while the replacements they were giving us had no made in USA for a while . Now I know why they have been telling me to go to Home Depot or Crappy Tire to replace my tools and they would pay me back upon presenting the bill. Too bad my dad gave me craftsman tools back in the 70s when they were still quality
One of the reasons this is happening , IMO , we, as consumers buy the cheap china crap and complain later about the quality and the loss of jobs . Quit buying this shit and demand American made . We have no one to blame but ourselves . That’s why I refuse to drive Asian or European vehicles
It’s really tool bad to see Craftsman go away . When I started in the trades , my foreman told me to out fit my box with Craftsman hand tools , because they were fairly decent quality , had a really good warranty and were cheap , so I got a Sears card and bought a full set of hand tools , I think it cost me around $300.00 in 1985 -which I paid off in instalments is a few months . It was probably the best advice given to me at the time , although most of those tools have been replaced with over time with professional quality tools , I still have almost all the original Craftsman tools in my tool box at home .
I believe Sears is really circling the drain , and will probably be history in a couple years . They were never able to adjust to the on line consumerism, and a lot of their in store merchandise is over priced .
First off Stanley that merged with Black & Decker in 2010… Has been producing industrial & mechanics tools for years. They have owned Mac Tools & Proto for a long time now. As well as ‘Blackhawk’ a brand on par with craftsman.
Back in 2004 Sears made it a 30-45 mile each way trip for me to replace tools.. They closed down the Service centers and Sears Hardware stores that stocked most tools. I would have to go to a mall store and hope they had a good stock of tools. And guess what? They didn’t. Take 20 broken things get 5 replaced.
I was done, from that point on I started buying better brands made in USA tools. I have abused Proto retches made in the Stanly tools years. They take more then any craftsman would. I tend to buy them used on ebay. Think I paid $35 with shipping for my 26 inch Handle 1/2 drive.
I also have a 3/8th drive Blackhawk ratchet that came broken tossed in as a bonus item with a tool lot. I took it to Grainger supply got it exchanged. It’s better then the last craftsman 3/8th drive I had.
I see this as a chance for the Brand to be saved, and quality returned.
I stopped buying Craftsman tools since they starting making them in China. The only hand tools that are still made in USA are the professional series and they are hard to find. If I need a Craftsman tool I go to yard sales or eBay and but old American made tools. Hopefully S-B&D will bring back production to the US otherwise I guess I’ll go to Snap-on, which I hope are still American made.