Sears sells Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker for $775 million

I came here just to see if someone had made a thread. I am worried too anon, I am worried too.

>>1109938

I don't get it. Craftsman and Kenmore are the only reasons to shop at Sears. What are they going to sell? Ladies clothes?

>>1109938
I don't even understand what they plan to do with Craftsman. They already have Stanley, Black & Decker, DeWalt, Bostich, among others. Craftsman seems to line up directly with at least one of those brands in each category, aside from maybe their clothing line. Is this just consolidation and nothing more?

>>1109951
I was thinking this too. Without those two brands, they are even worse off than they are now.

>>1109951
as far as I know they're not going to stop selling them, but letting other places sell craftsman might help raise some cash

>>1109953
interesting thoughts
considering how long craftsman has been around I can't imagine they would want to scrap the brand

>>1109953

I always assumed that just as Kenmore is made for them by Whirlpool (I think), Craftsman was made for them by Stanley. They are the equivalent of "store brands" in the grocery store. I'm sure Sears doesn't manufacture anything. The Craftsman brand had value because of the lifetime guarantee. Take that away and you have nothing.

>>1109956
>letting other places sell craftsman might help raise some cash
Now I'm starting to see what's going on. Sears still has a stake in the brand, apparently. Since they are closing so many stores, they need to let them loose to continue selling and to maintain the brand value while they figure out the Sears stores situation. Perhaps most people don't think to go to Sears for tools, but rather go to Home Depot or Lowe's.

>>1109938
>hopefully it doesn't mean they're going to go even lower quality.

Of course it does

>>1109951
They started selling Craftsman tools at random other hardware stores as of recent.
Sears has been going down the drain for years, its in its death throes right now

>>1109938
How fitting
Craftsman wasnt any better than walmart Stanley tools anyways

Are they going to kill off the warranty?

>>1109938
>"To accommodate future growth, we intend to increase our manufacturing capacity in the United States, consistent with our philosophy to 'make where we sell' wherever possible," Loree said.

More USA made craftsman stuff on the horizon?

Ive seen (at a farm and fleet) USA made hammers, chisels, and prybars. Maybe a few other things.

>>1109978
Also WalMart has pushed the whole "have american made stuff on the shelves" recently. You see Vaughan hammers and ChanneLocks on the shelves.

I know that Stanley Black Decker has big contracts with Walmart.
Very interesting indeed, could be good things to come.

>>1109979
>I know that Stanley Black Decker has big contracts with Walmart.
the small selection at target looked like exclusively stanley

>>1109938
>shitty tools about to turn to still shitty tools

People care?

>>1109951
Appliance repair fag here
Kenmore is all rebrands..
go look at a kenmore model number... it'll have 3 digits then a period then the rest of the number... the first three digits are the manufacturer code and let you know who actually made it... lately a lot of whirlpool and lg...

>>1109986
Of course. The typical do it yourselfer usually isnt going to buy big sets of premium tools when you can get by with decent off the shelf tools.

Craftsman shit the bed in quality as of recent, this is about their only chance to turn it around.
Stanley already sells under the "Bostich" name, which are pretty OK tools better than the Stanleys. Craftsman will give them the name to put out more decent enough tools.

>>1109991
>it'll have 3 digits then a period then the rest of the number...
That is every Sears anything ever going back to the 1930s at least. Washing machines, table saws, blenders, tool boxes, you name it. very handy for tracking down parts for something when Sears doesn't carry it anymore.

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>>1110012
>Craftsman shit the bed in quality as of recent, this is about their only chance to turn it around.
Craftsman shop tools started shitting the bed about 40 years ago. Their portable power tools followed soon after. Their hand tools hung on, in some cases, up till about 10-15 years ago. Seeings as Stanley has been making a lot of their tools for years anyway I doubt we will see any change.

>Craftsman will give them the name to put out more decent enough tools.
These are the brands currently owned by Stanley. I doubt Craftsman has anything to add to any of them.

>>1109971
Warranty doesn't really matter if the tools can't take a beating. If you broke one hand tool, you'll break another. Harbor Freight has the same warranty on their hand tools.

Stanley Black & Decker uses plastic from Israeli company Keter that has factories in illegal settlements.
Goodbye Craftsman.

>>1110033
And exactly how many of those hand tool names do you see on the shelf walking into the store?
Bostich and Stanley

And what does the normal consumer think when they see the name Craftsman sitting right next to them on a walmart shelf (especially with the potential made in USA tag on it)

They have a ton to gain from this.

>>1110047
I have a keter toolbox and its nice
How can you have an illegal factory?

>>1110051
>And what does the normal consumer think when they see the name Craftsman

"I'd rather shop at Harbor Freight, at least I get what I pay for that way."

The only people that associate Craftsman with quality are the Boomers, who are dying out. Brands mean nothing anymore, and everyone knows it.

>>1110058
The world is a lot bigger then /diy/s autism anon

Even the fags on garage journal who vilify the brand buy shit from them still.

>>1109938
Go to eBay and look up 1960s, 1950s, 1980s, Craftsman tool if you want the good shit that will survive a nuclear attack.

>>1110058
Craftsman is still easily the most recognized tool brand among all ages.

>>1110060
Id rather use a harbor freight ratchet than any year craftsman raised panel ratchet

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I'd like to see a resurgence of USA-made Craftsman stuff, but I'm not very hopeful. A lot of the later USA-made Craftsman stuff wasn't even decent. I have a set of USA-made 1/4" drive sockets which have quality issues worse than most cheap Chinese stuff.

>>1110078
The RHFT ratchets are pretty nice, but even those are nothing special compared to most modern ratchets.

>>1110051
>(especially with the potential made in USA tag on it)
It won't have that anymore. Stanley doesn't make any of their "Stanley" branded tools in the USA anymore. Their higher end tools (MAC, Proto, Blackhawk by Proto) won't be rebranded under the Craftsman name because they are outside of Craftsman's price point. Craftsman hand tools that are still made in the USA come from Western Forge, last I checked. I don't see why Stanley would continue to use them as an OEM just for the "Made in the USA" label when they already have their own facilities.

>>1110113
see
>>1109978

Stanley intends on building a new factory because of the Craftsman purchase.

>>1110116
Its in here
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-stanley-craftsman-20170105-story.html

>>1110113
For a while before the move to China, Craftsman USA sockets were made by Danaher and were likely made in the same factory as Armstrong sockets since they shared the same design. The Craftman sockets were, however, a fraction of the price of the Armstrong sockets.

The cheaper Blackhawk USA sockets are nothing special and could probably be sold as Craftsman at a consumer-friendly price point, like the Danaher sockets were beforehand.

I did mention in a previous post that I had some quality issues with same of the later USA-made Craftsman sockets, but I'm not sure if that was just due to them being made to a lower price point, or if even more expensive Armstrong sockets had issues. I'm all for "Made in USA" but it means nothing to me if the quality is terrible.

>>1110118
To add: Armstrong is now owned by Apex which is a direct competitor to Stanley, and I highly doubt they will be sourcing anything from them like Sears once did.

>>1110118
Ive had some issues with modern day Danaher sockets and wrenches under the Masterforce name. The quality control is very poor. I quit buying them

>>1110127
Forgot about Masterforce, more of the same sockets with a different brand name. The later USA Allen stuff is also Danaher, I think.

My Craftsman 1/4" drive set has a bunch of sockets with off-center hex broaches as well as the ends being angled so they don't even sit flat and make full contact with fasteners. Well they just sit around as backups now as I've since got some proper Snap-on sets.

>>1110122
>I highly doubt they will be sourcing anything from them like Sears once did.

Craftsman Mach ratcheting open end wrenches are identical to the Crescent X6 open end (apex).

Maybe they are both sourcing from an outside factory not owned by either.

>>1110033
Isn't facom french?

>>1110134
Well anything is possible. I guess it's not even unheard of for companies to source from direct competitors, like Apple using components from Samsung, but I still think Stanley is more likely to utilize their own facilities for the most part if they're going "Made in USA".

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>>1110137
Stanley bought them in 2006.

>>1110116
Ah, I had not seen that.

>>1110118
>For a while before the move to China, Craftsman USA sockets were made by Danaher and were likely made in the same factory as Armstrong sockets since they shared the same design.
Danaher made most of Craftsman's socket line since at least the 1960s. Maybe longer. They were USA made up until sometime after...

>>1110134
...the Apex Tool group was formed when Danaher and Cooper decided to join forces. Sometimes after that, they moved some of their production overseas. As time has gone on more and more of their stuff began to be sourced from China. Crescent tools moved their stuff over there a few years ago and there was a noticeable drop in quality of their adjustable wrenches. Apex is owned by Bain Capital now. All they give a shit about is net profits. Screw product quality or employees, they just want money for the shareholders.

>>1110149
>Danaher made most of Craftsman's socket line since at least the 1960s. Maybe longer. They were USA made up until sometime after...

Everything I've read says that Moore Drop Forge and Easco were the primary suppliers of sockets, wrenches, ratchets, etc. until the 90s when Danaher took over. People tend to prefer the -V- stuff which was supposedly pre-Danaher, although for the most part I don't think it was much better if at all.

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>>1110149
>Bain Capital
will they really crash this with no survivors?

>>1110307
>Everything I've read says that Moore Drop Forge and Easco were the primary suppliers of sockets, wrenches, ratchets, etc. until the 90s when Danaher took over.
They are basically a single chain of ownership, not separate companies.

First came Moore Drop Forging. They made their own tools and tools for others (including Craftsman) for many years. They were purchased by Easco in 1967. Easco continued to use the Moore name and continued to also make tools for Craftsman and others. Then Easco was purchased in 1985 by private investors. They had its hand tool division spun out as a separate company from the rest of Easco . Next, Danaher bought that division in 1990. Danaher and Cooper formed Apex in 2010 and merged their tool operations under it. Finally, Apex was sold to Bain Capital.

>>1110023
Fair enough, in my defense I only deal with the appliances really.

To be honest I'll be ticked if they stop honoring the craftsman warranties... got a set of the pass through sockets that I really like but the ratchets get fucked up... on my third free replacement.. to their credit they give me zero problems replacing them so I can't complain really... but for the life of me I'll never know why the hell they had to make them reversible vs just making a much stronger one way ratchet and then flipping the wrench over to reverse directions.... still worth it for the trouble to get them into smaller spaces than a regular socket will fit... other than that I have a mosh mash of tools from all over, only brand in really loyal too is Bosch for their 12 v drills and impact drivers... and even that is mostly because I'm up to a collection of 3 charging bases and 9 batteries with 2 impacts, 2 drivers both the terrible old style and the nicer newer one and a regular and led flashlight... other than the impacts (old and new design) the rest I picked up cheap off Craigslist over time.. also got one of the drivers from a customer who's fridge I fixed.. he'd found it lost by the side of the road and didn't have a charger, saw I had the same kind and asked if I wanted it as a tip... that was a quick hell yeah answer.

>>1110560
Which passthrough ratchets are you breaking?
The chromed ones or the ugly black one?

I actually got the 65 piece Bostich passthrough ratchet set at walmart for $25 because it was an open box item. Nothing was missing, they are really useful on occasion.

Does anyone remember the Popular Mechanics brand tools Wally World used to sell? Those were pretty damn tough. I still have some of those.

>>1110428
>Finally, Apex was sold to Bain Capital.

RIP

>>1110677
It happened 5 years ago.

>>1110588
The chromed set, the reversing mechanism gets all Junked up and will start to randomly lock up in both directions

>>1109951
>>1109955
>>1109960
>>1109963
>>1109970
>>1109971
>>1109978
You guys are missing the point. Right now, Sears Holdings is hemorrhaging money. Eddie Lampert is using whatever he can to leverage the brand until the corporate bond that was issued in 2012 matures this year, in July. At that point, it can all collapse and he's good to go with his golden parachute. If it collapses before then, his ass not only ends up with nothing, he could go to prison on fraud.

>>1111223

I was going to mention this. I think he's personally loaned Sears something like $500 million.

Sears has already shit the bed. We're about to see some blood-soaked diarrhea soak through the mattress.

Anymore I think that Stanley is a better tool than Craftsman. That brand went to shit years ago.

>>1110033
What the fuck? I hate Porter Cable now.

>>1111587
Why? They're still the same good tools that you bought last week. One of those "You get what you pay for." Be a dumbass and buy B&D brand, get B&D quality.

I'm a car mechanic, and about 8 years ago I bought a bunch of Craftman tools. I have supplemented stuff from Harbor Freight, and when those tools broke, I went out and paid the extra dollar for their Craftman equivalent. Mostly for breaker bars, and some odd size sockets that would end up breaking.

The only Craftman tool I broke was my 3/8th ratcheting wrench when I tried to use to to remove my 80lb lugnuts because I had no half inch 17mm socket. Got it exchanged for free.

I have never broken anything else.
90% of my handtools are craftsman, some Stanley for screwdrivers, hammers, etc, and all power tools are DeWalt. I like to keep things uniform

>>1112750
anon thats a meme

>>1112793
really makes you think

>>1112793
I must not get it. Then again, I'm not really into board culture outside of /fit/.

>>1113154
Its supposed to be
"wtf i hate ____ now" as an ironic post about something.

So are there going to be big sales when the stores close, similar to what happened with RadioShack?

>>1109991
This doesn't help in a way. After 4 kenmores took a shit way,way,way prematurely I was hoping to just be done with a single brand. I've had good luck with my replacement LGs, though.

>>1113174
>So are there going to be big sales when the stores close, similar to what happened with RadioShack?

Nope. It never happens that way. They turn it over to a liquidation company. They go in mark everything up a huge amount then have a "sale" where you pay the regular price.

Whatever doesn't sell gets packaged up and sold to another company.

>>1113157
Thanks anon, makes sense now

>>1113230
Dumbass