Stanley Black & Decker is still working to launch new USA-made Craftsman hand tools.
I recently posted a minor progress update, and as we patiently continue waiting, now seems like a good time to examine what took place over the past 15 years.
What Happened to Craftsman’s focus on USA-made tools?
Advertisement
Luckily, I chronicled the important happenings here on ToolGuyd, making it possible to build a rough timeline of events.
~2007-2008 (15-16 Years Ago) – I started building up my tool kit with many of Sears’ USA-made Craftsman tools. I grew very fond of the brand, thanks to the USA-made tool selection, quality, and value pricing.
I bought screwdrivers, mechanics tool sets, pliers, ratchets, drive accessories, wire strippers, hammers, punches, chisels, cold chisels, mallets, tool boxes, a hacksaw, blades, power tool accessories, pry bars, woodworking tools, and more.
Craftsman was a popular go-to tool brand.
2008 (14 Years Ago) – Sears’ Craftsman tool catalogs proclaimed that “All Craftsman sockets and wrenches are proudly made in the USA.”
Speaking as a tool user, things were great! Craftsman was by far my favorite hand tool brand, and they offered USA-made tools in nearly every category imaginable.
Advertisement
Some of my Craftsman and Craftsman Professional tools were not made in the USA; I bought Craftsman pliers that were made in Germany, and I believe my Craftsman hacksaw was made in Sweden.
2010 (12.5 Years Ago) – Sears started introducing imported Craftsman hand tools: All Craftsman Sockets & Wrenches Are Proudly Made In….
The new products were tools that complemented existing offerings, such as ratcheting elbow wrenches, and also lower-priced offerings, such as dog bone wrenches and universal spline wrenches.
Nothing was being replaced – yet – but, this is when the changes began.
2012 (10.5 Years Ago) – Sears discontinued Craftsman Professional and many USA-made hand tools. At this point it seemed that Sears and Craftsman had shifted their priorities. Nobody could provide any answers, other than to confirm the Craftsman Professional line was being discontinued.
2013 (9.5 Years Ago) – Sears launched new imported Craftsman Professional tools.
Sears was replacing formerly USA-made Craftsman hand tools with similar-looking imported tools. The new versions were widely considered to be inferior.
2013 (9.5 Years Ago) – Sears shifted from USA to import suppliers across many product categories. For instance – FYI: Craftsman Pry Bars Now Made in Taiwan.
2014 (8.5 Years Ago) – Sears describes Craftsman as “America’s #1 brand of mechanics tools.”
2015 (7.5 Years Ago) – a new manager at Sears and Craftsman reached out, and I shared my many grievances about how they hollowed-out the brand. I was optimistic they were serious about making positive changes, but nothing was ever done. What Do You Think About Craftsman and Sears? Your Voice WILL Be Heard!
Many long-term Craftsman tool fans had grown very dejected about the brand.
Craftsman and Sears never followed up.
2017, January (6 Years Ago) – Craftsman Brand Sold to Stanley Black & Decker!
2017, March (6 Years Ago) – Stanley Black & Decker Pledges to Bring Craftsman Tool Production Back to USA
2017, July (6 Years Ago) – Stanley Black & Decker Acquired Waterloo Industries, a USA Tool Storage Manufacturer. Waterloo manufactured most of Sears’ Craftsman metal tool storage products.
2017, October (5 Years Ago) – Stanley Black & Decker announced that they would “leverage existing & expand US manufacturing footprint” and drew focus on their “capability to build upon legacy.” How Stanley Black & Decker Targets Their Tool Brands in 2017, and Other Insider Info
2017, October (5 Years Ago) – Craftsman and Lowe’s announced a new partnership.
2018, April (4.5 Years Ago) – Under Stanley Black & Decker, Craftsman launched their first new mechanics tools.
2018, August (4.5 Years Ago) – Stanley Black & Decker relaunched the Craftsman tool brand.
2019, May (3.5 Years Ago) – Stanley Black & Decker announced a new USA factory for the production of Craftsman hand tools.
2020, March (2.5 Years Ago) – Craftsman teased that new USA-made mechanics tools and sets were “chroming soon.”
2020, December (2 Years Ago) – Craftsman announced that “more top-drawer tools are coming soon” and that they would be covered under a lifetime warranty.
2021, July (1.5 Years Ago) – Stanley Black & Decker had begun hiring machine operators in the region of the new plant.
2021, Fall (1 Year Ago) – Craftsman launched new V-Series tools at Lowe’s. These are premium (imported) tools that strongly resemble tools from Stanley Black & Decker’s Facom and USAG tool brands, which are popular in Europe and other regions outside the USA.
2022, March (9 Months Ago) – Craftsman still had not launched new USA-made hand tools; I expressed my frustration: Five Years Later, Where are Craftsman’s USA-Made Tools?
2022, May (7 Months Ago) – Craftsman said their new facility was built and nearing completion.
2022, November (1 Month Ago) – Craftsman has said their new facility is currently open and operating.
2023 – New Craftsman USA-made hand tools??
Discussion
Sears had essentially destroyed Craftsman’s USA-made hand tool legacy in the span of just a few short years.
Craftsman started launching new imported tools in 2010. Entire USA-made product lines and categories were discontinued by 2012, and Sears was actively replacing formerly USA-made tools with imported versions in 2013.
I would mark 2012 as the start of very many unwelcome changes that turned many formerly loyal users away from Craftsman.
Sears sold the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker in 2017, and declared bankruptcy in October 2018.
Craftsman has been under Stanley Black & Decker’s ownership for nearly 6 years now. They launched new tools in 2018 following a major retail agreement with Lowe’s. That was more than 4 years ago.
Craftsman’s new factory in Texas is said to be open and operating, with the first new tools presumably on the way soon.
I would say that, under Stanley Black & Decker ownership and direction, the Craftsman brand has essentially become the stand-in for Kobalt tools at Lowe’s. The tools are decent, conveniently available, and affordable, but there’s little distinction or appeal beyond that.
High quality USA-made tools at competitive pricing is what drew me to the Craftsman brand in the first place, and why I continued to choose Craftsman over all other brands for very many tool purchases.
The Craftsman brand doesn’t evoke the same sentiment in me anymore, and it hasn’t for around 10 years now.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few years.
Craftsman didn’t just offer USA-made hand tools, they offered high quality tools with a lifetime warranty, and at competitive pricing.
After Sears reversed course on all that, Craftsman merely offered tools of average quality, little distinction, and at average pricing.
The challenge is in being able to offer USA-made tools that shoppers will seek out to buy. Sears and Craftsman did just that for a long time. Sears and Craftsman didn’t just sell tools, they were the preferred choice of tools for many.
Back in 2014, Sears described Craftsman as “America’s #1 brand of mechanics tools.” After all that has happened, can Stanley Black & Decker get Craftsman back to that? Yes, I believe so. But will they?
Rog
Growing up with a handy father and grandfather (tho neither were trade professionals), I learned Craftsman was very well regarded and admired. They both had many of their tools. I shared their sentiment when I bought my first tools.
Unfortunately they’re just a footnote now. I understand ‘Made in USA’ is a source of pride for many, but I see little market to bring them back. Most people have moved on to other brands.
Lawrie
The same thing happened here in Australia with Sidchrome Tools. Highly esteemed brand, lifetime warranty, excellent quality. Sold to Stanley about forty years ago. The brand continues but the quality is not there.
photobug
My father bought Craftsman tools for his factory. And from what I can see, the new brand owners, Stanley B&D, are rebuilding the brand.
FYI,
I worked at Sears selling tools for pushing 5 years until weeks before my store closed in 2017. So I saw a lot of tools devolve into Chinese junk. Quality and supply of ratchet repair kits dropped. The owner of Sears wasn’t, IMHO, trying to keep costs down – it just didn’t cost that much more for good US made tools, and most of my customers were willing to pay more. Also, the company deprecated the value of the lifetime warranty by making it difficult to get a lot of tools. However, certain lines within Craftsman were still good.
Now, there are only a few Sears and KMarts left, and Craftsman was sold to B&D. At least they have reverted quite a few tools to US production. I’m not thrilled that the C3 power tool line was abandoned – including replacement batteries, since I have many of these tools. Nothing against the newer tools, some of which appear nearly identical to the old. And the C3 tools were typically well made, but batteries do wear out.
John R Fricke
There are companies out there that rebuild battery packs of your tools are still in good working order.roadymi
Spence
I just bought a Bahco made in Taiwan Imperial/Metric set in a very high quality blow mold case from Amazon UK for $121. Super high quality.
I have a pre 2010 American made Craftsman 250 piece mechanics set that works still. I plan to gift then to some well deserving lad or lass itching to wrench..
Rick B
Race to the bottom.
You’re both missing the point and demonstrating the logic that Sears execs were chasing when making so many under-cutting decisions that led to their demise.
Timplex
If you are handy with a soldering iron, you can replace the AA batteries that are packed inside of the tool battery -or so I’ve heard, they are nothing more than rechargeable lithium.
Vernon Riedel
I made Craftsman tools for 38 years. Lost my job when bane capital bought Apex. Apex was part of danaher and Cooper tools combined. Sears didn’t even want tools from USA anymore.
Erik
Hi, I am just wondering what meant “made in the USA” everything came from China and assembled in the USA?
Cause that is what has been happening for 50 years.
And made in China isn’t a quality issue, they can make tools in every quality you like for decades, probably better then what can be made locally. But it comes with a price.
Jim
Your statement is inaccurate . China was not a player in manufacturing 50 years ago .
Mark
Danaher manufactured hand tools for NAPA Auto Parts too. NAPA created the Carlyle brand when Danaher began to unravel. NAPA also had a line of service tools that were provided by another USA company and now that comes from Asia as well.
Luke
I, too, come from a legacy of Craftsman tools in our family. My brother and I are proud to have inherited several of our grandpa’s hand tools that had a lifetime guarantee that will never have to be redeemed. I always looked forward to Christmas and my birthday if only to see the next Craftsman addition to my garage. Sears ruined that forever.
Tom
When I was a kid there was Stanley, Black and Decker, and Craftsman. Otherwise you moved to the tool professional suppliers. Now they are all one company. I think part of the story may be ordinary people being interested and able to buy pro-grade tools.
STEVE B FRENCH
I have Craftmens mechanics set over 40 yrs 0ld and use it often,I have always loved the the Craftmens line of tools,not so much anymore, they need to get there roots back to America, every time I try to find American made Craftmens nowhere to be found, bring America back
Ian
A co-worker had metric craftsman combination wrench set before 2001 made in china
Bryan
I worked at Sears and I noticed the sockets started to be made overseas but had made in the USA. Strange.
Joe Montgomery
What’s wrong with DeWalt and craftsman teaming up with sears
Jim
The problem is Sears is gone . 2023 is rumored to be the last year for the remaining stores.
Brad Hart
I totally agree with you. Back in 1980 when I got out of high school. I went to a trade school for Auto / Diesel Machanics and we started with Craftsman tools. I had almost every hand tool they made. And purchased them due to being made in the USA and warranty. And saw later how the company gread took over from all the CEOs trying to make more money by changing items to be made overseas to profit them instead of the American workers. I hope now they all feel proud of killing the Craftsman legacy. At this time if they start making them here again I don’t know if I would buy them because I feel that those CEOs will do the same thing over again. I will just keep replacing my broken tools from yard sales. Excellent story you did.
Chuck Angle
Everything is made in China now including food at the grocery store. The loyal customers that would buy American made tools are long gone they can forget it. The new generation dont work and dont know what tools are anyways. Back to Crapsman or Chinaman tools it will only be assembled in USA made with foreign materials with a big USA sticker on it. So you might as well start learning Chinese. That is where Congress has all of their personal investments. So nothing is going to change. Everything made now days is throw away and buy another. Try working on battery operated lawn mower. America couldn’t even make paper masks during COVID.
Terrance Walleser
I for years still own many sk tools I bought back in the early 70s all there sets from 3/4 drive to 1/4. when owned by dresser. not anymore. they have been sold and bought by so many companies. now some idiot company is trying to sell at a grossly price as snap on. craftsman is now being that every store sells the same tool
Bill McAfee
Being an “old” guy who worked as a mechanic in the 70’s, the first Craftsman downturn happened around 1980+/-.
Craftsman changed suppliers on their wrenches and sockets. They were not up to par. They got so bad I refused to buy or replace any tools from them anymore.
When you make your living by turning wrenches, tool quality is #1. They have been going downhill ever since.
My original Craftsman tools are still great, wish their new ones were too.
Jim Schnars
I wrote to sears about the Chinese tools and got a were looking into it response a professional ratchet was replaced with A rough textured one and i bought a vice abd the guy found a usa one with much grumbling sorting thru them
rchoutdoors
I am a farmer that works on my own equipment. I find the ” New” Craftsman tools to be much better quality than those from the late 80’s on. Unfortunately, most ” Made in USA” tools are overpriced and of dubious quality – especially the “professional ” truck brands. Lifetime warranty from the truck brands usually means late delivery for your tool. I can’t wait for the replacement so I use Craftsman with just as good or better quality.
Mark
Funny story: years ago a good friend had a Craftsman socket that would not grip the head of the fastener he was trying to remove. The Sears sales associate said he couldn’t replace it because it was worn but not broken. So my friend got a hammer off the display and smashed the socket with a hammer blow right there in the tool department. The associate helped him and sent him on his way. He never bought anything from Sears after that.
x95
I recently purchased two of the 2000 series 42″ tool cabinets. Everything looked good out of the box, but once the drawers were removed, I noticed there were two different styles of drawer slides but both were not easy or impossible to reinstall. I ended up returning both cabinets the next day. Most of the drawer slides no longer had soft close after reinstall and a bad bearing race that traveled, blocking reinstall in several drawers. Material was 1/2 the thickness of the older bottom tier cabinet versions I have from 15 years ago.
Sorry Craftsman, no more gambling with your products likely here.
Jim Felt
Thanks for sharing your insight/experience. None of it good. I’ve contemplated a red “Craftsman” roll around to place aside other US made models I already have.
Criminy.
Ronnie Prater
I’ve used Craftsman tools and I know that they went from great to trash. I stopped buying them when they started plating the sockets. Thanks for your story.
William
My first Craftsman tool purchase was in 1985. I had acquired a used Yamaha and needed metric tools. I purchased more Craftsman metric tools when I got a ‘metric’ car. But years down the road they (Sears) would not/could not exchange damaged or broke sockets or ratchets because they no longer carried the older style. No ratchet rebuilds or socket replacements. I still use my collection of old Craftsman tools, but the lost or broken ones cannot be replaced. And I too have had to move on to other brands. Sad end indeed for a once proud company that I was proud to say I used.
Stanley
I have replaced 5 or 6 older, early 2000s, ratchets at Lowe’s within the past year or so. They have never given me a problem replacing them. None were bought there, mainly Sears some at K Mart.
x95
If they replaced the slides, the rest of the chest was fine structure wise. I did not like the casters were just screwed into the lower sheet metal. No bolt through, just a thread of sheet metal screws to hold them on. They will not last on a rough roll around or by someone who moves them a lot. You could easily add a plate and bolt through later though.
Michael Stewart
Remember when you could take a Craftsman tool back to the store and get a free replacement, no questions asked? It didn’t matter where you got the tool, whether it was a single tool or part of a set, you handed it to the store clerk and they’d go to the shelf and hand you a new tool. You never had to present a receipt to get your replacement either.
Keith Putnam
Yessir! Easiest returns ever – nothing to fill out, didn’t have to stand in line at the service desk, no questions asked… Even when I brought back a screwdriver I busted off near the handle, using inappropriately as a pry bar. We’ve all been THERE, right? Lol
Kenny P
You can forget that now. I have several tools broken over the last 5 years and went to NAPA which now sells Craftsman. They told me they will not warranty anything before 2018 oh well all good things must come to an end.
Michael Stuart
Then you went in with a wire out rachet that was decades old. And they wanted to give you a plastic replacement. I kept my wore out ratchets and still use them. You could use a pair of dikes for ever then all of the sudden they replaced with some that would get chunks in them cutting copper wire. The Philips will just twist up on the end if you can across a tight screw
Bruce Harris
I started building my tool collection in my teens in the late sixties. I’ve got any number of SAE and metric wrenches from no later than late seventies, that both say “made in the USA”.I have quite a few that have “Japan” manufacturing. And there’s no difference in look or performance that I’ve ever been aware of from the old. I’ve got some later stuff also that is clearly lesser quality in appearance and fit. Craftsman was farming out there hand tools to various different tool making companies around the world was the best I could figure.
Wayne R.
My take is that there’s no legacy to Craftsman anymore, it was frittered away by careless/greedy corporate types. It’s just a memory.
If SBD hopes to create a new Craftsman, fine, I wish them well and will consider what they’ve got when things roll out someday. But they’re not going to be extending the old Craftsman; it’s long gone.
When I’m looking for old tools, my general approach is “BC” (Before China), not antique. Quality US-made is always appealing, but not really a rule – avoiding junk is definitely a rule. Anything the new Craftsman comes out with has to fit that BC-goal, and also fit the easy acquisition/return like old Craftsman or new Tekton.
Michael S
Well, Stanley ruined the Kwikset brand of locksets by using inferior parts and Black & Decker wasn’t all that anyway, so I’m not expecting much from Stanley tools and Craftsman.
There are much better tools on the market nowadays and I don’t believe anyone who uses tools will ever buy a Craftsman tool again.
Mark M.
This is a great summary. Like others, my dad passed along an admiration for US-made Craftsman tools and when I started amassing tools (slowly) in the 90’s, in my mind there were 3 options: Craftsman, imported crap, or tool truck tools that I couldn’t afford at the time. It wasn’t that Craftsman tools were particularly nice–they were functional but not polished, literally or otherwise–but they had a compelling story: US-made, lifetime warranty, functional, endorsed by dad.
Fast-forward and you’re right, they ruined it. My dad now gushes over the GearWrench tools I’ve bought him with no regard to COO. I hope they resurrect the brand and in another 10 years it’s a classic turnaround story but to me, Craftsman is dead.
James Buchanan
Amazon messed it up and now there tool prices are higher than anyone else. Greed for more money is the problem.
Stuart
What does Amazon have to do with anything? They’ve always been a very minor player with respect to Craftsman.
MM
I assume the argument is that more people choose to buy tools online, for example from Amazon, rather than buying Craftsman tools from Sears, because Amazon offers lower priced options and more convenience.
If that is the theory, I do agree there is greed involved, but a lot that on the part of the consumer. Many people will happily compromise on quality or supporting local business because doing so allows them to consume more of other, different things. That’s greed too, just of a different sort. What Peter H Faehnrich wrote below is exactly right.
Jerry
I would argue Sears/Craftsman did themselves in as far as online sales. I bought Craftsman tools online several times and it was almost always a hair pulling experience.
MM
I do agree that their website was both terribly done, and too little too late. Amazon, and just about everyone else, did online shopping well; Sears did not.
photobug
It was mainly decentralized and depended on store inventory being correct. As Eddie L systematically decrewed stores, and as many though not all of managers were often hired for all the wrong reasons (our store had an AM who was beyond lazy and failed to put out over $100k worth of seasonal merchandise one xmas, and hardware had so few staff members, and the ‘merchandise ladies’ were laid off, hardware displays disappeared into locked back rooms and we had no idea they were there, so we couldn’t offer items to customers. We also couldn’t get stock, and inventory became a disaster. Our fulfillment team was minimized, but they worked very hard to do what they could.
Once we were told the store was closing (so Seritage could do other things with the space), truckloads of long ‘unavailable’ merchandise poured in for the closing sale.
IOTW, IMHO, it was all deliberate.
Jim Felt
That’s nonsense. “Amazon”? But hey we’ll wait for some/any evidence. I sure haven’t ever seen this in the 20+ years I’ve used them for tool et al sourcing.
MM
In my opinion internet competition absolutely had a hand in Craftsman’s demise. Go back to the 80’s, 90’s…Craftsman was basically the default choice for tools in the USA for a lot of people. There weren’t many alternatives. High-end tools existed but weren’t very accessible to most buyers. But Sears had Craftsman tools in every shopping mall, the Sunday paper was packed with Craftsman coupons. It was the “everyman” tool brand: reasonable price, good quality, accessible, easy warranty.
But now online shopping has replaced all of that, and Amazon is the poster child for it. The default tool purchasing experience 25 years ago would have been to drive to Sears. Today it’s order up online. Amazon, et. al., beat Sears in terms of convenience and selection. Now almost every tool brand offers a no-questions-asked warranty. In some cases you don’t even have to return the tool anymore: take a photo of it showing it’s busted and they ship you a new one. Online shopping did the same general thing Sears did–offer accessibility, convenience, and value for money–they just did it better.
Aaron SD
I’d also add thatHD and Lowe’s offered more choices as well as higher end tools all at the same place.
Stuart
With respect to hand tools, Sears and Craftsman had home centers beat on selection, and either matched or bested them in quality.
Steve Steiner
Back in the late 90s I worked at home Depot in the hardware department, we were told that Rigid was made by Craftsman. Just like Bosh is made by Stanley.
Alex
I’m doing online shopping all the time, and I don’t buy off amazon unless it’s a better deal. Even if I can get stuff somewhere else for the same money, I do it somewhere else.
For instance, I mostly buy Proto (made in USA and still reasonably priced/good quality), and never got any item of Proto off the amazon.
To sum up, online shopping is just a tool. It is not killing Proto, which means it most likely didn’t take a part in killing Craftsman.
MM
The problem was that 10-15 years ago it was relatively difficult to order Craftsman tools online. Sears was the only one selling them, and their website of the time was just terrible. Meanwhile, it was extremely easy to order just about any other brand over the internet, and many of them seriously undercut Sears on price. Obviously not everyone was buying from Amazon specifically, but again, I see the word “Amazon” used here as a proxy for internet shopping in general, hence why I said “poster child”. It doesn’t matter if someone ordered from Amazon or some other vendor online, the point is that they didn’t order as much Craftsman from Sears.
As you said, online shopping is just a tool. Amazon, et. al’s shopping tools worked. Craftsman’s shopping tool was broken.
Terrance Walleser
I still have some o proto tools. sad there monster racket heads were to wide to get into small places. my favorite ratchet was the sk made by dresser tool
Garth
The writing was on the wall as soon as Kmart bought Sears. Who expected a management that ran Kmart into the ground to do anything less with Sears and therefore Craftsman.
photobug
The whole point, IMHO, was and is to convert all Sears owned buildings into marketable real estate. To do that you had to drive customers away and empty the stores.
Bruce
I still use my made in Japan older Kmart socket sets. These were from the 70-80’s. Love my Craftsman’s but seats also sold their seats line of tools, marked seats, not craftsman. A good seats store other brands of specialty tools, like electrical tools, screwdrivers, hot wire checkers, auto checking tools. Proto and snapon round off my collection as well as other like Irwin, Stanley, fuller, trex. Taiwan and China stuff suck.
Joe Hall
You hit on the head greed is what’s wrong with everything nowadays myself I buy just about all my tools from harbor freight
Aaron SD
Thanks for putting together the timeline. When did Eddie Lampert take over Sears? Could be interesting to add.
Certainly the demise of Sears played a huge role in killing the brand. I’m also wondering how much Covid set back SBD’s plans to relaunch the brand. I don’t think they will say.
To me, it is a sideshow as they aren’t offering much new, plus I’m almost never at Lowe’s , not that I’d be at Sears either today if the store was still around as before.
It would be nice but more for sentimental reasons than any real need. I guess I’ll keep and store my blow-molded socket-set case since it says made in USA.
Stuart
According to Wikipedia, Lampert took over in 2013. At that point, a lot of the unwelcome changes were already made.
Jim Felt
I’m going to look for my stash of Craftsman annual catalogs. That too should be telling.
Aah. The “good olde daze”… (Not really)…
Nate
Eddie Lampert bought Kmart some time after they went into Bankruptcy in 2002. Kmart emerged from bankrupcty in 2003, and was worth less than $1B in capitalization. Kmart and Lampert then bought Sears for $11B in November 2004, the deal closed in March 2005.
The death of Sears, in my mind, did contribute to the decline of the brand. However, I think it only survived due to the sale to SBD.
The Craftsman hand tools of yore were good value and good quality. I dropped about $500 (when that was really significant money to me) in the mid-2000s filling out my tool box and I’m glad I did it then. I have ratchets, box and open and wrenches, ratcheting end wrenches, etc that are doing great and more than adequate to my needs. They’re not quite the quality of a tool truck brand, but they’re quite good. I’ve never had one fail, they feel right, and I was (and still am) pretty happy to have them. That’s success, in my book.
Retail wise, Sears failed because they stopped investing in their stores and stopped caring about their customers. When the shelves were the same horrible 80s metal shelves you saw in discount stores (K-mart), the floor tiles were missing, fluorescent lights flickered, water leaked from dilapidated ceiling tiles, etc. it made me really consider my relationship with them and my own self-respect . When a place treats itself as if its’ days are numbered, the “lifetime warranty” doesn’t seem worth much.
I haven’t bought any Craftsman stuff since early 2017 (I unfortunately lost an 8mm wrench and bought a replacement – only to find it again), and don’t plan to do it again.
I might reconsider if SBD can execute, but I’m not holding my breath.
Nate
And when I’m talking about dilapidated stores, I don’t mean the end days of 2017-2018, those were 2009 and 2011. The wheels were falling off the wagon for a long time.
MM
I remember seeing my local Sears looking pretty bad even earlier than that, at least as early as 2007 when I went there to pick up a Gearwrench flex-head set which I needed for a header swap job. The shelves were largely empty, it was very difficult to find an employee, the displays and the signage in the store were all in disarray. When I finally was able to check out the price rang up wrong and it took ages to find a manager who was able to sort that out. I never went back. I did check their website for a few things back then but I gave up on that too because their site search was so bad.
Dominic S
My local sears looked largely the same. Like walking into a time machine back into the late 80s and early 90s. Nothing was maintained and the building looked horrible. HOWEVER, their tool section, at least at my local sears, was the lone highlight, and their “Buy online and pickup in store” system somehow worked like a well oiled machine, likely due to a few good employees running the show locally.
Every time I ordered something online to pick up in-store I expected it not to be quick or result in me getting the correct tool but every time I walked out of there in 5 minutes with exactly what I ordered.
photobug
1. Eddie saw himself as a financial genius. He wasn’t.
2. He didn’t want to be in retail – he wanted to convert stores into real estate.
3. To do that, he had to destroy the stores.
John
I believe that the stores and the brands were destroyed on purpose. I’m not buying Craftsman from Lowes and thinking that I’m getting a lifetime warranty. Also, another poster said that why buy Craftsman when you can get cheaper tools has never worked with those chrome plated cheap ass tools from Japan that once existed. Now I’ll take Ikon from harbor freight because they are actually decent.
Nate
Largely agreed on how this applied to Sears, but there’s always more to the story.
1. Lampert was quite successful in private equity from the late 80s to 90s. It’s hard to tell genius from luck when you have a long enough run of success. Financially, he’s made money through all of this. Genius? It’s usually a word applied by people to someone we can generally agree had immense talent (Newton, Einstein, the Beatles, LOL). Those who think of themselves as geniuses (Lampert seems like the type, as does Elon Musk) are usually just lucky and really good at self promotion. Lampert was involved with Autozone’s board in the late 90s and only recently lost his position there. Autozone was very successful at that time, creating a myth that he was also good at retail. He was also involved with Payless shoes at the same time, which was not a retail success in the late90s-2000s. His time at Sears has cemented his reputation as being bad at retail.
2. His number one goal was to make money; that could have come from retail success, real estate, selling off brands, cutting costs. We know he did a little bit of all of that. Sears had a few profitable quarters/years under his ownership, but the cost cutting and lack of commitment pushed folks like you and I away in the 2007-2008 time period with those horrible stores and lack of retail investment.
3. Agreed, he made bank either through destruction or through creation. He was not talented enough, patient enough, or motivated enough for creation, and chose the destruction and sell-off path.
Kalos
There is a “legitimate” strategy of profiting from failing businesses, taught in MBA programs. It has nothing to do with “growing” a company – it is a deliberate long game of deconstructing a company, stripping out assets and converting them to cash, which is taken out by the new owners, leaving the company as nothing but a husk. Even better would be to leave debtors with uncollectable debts.
Lampert seems to be doing exactly that — manipulating balance sheets and tax law to extract as much as he can from Sears and then walk away from the wreckage.
Part of the game is to pretend, for as long as possible, to be seen as trying to turn the company around, when in fact stripping is the intent right from the start.
None of this is illegal — the ruined lives of many employees and debtors does not count for much. In economic theory, this ruthless strategy of managing a company into decline might be defensible and even preferable, because it salvages some equity that can be put to socially useful investment elsewhere.
Rafe
There probably isn’t much marketing value in “Made in America” anymore. The market is saturated with options and a lot of good affordable tools made in other places. If Harbor Freight tomorrow said “All tools are now made in America!” would they be any better? No, and I still wouldn’t buy them. Make a good tool, and get it to Americans at a fair price.
Old Flint
Exactly. I do a lot of carving and woodworking with hand tools. USA made tools for this type of work have been junk for almost a century. Why? Because there was not enough demand to justify large scale production of these types of tools. German and Swiss tools are and always have been far superior to American made tools for that type of work.
Same thing happening now in mechanics tools. Cars no longer need constant routine maintenance, the days of everyone needing tools to work on their cars is gone. Hobbyists and occasiinal shade tree mechanics are not a big enough market to justify large scale production of professional quality tools.
John
German steel has always been better. My Dad would always say that and I never had a pocket knife made from German steel but when I got a Wusthof chef’s knife, I finally understood.
I also revere the old Stanley woodworking tools, but I have a set of Craftsman mechanics tools from circa 2010 and when you compare them to older Craftsman sockets you will notice that they are thinner. I’m not even going to get into all the tools that my daughter stole from me and my father, because it just pisses me off at the stupidity of young people. I had probably 30K of tools from pre 2000 era. You buy Snap on when your livelihood depends on the tool holding up during work hours. You would had bought Craftsman if you needed to fix your own things and if it broke could take it back when you found the time.
Bonnie
Pretty much. The floor is generally higher on Made In USA (otherwise why would they even bother) but not always, and it’s definitely not the only hallmark of quality manufacturing.
Joe E.
At this point, I would be satisfied if Craftsman made a few small tweaks to their existing lineup. Here at 10 points I’m bringing to the table:
1. Offer Mechanics sets with complete sets of sockets in 1/4”, 3/8” and 1/2”, as well as combination wrenches ranging from 6mm – 19mm, and 1/4” – 3/4”, NO SKIPS. Cut down on the filler such as bits and Allen keys.
2. Ditch those awful, rebranded Stanley pliers with the bulky handles and offer some dipped handle pliers, similar to Channellock. They’re more professional in appearance and less “kid like”.
3. Bring back the low profile 84 tooth ratchets from Sears. Those were real gems. The new Craftsman ratchets at Lowe’s leave a lot to be desired. I can’t bring myself to purchase one.
4. Change up some of the packaging. Everything looks the same. It’s all a sea of nauseating red. I miss the old, darker shade of red Sears once used on their cabinets and packaging.
5. Why is the 1/2” drive, 15” long breaker bar the biggest you can buy from Craftsman? Why didn’t they continue offering the 18”? Why not have a 24” like most of their competitors offer?
6. What happened to the multi-colored nut driver sets? SB&D’s Craftsman brought out the 7 piece sets at Lowe’s around Christmas of 2020 and they flew off the shelves, never to be seen again. Glad I picked up both sets for my father. He loves them as much as he loses them.
7. They need to offer nostalgia. The Craftsman brand is nostalgic for many people and they’re not using this to their advantage. I don’t work in sales and marketing, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out they’re dropping the ball.
8. ENGAGE YOUR CONSUMERS. Stanley Black & Decker and Craftsman don’t engage with their customers. They post the same generic, corporate responses to inquiries while other tool companies are out here with brand ambassadors on forums, Facebook and Instagram talking about their product, answering questions and providing updates.
9. Find a way to make something as simple as the iconic clear handle screwdrivers in the USA again, and make that entire package one HUGE American Flag. Set up little cardboard displays with those things throughout Lowe’s and watch them sell like hot cakes.
10: Start giving more than bullshit, generic corporate responses to everyone about the status of the Fort Worth plant, or stop ignoring the questions altogether. This company would benefit from some TRANSPARENCY. Because right now, they look like liars and frauds.
Rog
I don’t think you’ll ever get anything but the boilerplate “engagement” from SBD. From their generic corporate speak to their CYA asterisks on EVERYTHING, I secretly think they’re a legal company that happens to sell tools.
bob
that was funny
Jim Felt
@Joe E. Excellent. Thanks for your input!
StuartY
Excellent summary. I agree with @JoeE perspectives
Chris Miller
I’m 50 years old and as long as I can remember, Christmas time meant more Craftsman tools from dad. We took great pride in our collection of Craftsman tools. I still have most the tools, but have not purchased a Craftsman tool in nearly two decades.
Eddie Lampert should be by ashamed of himself. The demise of Sears and Kmart began long before Lampert took over, but he sold off all the valuable brands wringing out every last dollar for his own gain.
John
Remember that this was the same company that you could order everything that you needed to build a freaking house in one big kit! That guy destroyed the entire company and I can’t stand it and I don’t know why shareholders didn’t sue the hell out of him.
Louie+Orama
Joe, that was EXCELLENT.
Jim
Excellent timeline on the destruction of a legacy Stuart! Thanks and Happy New Year!
Starting out buying tools in the early 70’s I took a bit different path. My nearest Sears store was 30 miles away so early on I bought SK from a somewhat near by parts store.
I sure did like to go to that Sears store though when I had the chance.
Over the years I bought plenty of Craftsman branded tools, especially tools I might not use everyday such as a 3/4” drive socket set.
What I bought I considered an excellent value. Priced right and more than capable of getting the job done. I’m comparing these tools to the popular truck brands.
Even after 30+ years as a professional mechanic I still bought great value tools from the Craftsman Professional line.
IMO there was a perfect business model for the idiots that obtained Sears right in front of their noses.
We had a Sears hardware near where I lived later on in life.
Excellent stock of tools, yard power equipment, and appliances.
Maybe the traditional complete Sears store wasn’t sustainable but I sure think the stand alone hardware could have been successful.
Peter H Faehnrich
We only have ourselves to blame, rather than buying items Made in the USA, we bought by price. American manufacturing went down the drain because they couldn’t compete with low cost items made elsewhere…
Robert
I agree. I think that’s a lot of the underlying reason. I would love to hear a honest history from a Sears insider. We talk a good talk, but a lot of us go first by price. Obviously not just tools, consider how the vibrant textile and furniture industries in the southeast have been hollowed out. The Wal Mart effect. Economist have a term for when what is smart for the individual is not for the overall economy, I’ve forgotten it though. Tariffs are the central governments counter to this. I’m not advocating tariffs, they have strong downside. Just bringing up that tariffs are a governments recognition that individuals will not have enough discipline to not go for the lowest bidder.
StuartY
I disagree. I buy based on value, not just cost. Craftsman offered that. I remember in their hey day, my day telling me not to buy the cheap imported crap. Craftsman was a good value, not just the cheapest.
The biggest problem is that they have lost their INTEGRITY, and that is very difficult to get back. Especially given their recent actions
OldDominionDIYer
I agree Craftsman certainly wasn’t the cheapest but they were an excellent value at the time.
Frank+D
I remember first going to a Sears store, early 2000s and being very impressed with the tools, selection, … before I even became a DIY-er. We did not have a Sears nearby at first, and so I bought what I little I needed at HD/L at the time. Then after moving and starting renovations, Sears was the closest, the selection was there, the catalogs were there, but the store and staff just … meh. Then moving again, I placed several orders for outdoor power equipment with Sears; and it was always something or another. Wasting so much time. No staff. Strange computer systems. Damaged goods. Careless delivery staff. … Selection in store went down. Plenty out of stock. Damaged displays. Falling behind. They just slowly dug their own grave. And, personally, I just took the convenient option of shopping for tools at the big box store, where I buy the stuff to make repairs, do renovations, …
Rich Granato
Frank, fair points on bad decisions by Sears in general. I distinctly remember in the late 80s they began to sell Benetton (a respected European brand)….clothes, etc…
Soon after they began selling them , Benneton launched a very aggressive marketing campaign with some fairly graphic and edgy ads (the United Colors of Benneton), which were made to draw attention to social issues (race, environment, pollution, etc. ). Looking back it was bold for the time, and agree or not, they decided to take a stand for equality, tolerance, and a cleaner world.
Sears promptly dropped them like a hot potato, no matter the product was high quality.
My point is they chose being inoffensive for profit, rather than establishing any sort of identity as a company. They also never bothered to invest in online sales, which is ridiculous considering that Sears was a pioneer in the field of remote ordering.
In addition, they continued (a small quibble, but I believe it was key) to use their crappy 80s logo and never considered going back to say, a “Sears,Roebuck,&Co.” in a classic script to give the entire brand a bit of panache, right at the time that nostalgic logos were taking off.
Talk about a raft of terrible decisions.
John
Who cares about social issues?!! I thought people were talking about tools on here!
Gene Price
I agree with you someone always have to bring race up in every discussion. I these type of people will not be happy until our country has gone the way of South Africa.
John
Well social issues aren’t going to fix my damn mechanical problem so I wonder where all these idiots come from! I miss the days when going to a auto parts store with my Dad meant finding the oldest, grimiest building standing underneath a interstate bridge that always had what you needed in stock and smelled like oil and grease! There’s also a tool calendar with naked women on it hanging on the wall with paper covering the naughty bits. How these businesses became known to mechanics, I’ll never understand, but I guess the yellow pages weren’t censored by an algorithm like the Internet.
fred
I guess if it were single faceted and easy all of the once successful brands and merchandisers of my father’s days would still be doing well. What we continue to learn is that manufacturing and supplying consumer goods is a complicated business – and that what once made you successful is not likely to last. Sears and Craftsman may be the “poster child” for what went wrong – but there many other brands and merchandisers – once large and profitable – that have failed by not adapting to the winds of change.
My take is that the switch to buying from OEM’s in Asia was not what killed the Craftsman brand. Rather it was an artifact of what was happening across many sectors of consumer products.
The Sear’s store stand-alone model first became less of a destination as Malls gained in popularity – so everything they sold probably declined. Craftsman tools might still have been a draw for homeowners and small business users – but their sales model was not competitive to businesses that had relationships with industrial suppliers or the Tool Trucks. When Sears/Craftsman was competing with high-priced limited selection hardware stores – they were still doing well. Then, when Home Depot started their rise – the HD mix of products appealed to more tool buyers than did Sears. Why stop at Sears to pick up a wrench if you were on your way to HD to buy lag bolts – and could buy a wrench too? Then online shopping moved in. You could start to compare prices – pushing many buyers further into buying based mostly price (Harbor Freight’s initial success may say something about this). Perhaps Sears could have become the Amazon of tool sales – but their poorly executed (IMO) attempts at internet sales seemed to fall flat.
Then when your corporate owners can make more money by playing with corporate debt structure and selling off assets/brands than by selling merchandise that becomes what happened to Craftsman.
Aaron SD
I think you’re on to something here too. Sears only sold tools. HD and Lowes attraction was the complete job with materials and tools.
Business wise, the new big box didn’t pay for inventory dropping their costs to overhead.
Sears probably had huge rental costs and maybe tried to save money on their tools.
Craftsman was probably the symbol of the whole company going down. Maybe Sears didn’t have many good options being stuck to malls and a business model that was going down fast.
Frank+D
Exactly. Initially I looked at Sears + Craftsman based on the reputation + the warranty. But when the convenience was not there and/or the price point and/or warranty was not great relative to brands offered at the big box store; and they’re just offering the same import tools in a different color … the draw to shop at Sears stopped.
Certainly for a DIY guy like me, who doesn’t work on cars.
MM
Agreed.
Like you said, Sears had massive costs and huge amounts of money tied up in their brick-and-mortar stores, and that side of the business (things other than tools) were getting hit hard by the rise of online shopping and the “retail apocalypse”. They very well may have tried to cut corners on tools in order to free up money elsewhere.
I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that Craftsman is the symbol of the company as a whole going down. In my opinion their real underlying problem was getting late into the internet game and failing hard when they finally did so.
Bill L.
I’ve been using Craftsman tools since the mid fifties. They were my dad’s and I’d better not put them back in the wrong place. I’ve bought a lot of the tools since then. In the late 80s, I worked in a stereo installation bay and my top box was stolen during a break in, along with the company truck. Insurance paid for new Snap On replacements, but the bottom box was too heavy and I retain those Craftsman tools to this day. I had a bad experience with a Sears replacement and never went back again. Never will. I now have four bottom boxes and two top boxes and no one to leave them to. I’m still using my mix of Craftsman and SnapOn tools.
Steve
I’m adoptable Bill, a little long in the tooth myself but if we’re talking tools, I’m definitely adoptable.
Robert A. Kinzel
My first memory of Craftman was with my Grandfather. I had just gotten my driver’s license and I was helping him with a project when he smacked an old large screwdriver with a hammer. After several whacks, the ancient abused handle shattered. I was perplexed why he thought hammering was OK and went to through it away. That’s when he got excited and told me he’d been hammering that screwdriver for 10 years. Then , more astonishing, he told me to take back to Sears for a free replacement. I protested to no avail, as he was confident that was going to work. I drove off thinking I was just wasting time and gas money. So I approached the counter with the broken pieces fully expecting to be embarrassed and denied. The clerk just simply said go get another it has a lifetime guarantee. I was dumbfounded and sold that day on Craftsman. But for me too, I haven’t bought one in over 10 years.
John
Before Lowes, Home Depot and Amazon, there was Sears. They were the single largest tool seller in the US and maybe the world. Their sales volume was enough to support all sorts of US tool manufactures. As Sears declined, they started to squeeze suppliers for more margin. Suppliers to Sears were faced with shrinking sales and margin as Sears slowly died. In order to survive, suppliers had to cut costs and frequently consider importing goods for Sears in order to recoup declining sales and margin dollars. Or, a supplier would come in quote other product categories with the tool department in an effort to increase their revenue within the shrinking Sears footprint. In order to wrestle away a tool category from an incumbent, the potential new supplier would need to offer increased margin for Sears and some other incentive such as a volume rebate, or increased promotional monies. This required a lot creativity and often meant moving products off-shore in order to deliver better financial performance for Sears. This slippery slope led Danaher/Apex to shift large volumes of US production to Asia and led to a consolidated of suppliers in the tool department. This competition damaged many US suppliers who had to fight to protect their Sears/Craftsman business. Interestingly, this same sinking-ship problem led to a noticeable decline in the quality of appliances as well. Sears looked for ways to grow margin as store count declined and conducted several large line reviews to squeeze more blood from the turnip. Imagine the impact of Sears putting the $xx billion dollar laundry category out for bid and every global appliance manufacture scrambling to find ways to save cost. Machined parts become pot metal castings, brass parts becomes aluminum and every possible metal part becomes plastic. That’s the reason why your grandmother’s 35 year old Kenmore refrigerator is still humming along, while the very expensive model you bought 10 years ago is ready for the scrap heap.
fred
And. we as consumers accept a lot of this in the name of progress, Do we want a refrigerator to last 35 years – or do we lust after a new model with all the latest features (e.g., Bluetooth connectivity)? My Garland commercial range has few modern features – but has endured 2 commercial cleanings and over 40 years of use. But when I was in the business – we’d remodel kitchens that were less than 10 years old – just to provide a new look.
MM
A valid point, but it’s a complex one.
Longevity is an interesting question. On the one hand everybody likes things which are dependable and last a long time. But on the other hand, there can be legitimate improvements to newer models. For example, that old refrigerator might last for decades, but it might also have terrible energy efficiency compared to a new model.
Or another example: suppose you had a cordless drill, circa 1995, that miraculously still works today. It would be nice to be able to brag about how that brand lasted you so many years…but would you put up with 1995 performance on the job or would you trade it up for a more modern tool that will let you work more efficiently and safer?
But there are also many new products which aren’t any better than older ones–they don’t have better energy efficiency or performance to justify their use.
I’d much rather have that old Garland commercial range compared to anything sold at a big-box store. Commercial ranges are made to cook well, be easy to clean, and withstand hard use all day; what gets sold at the appliance section is designed to look nice in interior design magazines or to offer silly marketing gimmicks, and nearly always falls flat in the BTU department.
Calvn L Roberts
Screw Craftsman ! After they turned their back on America, put countless tradesman & machinists out of work with no regard for them or their families, shafted their entire US customer base with cheap crappy warranty replacements or denials, took tax credits for their disingenuous made in America commitments, left giant empty holes in the communities they abandoned in their race to get production off shore to to China! Are you kidding ? I wouldn’t touch another “Crap-man” tool if they were giving them away ! Eat poop and bark at the moon for all I care.
Michael Hammer
May I ask what brand you’ll buy instead?
KMR
Things went south for Sears (and Craftsman) when someone had the brilliant idea to merge the already sinking ship of Kmart with Sears in the mid-2000s. After redirecting resources and money into propping up Kmart, there was a brief resurgence in Kmart for a few years, but Kmart’s fate was already sealed by Target and Walmart. Those redirected resources (and time) would have been better spent on establishing a dominant online sales channel for Sears and their associated brands, but they even admit they missed the boat on internet sales, and didn’t get serious about online sales about a decade after the Sears/Kmart merger.
Mark
The problems started well before Kmart. In the simplest terms, they didn’t upgrade their target audience as time went on. Tastes changed, Sears didn’t. They still primarily targeted the older generation. When they finally started to figure it out, it was far too late and other retail chains had already won the younger crowd.
Tools? I stopped buying Craftsman tools in the mid 80s. Quality had plummeted. I still have my combo wrenches and 1/2″ socket set w/ratchet from the mid-late 70s. But this latest generation doesn’t get into tools and mechanical projects nearly as much. Different values. But I think the value of the brand would have carried through, even though Sears had been a dead man walking since the early 80s. Even wrote a college paper on it in about 1983.
MT
In my younger years, Craftsman lifetime warranty + Sears having stores everywhere = no-brainer place to buy tools. Now Craftsman is what I get when it’s on sale and I’ll only use it every now and then but I don’t want to buy Harbor Freight.
John
Bought my first Craftsman tool set in 1967 for $34.00 still have them and tool box. Used them on my 67 Mustang and for household DYI projects. Best tool set ever.
Mr. C
And to add fuel to all of the above — I still have issues getting Lowes and Ace Hardware to honor the Craftsman warranty.
Ace, for their limited ability, I understand. They give me the excuse: “We don’t carry that tool, there’s nothing we can do. We can’t order it.” Make me miss the old community hardware stores that would grab a bunch of hobbits and lead an adventure into Mordor just to get a part for a customer.
Lowes….has no excuse. They have the part on the shelf. Or should I say, a Made-in-China version of what I have. And they give me excuse after excuse, never the same. “We can’t do that.” “It’s part of a set, we can’t break it up.” “Our computers won’t allow us.” “That’s not the same exact tool.” “Craftsman doesn’t honor that warranty anymore – that’s from Sears and we’re Lowes.” and so on.
After the third time I had to get corporate Lowes involved for a SIMPLE hand tool swap (to a much inferior replacement, I might add), I gave up. It’s literally not worth my time. I don’t have the hours in the day to chase them down every time they can’t do their job right.
Craftsman has left an absolutely bitter, awful, regretful taste in my mouth. It will take a herculean overrcorrection in their quality and behavior for me to ever trust that name ever again. I’ll nab vintage tools used, sure — but I won’t spend a dime on new retail tools unless I have absolutely no other choice.
And that’s the thing — the market is pretty crowded. There’s always another choice. I have that luxury of snapping my wallet shut based solely on principle.
MM
It really rubs me the wrong way when a company buys a well known brand name but refuses to take the whole package that comes with it. By that I mean, they apparently want the brand recognition and good reputation but they often fail on the customer service side of things by refusing to support older products from that brand. And that is a huge mistake. I’d argue that if one of the main reasons, if not THE biggest reason, why people respected Craftsman was the no-hassle warranty service. So now you have these new owners of the brand who want that same recognition but they refuse to offer the service which earned that reputation in the first place? That’s just terrible decision making.
fred
Perhaps that was a consequence of the Sears sales deal. If I recall, Sears retained the right to still sell tools branded as Craftsman sourced as they wished from OEM’s other than SBD. That certainly diluted the value of the Craftsman brand – and probably made it financially imprudent for SBD to contemplate honoring warranties on tools branded “Craftsman” but not produced under the SBD umbrella.
MM
I can see how that would be a factor, but I feel that refusing to honor the old warranties only serves to dilute the value of the brand more which is rather self-defeating. Here’s the way I look at it– If a customer speaks up that he has a Craftsman tool fail and he wants warranty service there are only two possible options and each with a very clear outcome:
1) Warranty service denied.
The customer is obviously going to be upset that he is not getting the service he expected and was promised to him when he purchased the tool in the first place. And, as upset customers tend to do, he will proceed to tell anybody who will listen about the poor experience. With social media and the internet that could be a LOT of people hearing that negative publicity. If the customer is a professional then you bet all his co-workers will hear about it.
2) Give the customer a new tool, even if that happens to be the closest possible alternate if the original isn’t made anymore. This costs the brand whatever their production cost of that tool is, which is a small fraction of the retail price. The customer is happy. And if you’re lucky, you’ll get some positive spin if that customer decides to tell people about how “they didn’t make my old ratchet anymore, but they were nice enough to give me one of the new ones instead”
There really is no neutral outcome, you either have a happy customer or your have a POed one who now looks down on the brand. In my opinion, for most tools, eating the cost of a replacement tool is far better than the negative publicity generated by such an upset customer. Consider the future as well: is that hypothetical customer likely to buy Craftsman again if he had a bad experience the last time? In my opinion Craftsman’s brand image is something they should work to improve as really that’s the only thing attracting people to buy their current tools, because it’s not Craftsman’s technical merits or value for money which is driving their current sales. If they aren’t going to stand out when it comes to quality or value then service is the only thing left.
Jim Felt
I think you’ve identified two separate “problems”. Sears old line warranty policy being randomly ignored by SBD’s modest malfeasance and Lowes having abysmal local if not national “management” oversight in general.
Frank
Grew up with Craftsman Tools. Had Cornwall sockets, Snap On too. But while not going forward with heavy mechanics, Craftsman was a great option. Lifetime warranty was legit! Go in and they would just swap with you.
Then they went to repairing in store for ratchets and endless questions of how we used the tools before granting a swap.
If SBD will be true and bring back the true Craftsman legacy , I’m all in!
Until then I’ll just be piecing tools of quality .
Harry
Excellent timeline article!!!
However, I think many of you are missing what I consider to be the death of Made in the USA Craftsman tools, that is the closing of the ARMSTRONG tool factory. One must remember that, to pave the way for the massive Gearwrench expansion into becoming a complete line of mechanic’s hand tools instead of just a line of fine toothed ratcheting wrenches, APEX Tool Group killed off Armstrong Tools. Unfortunately, Armstrong not only made Armstrong branded tools but, they made Craftsman, Matco, NAPA Professional, master mechanic, Allen, some Kobalt, and others. In one fell swoop, a great amount of US made mechanic’s hand tools were no longer made. I don’t think many people appreciated everything that came out of the Armstrong factory until it was gone. Sears sourced Craftsman from overseas suppliers, as did the other brands. NAPA for awhile was rebadged Gearwrench items. SBD may continue to speak of bringing tool production back to the USA but, out of the other side of their mouth, they’ve consolidated screwdriver production in France. My beloved Duratek screwdrivers in MAC or Proto trim are no longer made in the USA. I still have more made in the USA Craftsman tools than I will ever use in my lifetime so, I don’t long for Craftsman the way some of you do. I guess I view them with nostalgia from possibly better times, the same way I’m starting looking at my SK tools.
Stuart
Armstrong closed in 2017, YEARS after Sears gave up on USA-made Craftsman tools.
https://toolguyd.com/apex-tool-group-cuts-armstrong-and-allen-tool-brands/
When this happened, Gearwrench already had a very complete line of mechanics tools.
Harry
My mistake, I thought Armstrong shuttered their doors before then. Do you know exactly when KD tools were killed off?
Aside from Wright, some Channellock, and some of the truck brands, who’s left making USA made Tools?
fred
I believe that Martin Tools are still USA Made
https://www.martinsprocket.com/view/industrial-hand-tool/industrial-hand-tools
Most of the Proto (SBD) lineup also seems to still be made in the USA
Williams also seems to have a mix of USA production and Asian sourcing
fred
I should have added that I’ve kind of lost track of what SK is doing these days. They had said that they tossed in with ShopVac and moved to Willaimsport Pa. But since both they and ShopVac having been acquired by Hangzhouh Great Star (China) – I’m not sure what if anything they produce in the USA.
BTW – there seems to be many others still making tools in the USA – just not with the breadth and scope of what I experienced when starting my collections in the 1950’s and ’60s.
I think KD – seems to have morphed into Gearwrench – and that their many speciality auto repair tool offerings have disappeared – perhaps replaced by Lisle. Lisle still seems to produce tools in the USA – but also seems to source from Asia as well.
Other brands that I think still produce (or source) some of their tools (not just mechanics tools) in the USA include: 3M, Ajax, Ampco, Apex, Bondhus, Bontool, Cementex, Chicago-Latrobe, Cleco, Crain, Crick Levels, Dasco-Pro, Dotco, DMT, Dynabrade, Elkind, Empire Level, Enderes, Estwing, Flexcut, Foredom, Forrest Mfg, WL Fuller, G&P Tools, Greenlee, Huot, Hudson Bearings, Hunter Ind., Ibex Planes, Ideal, Imperial-Eastman, Incra, Jonard, Ken-Tool, Keo-Cutters, Kett, Klein, Klenk, Kraft USA, Lang-Kastar, Lansky Sharpeners, Lenox, Lie-Nielsen, Malco, Marshalltown, Mastercool, Mayhew, Microjig, Midwest Tool, Moody, Morgan, MK Morse, Norseman-Viking Drill, Omega Technologies, CS Osborne, Oster, Pan American Tool, Panavise, Panduit, Park Tool, Paslode, PEC Tools, Rack-a-Tiers, Reed MFG, Ridgid (Emerson), Ripley, Senco, Seneca Woodworking, Snappy Tools, Spears Mfg., Swanstrom, Thexton, Thomas & Betts, TSO, Valco, Vega, Wadsworth Falls, Warwood, Wehr Mfg., Weiler Abrasives, Woodpeckers, and Yellow Jacket. I’m sure that I’ve missed many others – and know that sourcing and COO can change rapidly.
TonyT
Xuron diagonal cutters.
Stuart
KD Tools seemed to have been gradually absorbed into Gearwrench.
I’m not certain of the timing, but believe KD branding gradually disappeared around 2012 also, give or take a year or two.
fred
I always thought that Easco Hand Tools was the major supplier of Craftsman mechanics tools. Danaher acquired Easco in 1990 – and it later became part of the Danaher – Cooper Industries joint venture they called “The Apex Tool Group”. But then when (in 2012) the Apex Tool Group) was sold to Bain Capital – things may have started to blur.
Eric
Craftsman Professional wrenches were made by SK. And they were amazing for the money.
Stuart
Around 2010 or so, Craftsman Pro tools were widely believed to be made by Armstrong.
It definitely wasn’t SK, which declared bankruptcy in 2010 before being bought by Ideal.
https://toolguyd.com/sk-hand-tools-declares-bankruptcy/
Sean
I bought my first Craftsman tool set (ratchet and sockets) in 1991. Im still using them and loving them. Over the next 10 years or so I bought 95% of the tools I own and use everyday. They are all Craftsman. The other 5% are newer craftsman, kobalt, and harbor freight specials. And they are all pieces of junk that i regularly have to replace. For the money, lately i buy Harbor Freight for cheap and just consider them disposable. I will not buy any craftsman power tool as they are junk, I’ve gone to Milwaukee and Bosch. Thank God I bought all my tools when Craftsman was the best thing on the market for value and dependability.
Craftsman does make some nice tool chests again so hopefully B&D willbring back quality hand tools and power tools.
Chris Manspeaker
Any talk about the fall of Craftsman needs to include the mismanagement of Sears including the CEO who ran it into the ground while also running the Fund who wanted the valuable portions of Sears on the cheap. The conflict of interest that existed was criminal.
I have a good chunk of Craftsman tools, but when I buy new ones, Craftsman is usually not an option anymore, just nothing there to distinguish it from Husky, Kobalt, Pittsburgh and other tools, all with a warranty.
Stuart
Why? The Lampert Era took place AFTER Sears made irreversible changes to Craftsman sourcing.
Joe A
Excellent article!
Worth mentioning too is that back when Craftsman was king, tools from China were all garbage and we didn’t have much access to Japanese and European tools. Fast forward to now, and we can buy German, Japanese, Swiss, and even rather decent quality Chinese-made tools online and in many stores.
As mentioned, Craftsman was good quality, good value tools. I think once China finally improved their metallurgy and manufacturing, the quality gap closed significantly up on Craftsman. Up and coming shade tree mechanics started buying tools from HD, Lowe’s, Harbor Freight, etc., where the past generations would have always gone to Sears to buy Craftsman. But Sears went the way of the dodo and took Craftsman with it.
I own a lot of classic Craftsman tools from my father (unwrapping that new screwdriver set on Christmas morning!)and my own purchases throughout the 80’s and 90’s, along with a fair amount of Snap-On from my more professional days. Craftsman today is dead to me. They killed it. I’d rather buy DeWalt or Husky or something like that than touch a Craftsman tool. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the Chinese tools, but the overall value and return on investment is there. However, most of my recent purchases have been Engineer, Klein, Knipex, Vessel and the likes… tools that I feel I really don’t have to worry about breaking and needing to return.
I would love to see Craftsman return to it’s glory of being go-to home mechanic and affordable professional-quality tools. It’s going to take a long time and a lot of investment. I have my doubts it can happen.
Mike Crowley
Couldn’t agree more Stuart. I grew up depending on Sears/Craftsman as my primary tool supplier and was very fortunate to make the decision to do a major re-work of my entire garage in the financial crisis of ’08. In addition to buying the “good” Craftsman tools at that time (I bought jsut about everything for automotive work; english/metric wrenches, regular and deep sockets, impact sockets, screwdriver sets, pliers, ++), everything was on incredible sales in large sets at the time due to the financial backdrop. The quality drop in the metal was very noticeable when I supplemented with hex bits and otherwise a few years down the road; presumed this was when they switched to cheaper Asian suppliers.
My only regret was only buying the large Craftsman bottom and top tool chest at the time (these were made by supplier Waterloo as you noted), as later I was unable to buy the middle chest to complete the set. Those “Griplatch” drawers and heavy duty cabinets have been wonderful over the years.
These older Craftsman tools have been bulletproof, and thus haven’t had to figure out if and who honors the “lifetime” warranty that was so famously associated w/Craftsman back in the day. Not sure if any of this liability was passed onto SBD or Lowes’s – however I suspect even if a tool was replaced it would be with a far inferior product. Sad to see Craftsman meet this demise – hopefully someday will be resurrected.
DB
Recently went to Lowes to exchange a pair of 12″ Kobalt pliers and a pair of Craftsman needle nose. Customer Service picked up a set if information cards from the computer and said they couldn’t exchange the Craftsman because they had signs of rust on them. I explained it is a tool. They showed me the card that was supposedly distributed to all Lowes, it said Craftsman lifetime warranty is void if the tool has any signs of rust. The kobalt they gave me a hard time about, called a manager, then tools section manager, than store manager, but eventually exchanged them. That turned me off with Lowes tools. I’m done with kobalt and Craftsman because of Lowes. Cheaper tools have their place. Tools to lend out, tools the wife needs to borrow to take to work, etc. But I’m with home Depot and husky brand tools (preferred then before, but now I’ll just skip Lowes altogether).
John Blair
I’d step back even further. Long before 2012 I noticed a major decline in Craftsman tools. The oldest Craftsman tools owned by my father and grandfather we were well made, light and well balanced. If something broke, you would go back to Sears and they would just swap it out on the spot. So a socket didn’t need to be impervious to all possible forces.
But people started abusing the system, you could go buy a bunch of tools at a garage sale, destroy them, go to Sears and get all new tools. This abuse caused changes in the tools. Screw drivers shafts got heftier, socket walls got beefier, everything just got less elegant. The extra metal cost more, the warranty replacements cost more and the tools were worse.
Add in the death of malls across America and you see Sears start making worse and worse financial decision as outlined above by another John (unrelated..lol), and the death spiral tightened up. I don’t have nostalgia for USA made for the sake of made in USA, I have nostalgia for a time when “USA made” meant the product was better made.
DC
I haven’t bought any Craftsman tools since the late 90’s and probably won’t in the future. Snap-on, Knipex, Channellock, Klein, Estwing, replaced all my Craftsman tools which went to yard sales and emergency truck boxes.
StuartY
Excellent timeline article. Great way to start the year.
In addition to what has already been said, I have two comments:
1. In his last paragraph, Stuart said, “ Back in 2014, Sears described Craftsman as “America’s #1 brand of mechanics tools.” After all that has happened, can Stanley Black & Decker get Craftsman back to that? Yes, I believe so. But will they?”
I disagree that SBD can get back to that. And, I don’t think they will. I wish I were wrong but don’t see it happening. The market has changed too much. I would love to have seen Craftsman establish a brick and mortar component model like Amazon has done with Kohls for returns and a little bit of human contact element.
2. All integrity has been lost, and there is not enough opportunity for Craftsman to reestablish their reputation. Those of us who might care, Toolguyd fans, have largely moved on and were burned in the past, which is probably irreparable.
An orthogonal thought…the role of Bob Vila marketing by Sears. Like many of you I grew up with Sears and Craftsman working with my Dad. We would go to Sears once a week to just browse the tool section. I remember telling him, why all of this Bob Vila marketing? They were focused on the popularity of This Old House, not good quality. Seems like novelty junk instead of focusing on quality tools. I began to question Craftsman integrity at this point. Didn’t think much about it until this article, the timing seems somewhat consistent with the nosedive Craftsman and Sears were beginning.
Jack
I started buying Craftsman tools starting back in 1972 – loved the Black Friday sales, genuine quality products and still use many of the socket tools today. Then I noticed the electric tools (drills, grinders, etc.) were cheapened in quality and the BF sales just weren’t motivatng. Since then, I view Craftsman with low regard and non-competitive with the pro/prosumer line of tools. It’s a shame that I was 100% sold on Craftsman and now 100% uninterested in the brand.
John K
At one time many of Menards Masterforce hand tools were made in USA. They were decent tools. However, in the past three or four years they too have switched to Asian production for Masterforce tools.
In my current job we have to use some hand tools. Most people along with companies that we work for which provide tools use either Harbor Freight Pittsburgh Pro or Kobalt branded tools. They are cheap enough, hold up decent and are easily replaced under warranty.
Anthony
they sold out craftsman without a care..i worked for sears for 25 years so it was no surprise to me that theyd do this…only upside is ,i got full sets of craftsman professional wrenches at 60%off…those were the fun times of tool deals
Ga Hill
Despite all of this nostalgia talk and how a great savior is on the horizon for Craftsman (crapman), no one seems to be old enough to remember or refer to the good old days of Black and Decker, today known as the infamous SBD. The power tools they produced in their reign where amongst the most prolific and desired in industry and at home . Alas, a similar story did occur with the demise of quality and of course longevity and customer desire. My own last B&D purchase was a 1/4 inch drill I had gifted to my father and broke within the next year (not the robot assembled units of the ’70s).
So, is the original B&D story and it’s consequential rebranding to the yellow black and decker (hats off toward the great Dewalt radial saw demise) a precursor to Craftsman’s future? Long live marketing and pity the end user!
Joe A
This article made the “Top News” feed in my Smart News app!
Kent
Question from a non-American millennial. Profit wise was it ever feasible for a quality tool to still be produced in USA with competitive pricing? Just from a global economic view the late 90’s/early 00’s seemed like the moment in time that Asian made products really REALLY, took a foot hold. So the price of craftsman, if it stayed the same, would look considerably overpriced compared to new Asian made tools and from my outside of America view is that Americans HATE spending more for anything. There’s always niche people that will spend for quality but the overall population will not which leads to things like the death of legacy brands ie; sears, craftsman as well as things like manual transmissions in cars.
MM
I think your observation is generally accurate, but I don’t think there is anything new about the fact that we Americans (generally speaking) have a preference for cheap.
This is an except from a book written in 1890, the context is hunting shotguns:
“In no country are better sportsmen to be found than in the United States of America, nor does any country possess keener buyers or better men of business, yet in no country is so much of the worthless rubbish of the Continental gun-factories offered for sale. The Boers are a race of sportsmen, but it is of no use to offer them rubbish at any price, and the author can hardly believe that the astute American will sacrifice everything to cheapness.
….
In the United States there are two classes of guns made. The machine-made trade gun, the sale of which is vigorously pushed at every
opportunity. The better-class gun, made by some American-born or emigrant gunsmith, whose production is limited and sales unimportant. An American gun, at about three times the price of the American machine-made gun, will be a superior weapon in every way to the machine-made gun; but be sure that it is of American make, for imported guns are sold as of any make, just as there is a demand.”
It’s rather ironic just how much that sounds like today’s tool market, generally speaking anyway.
Stuart
Many tools are still made in the USA at reasonable prices, and so I would think so.
Back in 2010, Sears still offered a number of entry-priced USA-made Craftsman tools, such as their “raised panel” wrenches and screwdrivers. The lowest priced tools were branded under Craftsman Evolv.
Guest
Realistically, most people don’t need Craftmans or American made then or now. To fix like two loose bolts a year or tighten some screws, do you need to spend say $10 as opposed to $2 for some import? Both covered under warranty so the difference is still there. People fixate on longevity but using something twice a year is not going to kill either.
In previous times with less importing, people probably had no recourse but to buy local or borrowed. Now since it’s cheaper to just have a emergency set on the cheap, they buy it and forget it somewhere.
Americans are not cheap but there is more of a utilitarian approach to things. American products never quite have the flare or elegance compared to others but they probably can take a beating (perhaps more so) and cost less. It’s not cheap, just a cultural practice for more function and not adding aesthetics/ornamentation for the sake of inflating price.
Certain brands do glam things up but most domestic brands take a simple function and dependability approach.
OldDominionDIYer
Perhaps YOU only “fix two loose bolts a year” and that’s fine, but many of us here either make a living with tools or have at one time or actually work on things far more than what you imply. If I only used a wrench twice a year, I wouldn’t own one, I’d probably borrow it, like many people have from me.
Kalos
Sears always sold cheap, semi-disposable tools alongside the good tool. I remember Sears “Good, Better, Best” strategy as early as the 1970s. “Good” stuff for occasional, household-quality tools, and “Best” tools for professional/prosumer use. It was an honest sales strategy (I see Harbor Freight has similar Good, Better, Best levels.
jim k
I still buy Craftsman tools….at yard sales. But only ones that I can identify as being really old, items that were produced before the quality declined markedly.
Can Craftsman regain its previous stature? If it can, that would take a very long time, and require an enormous effort on the part of Stanley to replicate, if not exceed, what Sears did to establish and maintain the line ‘s image and quality 30+ years ago.
With so many other alternatives, and the existing negative image Craftsman has, I’d say the chances of that happening are remote.
And frankly, at this point, I’m not sure I would even care. I can buy a Klein, Milwaukee, Greenlee, Irwin or similar brand, and feel comfortable about the quality and longevity of the tool, making Craftsman irrelevant.
But I still like to pick up an old one at a yard sale, if I can find one that qualifies.
Josh
I haven’t picked up a new craftsman tool in years. That new v series looked nice but if I remember correctly the wrench sets were small and skipped sizes and wasn’t available on the shelf at my local Lowe’s. I don’t buy to many tools for working on the house but for automotive I seem to buy stuff more often. Now they only sell basic tools and cordless tools all of what I myself already have. I lost an allen wrench and went to Lowe’s to actually buy a new set of metric and standard L style allen wrenches and the craftsman set did no include the sae one i was looking for but had all the metric ones so I went with the kobalt and they were missing some metric ones but had all the sae. I was rather disappointed in both brands.
Matt C.
Whenever the subject of Craftsman comes up, I see a lot of comments with a lot of memories. As a DIY’er, I spent the 80’s and 90’s building up much of my tool collection. I bought Craftsman almost exclusively. It was the right quality at the right price. I stayed a Craftsman fan past 2012 but noticed a drop in quality. I pretty much gave up on Craftsman after they sold to SBD. It opened my mind to the many other great tool companies out there. I now get mechanic hand tools from Tekton and Gearwrench… power tools from Dewalt and Milwaukee. Instead of buying a tool because it has the Craftsman name on it, I research which tool is the best fit for my needs. I would love to buy USA made tools there are not many “middle of the road” quality tools made in the USA anymore.
So in conclusion… Craftsman is dead… Sears is darn near dead… SBD Craftsman has no resemblance to Sears Craftsman (that I can see) other than the name. I’ve moved on. I no longer care what SBD Craftsman does. They’re just another tool company that is OK quality with slightly higher prices. I’ve yet to see something from SBD Craftsman that is worth buying over another brand.
Lisa P
My husband was a mechanic for 50 years. He began by owning all Craftsman tools. He quit buying them in the late 70’s when he had a ratchet break. He went to Sears to get it replaced and they said they didn’t replace them anymore. They gave him a kit to repair it himself. He went home, threw the ratchet and the repair kit in the trash and never bought another Craftsman tool or toolbox.
John
This is incorrect. I had ratchets replaced by Sears in the 90s. He should have been using Snap On if he was a professional mechanic, because he couldn’t afford to have a tool break.
MM
I think it came down to the whim of the employees involved. I warrantied a total of four craftsman ratchets. Twice they gave me a whole new one right off the shelf, the other two times they installed a repair kit promptly while I waited. This would have been roughly between 1995 and 2005. I don’t use Craftsman ratchets anymore because that got to be too much of a hassle and I replaced them with Snap-On. I still have the vast majority of my old Craftsman sockets though, and those are still going strong.
John
Employees are always the issue, but when I took my ratchet back they actually pulled one out of another set to accommodate me. That was the only reason that I bought Craftsman, because the lifetime warranty and ease of replacement. I didn’t make a living using them. I just kept my car on the road with them.
DRT42
I had the same experience as MM and LisaP, in approximately the same time period. The first time, they gave me a brand new ratchet. A few years later, I had my choice of a rebuild kit (put it in yourself, kid) or swap for somebody else’s used ratchet that had received a rebuild kit. The “here’s a rebuild kit” concept bugged me at the time, but I really didn’t like the idea of them handing me a used ratchet with somebody else’s initials engraved on it. This was at a Sears Hardware store. Not long after that, I quit using Craftsman ratchets.
Max Horton
We replaced broken Crafteman products at our Ace Hardware.
Zlatan
Really sad. I wish stuff like this didn’t happen or was controlled by industry or (sorry, but i got a say) government. The US could use some protectionism when it comes to the US based manufacturing.
I came to the US when I was a teenager, without my father. It wasn’t until my 20s that I started noticing tools. And I could still remember going Sears and looking up Craftsman.
Funny, i came across this article by accident while searching for replacement blades for Stanley Sweetheart low profile hand plane. Nothing. They made a tool and replacement blades are nowhere to be found. I’ll probably have to go with an older version. I found out Veritas makes high quality replacement blades for older models.
John
Check out Callisto. I bought five Stanley number 4 irons for 20 bucks just to practice my hand sharpening skills on. I can’t bear the thought of messing up a part made longer than I have been alive for.
Bonnie
Assuming you’re talking about the 60 1/2 that’s a pretty standardized design of hand plane, lots of places sell compatible blades. Hock makes the whole gamut for different sub-types of 60-1/2. Lee Valley probably also has something compatible.
fred
I probably started buying old Stanley planes in the 1970’s. Sourcing replacement blades, cap irons, chip breakers could be a chore. But then in the 1980’s, I heard about Ron Hock. Since then, his company has greatly expanded their offerings – in many cases making blades better than the original.
https://www.hocktools.com/
Michael Hammer
Lie-Nielsen tool works has been reproducing the Stanley line of planes for years and have seriously high quality blades that may be compatible.
Marc
If you go back through the history of the tools, like wrenches, ratchets, sockets, screwdrivers, etc., that really defined Craftsman, you would see names like Moore Drop Forge, Western Forge, and Wilde.
Moore had Sears as it’s biggest customer, making many Craftsman tools. The quality was excellent. Moore would eventually be bought by Eastern Steel (Easco). Easco kept making tools for Sears, and as manufacturing tooling wore out, Easco would either make new tooling or substitute their other, also high quality, products. Easco was the OEM for brands like KD, Master Mechanic, and others. That is why the Easco raised panel wrenches for Craftsmanook like a number of other brands, they are basically the exact same tools. Easco would eventually be bought by Danaher, who continued the production of Craftsman Tools. Danaher would come to own many brands, such as Armstrong, Crescent, Bonney, Herbrand, Apex, and many more. Many Danaher products would be sold as Craftsman Professional.
Eventually, as tooling wore for the traditional line of tools like Craftsman wrenches and sockets, Sears was struggling to pay the tab. Under the new brain trusts at Sears, they dropped the Craftsman professional line and had production tooling done at a lower cost/quality by Danaher. People noticed, and it hurt sales. Eventually, Sears wasn’t paying Danaher, and got cut off. The brain trusts were able to source manufacturing of the traditional Craftsman tools from China, at a lower cost and quality. That really hurt sales. Quality has improved under SBD, and we might still see USA made Craftsman tools, but the glory days of the Moore/Easco tools are gone.
There were other companies making tools over the years for Sears, including the parent of Husky, as well as some over seas suppliers (I have a set of raised panel wrenches Made in Japan). Sears put Western Forge in a bind, too. Their parent closed their operations a few years ago.
Wilde is still going. They made many Craftsman tools, including punches and chisels. I saw a Wilde punch set at Menards recently, still made in the USA, and identical packaging to the Craftsman branded punches at Sears from years ago.
Kent_Skinner
The writing on the wall started in the 90s.
Way back when, if a ratchet broke they’d swap put the inner parts at the counter with. At some point, they just swapped older, higher quality tools for newer, cheaper tools. At that point, the warranty lots its appeal to me.
So much time spent discussing CMan, with almost no chance of regaining what they once were. Even if they become good again I have no desire to buy them again. The screwed me on the warranty once already.
xu lu
I never understand fanboy love of a company or its products. It’s not like there arent lots and lots of alternatives. Sears was unable to keep up with changes in the marketplace and stayed afloat by selling the family silver and not investing. So the Craftsman brand that was the brand for middle America no longer exists. On to the next better more innovative brand…until history repeats. No tears being shed here and i’m more than happy with the alternatives i’ve discovered in recent years. Sears tools were fine enough but Sears was the reason for the purchase. Satisfaction gauranteed or your money back-and ther meant it.
MFC
From all the comments it’s apparent that Craftsman was a big deal. I started building my tool kit around 2011 as I was working on my car that was frequently breaking down and I used a lot of craftsman tools that my father in law would lend me. I moved to husky tools because of cost, and availability when one would break, and feel that they are equal in quality with the chinese made Craftsman tools I have occasionally owned/used, but not the same as the USA made craftsman that my Father in law had built up.
Honestly, it’s nice to see a company trying to turn something around, so I guess we’ll see.
OldDominionDIYer
I own those gorgeous USA made Craftsman Professional wrenches they are really nice but cannot be replaced along with many other Craftsman hand tools. My biggest complaint is the way Craftsman quietly replaced quality USA made tools with junk and hoped to fool their customer base, that is my rub. I can’t stand that type of behavior and because of that and my age (having invested in tools elsewhere now) I will never buy the brand again no matter who owns it. The chances of Craftsman becoming great again is zero so long as SB&D are the owners, they will never allow it to be better than DeWalt, “THE” only premium brand within SB&D. In order for Craftsman to be as good as it was in the heyday, they would need to be even better than the DeWalt hand tools which are average at best. No serious professional who relies on their tools to make a living buys Dewalt which is the biggest indicator. Many mechanics did make a living off of Craftsman USA made hand tools though. Don’t get me wrong Stuart, I like hearing about the updates, but it is a bit sad to read.
Chris
I really hope you’re not being serious with anything you just said
OldDominionDIYer
I’m completely serious, there is no way SB&D will ever allow Craftsman to exceed DeWalt in their tool company portfolio. That is just the way it is. I’m not knocking SB&D I just see it that way. Their tool brands are designed to allow minimal overlap and competition and that is not by coincidence. DeWalt is at the very top of those brands, while MAC leads the hand tool category. I just can’t see a scenario that would put Craftsman above either one of those brands within SB&D. It would be bad for business. That’s why, for example Porter Cable is available at Tractor Supply but not at Lowes, SB&D try to avoid having like SB&D tool brands on a shelf side by side. Places like Lowes have enough volume to support more than one, but most stores don’t.
fred
You probably know that Husky is now a house brand owned by Home Depot – sort of like Kobalt – owned by Lowes. This is not much different from what Craftsman was to Sears. In all 3 cases the owner may from time to time select different OEMs for different parts of the lineup. My observation is that many Husky tools that HD sources from Apex are of decent quality. Husky pneumatic fittings from Campbell_Hausfeld are also decent. But some of their gimmicky tools that are built by Iron Bridge tools fall short IMO
Husky was once and independent tool company based in Wisconsin. They once had marketing links to Williams. The original owner sold the company to Olsen Mfg. in the fateful year 1929. The company was later sold to the New Britain Tool Co. – which was subsequently acquired by Litton Industries – when they were on their buying bash in the 1970’s. Litton sort of ate more than they could chew and divested their tool business (including Husky and Blackhawk) selling them to National Hand Tool. National hand Tool was acquired by Stanley in 1986. At first the Husky tools at HD were produced by Stanley – but later the brandname was sold to Home Depot
HushHouse254
I was a die hard (sic) Craftsman fanatic. All my tools, for work (jet engine mechanic) and home, yard equipment; tractor, push mower, yard tools; from hoses, sprinklers, shovels, rakes, post hole diggers and the list goes on. And when Sears Hardware opened the next town over, it was nirvana!
Today… I feel kinda lost. I just replaced some side cutters and needle nose pliers with Gearwrench. Not impressed. The cutters need to be replaced because the edges are toast. Like the saying goes, don’t appreciate until it’s gone.
Ed
I loved Sears no question asked, replacement for broken Craftsman tools. I had a ball peen hammer that used to belong to my grandfather back in the 1970s. He got it several decades earlier. The handle broke when I was using it. I took it to my neighborhood Sears, showed the clerk the Craftsman logo and he told me to go pick out a replacement! I did this for many Craftsman tools back in the 70s and 80s. Even tools I bought at yard sales or found while rummaging around in junkyards.
Matt Morgan
Hoping they do make a comeback. SK has been through similar times and is now becoming available and honoring warranties. Also note, Stanley/Black &Decker also own the MAC tools brand so I do see them as having the means to do this right, let’s just hope they do.
Jerry Russell
It will always be a hard pill to swallow when looking for the “Made in USA ” on any items we buy . There was once a time when that statement meant a considerable amount . That is no longer true in most aspects. Back many decades ago if you bought something made in America, if it was a tool and not lost there is a good chance you still have it today . Why , back then we built things to last , we produced American steel in our foundries, Factories used that steel to make our products . Ours goods were made too last and made to work . Then manufacturers realized they didn’t get the return customers because the products lasted forever. So they started buying products from foreign companies at a much cheaper price , could sell it for less and make more money. There it is that evil word that has laid waste to so much . Well to save that money more and more goods were bought from foreign companies. The only thing was that when that happened our factories started closing , our steel mills started closing . We were once the leader of the world in industrial manufacturing. We had the best goods , the best steel , the best ideas , we were on top . That was a long time ago, guess what our number one trade in the US is now ? Can you? Are you sure ? Our number one is now food services , fast food restaurants. Sadly our decline has just quietly made us fat. Hardly any steel is produced in the United States of America, factories close everyday our industry can’t compete . Now when I buy something it’s hard to find anything that will last like it would when I was young , It always makes it hard to swallow when you realize your not on top anymore .
Bobby
It seems like they’re actually going backwards on USA manufacturing. When they launched in 2017 there were USA made tape measures, select power tools were assembled here, and there used to be a decent selection of tool boxes to buy. Where did it all go?
Rock Hound
I worked at a Sears Hardware as a teenager between 2000 and 2002. I think some of the shift to junk was already being teased back then. In 2000 I recall most of our hand tools being USA made and quality (I still have and use the tape measure they issued all of us to check that things would fit in customers’ vehicles), but sometime in late 2001 or early 2002, we started to add “Craftsman Evo” tools to the shelves. While a few of the Evo branded tools basically just a rebrand of a Craftsman equivalence, most of these were considerably cheaper and much lower quality, and didn’t have the same warranty.
Also, in the early 2002 was when the store stopped having us (or training new employees) to assess and rebuild broken ratchets in the store. We also stopped doing the same kind of demo days that we used to do. The Demo days were not just about the products, but a way to connect with the community: we would serve popcorn inside, the local Boy and Girl Scout groups would have stands set up in front of the store and the local high school would do a fundraiser car wash. As a teenager, I was always a bit embarrassed having my classmates seeing me work, but with the wisdom of age (and the admittance that teenage value systems are shortsighted and many times nonsensical) I see how much vale that brought to the store and how it made the store a community anchor point.
Bob Villa still came in to draw a crowd, shill some garbage product, and treat the staff like garbage; honestly, that guy was the worst. I have stories, and he was the specific reason why teenage me started looking for a new job.
After I left Sears Hardware, I still went back to the store regularly for my tool purchases, but the progression that I experienced working there just seemed to be continuing with greater speed. Products were worse, as staff left the new ones were not trained as well, store upkeep was worse, et cetera. In about 2007 I just stopped going in their because it made me sad. I moved from that town, but I think their is now a Planet Fitness in there.
Long story short, Sears not only lost their way with Craftsman Tools, but just lost their way entirely. The tools might be what most people remember, but the culture was eroded long before.
Sam Greenfield
Sears didn’t destroy Craftsman. Ed Lampert destroyed Sears and Craftsman with it. He had many strange ideas on how to run a company, including having the business units fight with each other.
One other factor in the destruction of Craftsman was the closure of Sears stores: it became more difficult to get warranty replacements with stores closing.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2016/02/11/the-5-ways-ed-lampert-destroyed-sears/?sh=6714e2427a16
Neighbor+Joe
Yes sir. Eddie’s strange fascination with Ayn Rand and survival of fittest approach while starving the company of capital improvements. Eddie’s approach is a blue print on how to destroy a retail giant.
Charlie Horse
Sears literally became the poster child for tbe American Corporate Race To The Bottom.
Sears became the preeminent retail chain by innovating with mail order, and 100+ years later it became the single biggest loser as it completely failed to understand how to use the internet.
Sears’ insistence on plowing ahead with an outmoded business model sealed its doom, and its incompetence extended to destroying the Craftsman tool line.
Andrew
I have draws of Craftsman that i love. China has caught up with quality now. This new launch will unfortunately fail. To little to late.
Frederic Lynes
One name is solely responsible for Sears and the Craftsman name being destroyed: Eddie Lampert.
Stuart
How is Lampert responsible for Craftsman changes that preceded his time as CEO?
Sam Greenfield
Most of the significant changes to Sears and Craftsman happened after Eddie Lampert became CEO in 2013–that jives with the timeline in your post.
But even prior to him taking over the CEO mantle, he was responsible for some of the bigger missteps. For example, he was the driving force behind the failed KMart and Sears merger. That was in 2005 and that merger gave him excessive influence over the future of Sears. https://www.investopedia.com/news/downfall-of-sears/
Stuart
Craftsman shifted away from USA-made hand tools prior to Lampert becoming CEO in 2013.
If you’re saying that Lampert is significantly responsible for shifting Craftsman away from USA-made hand tools, please explain how. What specific changes to Craftsman USA sourcing can Lampert be responsible for?
Sam Greenfield
Eddie Lampert became chairman of “Sears Holdings” in 2005, when Sears and Kmart merged. (c.f. https://transformco.com/press-releases/pr/1188)
There were immediate changes to both companies as a result of this merger. For example, in 2007, Kmart began carrying Craftsman tools (see 2007 10-K at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1310067/000119312507066067/d10k.htm)
In the 2008 10-K filing at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1310067/000119312508065062/d10k.htm, there is the direct statement, “Additionally, as explained below, our Board of Directors has delegated authority to direct investment of surplus cash to Edward S. Lampert […]” This 10-K also notes that Lampert owns 49.6% of the company common stock. In 2009, this ownership had increased to 54.1% of oustanding common stock. See https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1310067/000119312509055685/d10k.htm
In 2010, Sears Holdings announced that Craftsman and Diehard would be sold in retailers other than Sears and Kmart, further weakening all three brands. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1310067/000119312510055594/d10k.htm At this point, Lampert owned 57.4% of all common stock.
By 2012, Lampert owned 62% of the common stock of the company, and as you note he elected himself as CEO in 2013. There’s all sorts of interesting financial transactions and other sub-companies that are formed if you start digging into the 10-Ks
He had substantial control over Sears and Craftsman well before he took on the title of CEO. Much of this work involved trying to cut costs and show additional revenue to allow for better lending terms for Sears. Cost cutting includes sending tool manufacturing offshore.
Stuart
Select Craftsman tools launched at Amazon in 2009 (https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-tools-now-available-at-amazon-with-a-catch/) and were expected to launch at 100 Ace stores in 2010 https://toolguyd.com/sears-to-sell-craftsman-tools-at-ace-hardware/ .
Did this dilute the Craftsman brand? I don’t think so.
Still, none of this seems directly tied to the decisions that destroyed Craftsman’s USA-made hand tool legacy.
Lampert was at the helm when Sears went down, but unless you can point to him as being directly responsible for the decisions and changes made starting in 2010 thru 2013 – before his time as CEO, links to miscellaneous filings and investor news articles remain largely irrelevant.
Sam Greenfield
I’m confused by your follow-up here. My point was that Lampert was the chair of the board and literally owned Sears. As the chair of the board and the controlling stakeholder, he was literally the CEO’s boss before he took over the job directly.
Here is a quote from a Vanity Fair article at https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/03/the-strange-odyssey-of-hedge-fund-king-eddie-lampert-sears-kmart
“I’m told, for about two years, Lampert actually attempted to run the business,” says Cohen [CEO Sears Canada 2001-2004]. “So for about a year and a half or two years the financial performance of Sears Holdings looked pretty good, but in fact all that he was doing was completely cutting capital expenditures and operating expenses.”
The 2018 article goes on to discuss selling off the brand names like Craftsman to an ESL subsidiary, which is also documented in the 10-Ks (KCD IP LLC short for Kenmore, Craftsman, Diehard). This was in *2010*–exactly when you describe the start of the fall of Craftsman. Shuffling off the brands to a subsidiary was the easiest way to be able to send the manufacturing of the products offshore and away from Sears.
Why don’t you think that Lampert, as the largest shareholder of Sears Holding and the chair of the board, was not involved in decisions involving Sears’s largest brands?
I’m not sure why you would write off evidence like press releases from Lampert and public filings from Sears. It’s not like he was secret about what he was doing at the time.
Incidentally, the VF article also pointed out, “Cohen responds that Lampert’s money is collateralized against hard assets, of which Lampert will take control if the company defaults on the loans.” This is exactly what ended up happening.
All of the shenanigans around Sears, Kmart, and brands like Craftsman were designed to give Lampert and his cronies the largest possible cash exit. They’re not even shy about it.
Stuart
I’m pointing to specific changes and decisions that Sears made that destroyed Craftsman’s status as a USA hand tools maker.
You’re blaming Lampert as behind Sears/Craftsman’s downfall, pointing towards random articles discussing how Lampert tanked Sears.
There’s zero correlation between Craftsman’s sourcing and philosophy changes and Lampert’s role in anything. There’s no evidence in any the generalized articles and filings you pointed to.
I focused this article on the WHAT happened. You’re intent on discussing WHO is generally blamed for Sears’ downfall, but there’s no clear connection. Who was making the decisions for the Craftsman brand? Is there any evidence Lampert was involved? WHY did Sears/Craftsman discontinue USA-made tools? We still don’t know this. “They wanted more money!” is a popular claim, but there are no facts supporting this, only vague generalized speculation.
Kraftsman, Craftsman, and Diehard were wrapped into a subsidiary, potentially for easier selling. That made sense at the time. You say this was made it easier for them to send manufacturing overseas, but I disagree. Domestic or imported production was completely outside of Sears/Craftsman. Craftsman didn’t make anything, they relied on many suppliers. KCD corporate structuring shouldn’t have had any impact on Craftsman tool production.
I’m not writing off any evidence, I’m simply pointing out that all of the articles and “evidence” you are providing are irrelevant.
Back in 2010, I postulated that Sears might be spinning off Craftsman tools. https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-to-split-from-sears-as-a-spinoff-2010/ They were trying to change from the home of Craftsman tools, to “America’s Tool Headquarters.” Craftsman was available at outside retailers for the first time, following the launch of a new Craftsman website and online store. https://toolguyd.com/craftsman-launches-standalone-online-tool-store-2009/
Sears posted huge losses in 2011. https://toolguyd.com/sears-posts-big-losses-anounces-several-major-changes-2012/
All of these things are related, but the heart of the matter is that Sears swiftly – and quietly – discontinued their USA hand tool lines, replacing them with imported tools.
“Lampert!!” doesn’t help explain these specifics, it just drags the discussion into a broader “how Lampert destroyed Sears” discussion. Some of Craftsman’s downfall went hand-in-hand with Sears’ downfall, but pointing at Lampert as broadly responsible for everything bad that happened does nothing to deepen what we’re talking about here specifically.
John
I think that it’s actually related. Sears was basically gutted from the inside and when they announced that the Craftsman brand was being sold off, then I knew that everything about the brand was done for. Luckily I have a kit from 2010 that is the last of the tools that I will ever buy of the Craftsman brand. Without Sears and the warranty, then it’s the same as any other retailer like TSC that sells tools.
John
Must be a younger person, because it was common knowledge that Lampert raped Sears for every dollar that he could get out of it. Kmart was trashed by 2000 and yet they bought Sears.
JCC
Stuart,
I think his point is that these decisions don’t happen in a vacuum. Eddie Lampert may not have been CEO prior to 2013, but he essentially controlled the company through his position as Chairman of Sears Holdings and his controlling interest in the company’s stock.
Someone else may have physically signed off on the memo to purchase tools from overseas producers, but Lampert had to have been the one motivating that decision, or at least on record approving of it. If not, then that says even more about his incompetence as being “asleep at the wheel” when these critical decisions were being made. The cited articles show that Lampert was exerting considerable control over Sears since 2004, even if he was not the CEO.
Dave Acklam
US production vs imports doesn’t really matter. Retail customers buy the least expensive product that will hold up to their use case.
What did matter was the lifetime warranty – at one time Craftsman was the only retail-store tool brand to offer such a thing …
Now, you can get a lifetime warranty from Harbor Freight. And Craftsman has nothing to distinguish it from other retail brands…..
Marc
I can’t agree that US production vs. Import does not matter. It matters to me, and many others posting, for a number of reasons. I work in the largest continuous industrial park in North America. In the many years I have been there, I have seen companies disappear, companies that manufactured or supported the manufacture of components for every industry you can think of, including tools. There are many vacant buildings in this industrial park, too many. They get turned into dance centers and trampoline houses for kids, indoor dog parks, and freight forwarders for imported goods. Not that those are terrible things, but they aren’t the skilled, well paying jobs that were there before. Having US production keeps jobs like that alive, and I think that’s a great reason for it to matter.
I can see the lifetime warranty being attractive to some, which is fine. I do think you are overestimating the number of people that will buy the lowest cost item possible. It’s not what I and many others look at first.
MM
I feel there are two sides to this part of the discussion.
On the one hand, there are the factors that people actively use when choosing to buy tools. Obviously price is one of those concerns, and there are others like convenience/availability, brand name preference, warranty, country of origin, etc. I have read a few studies on this over the years, and it seems that far more people “talk the talk” about buying domestic compared to those who “walk the walk” so to speak. Obviously some people care a lot about that, especially here on a Tool enthusiast’s forum, but I don’t believe that it’s the majority of purchasers. Meanwhile, pretty much everyone cares about price.
But on there other hand, there are factors which matter that we don’t always take into account when making our purchase but which absolutely do have lasting effects. Are we supporting a local business who we might need to depend on in the future? Or are we supporting one which does something very different? Are we supporting an innovator or are we choosing to support a copycat or perhaps even an outright ripoff of someone else’s hard work? When we go shopping with our children in tow are we teaching them to invest in quality and take care of it? Or are we teaching them to dive even further into a throwaway society? I feel those factors are important too, and we’re stuck with their consequences whether we take them into consideration or not.
Neighbor+Joe
Like reporting on the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Slow process that burned more intensely during the final years. Blaming Caesar, Eddie Lampert, is one root cause but Sears as a culture brought about Craftsman tools demise along with Sears and OEMS like WF. Still remember how the President of Craftsman division negotiated a substantial decrease in their advertising contract with Bob Villa only to find out later the suits at Hoffman Estates decided to simply axe Bob. As financially successful as Amazon maybe, they do not make tools, refrigerators, washing machines, car batteries or provide professional repair and installation services. Sears did all that and more. I do not expect much from SBD Craftsman tools. If they were serious WF would have been contracted to kickoff the made in USA promise.
Kate Parlee
Old timer here. I believe that Sears and Roebuck (aka Shears and Sawbuck) started its precipitous decline in the early 1970’s. They fired all their knowledgeable staff, and went to minimum wage cashiers, then found the increased shrink unacceptable, and clamped down on them, making them quite surly. My best friend was a manager at Sears, and I got a running account, until he was let go in order to hire a less expensive new manager.
At the same time they beefed up their hand tools with cheaper materials, losing their elegance.
Also their sales practices became sketchy. They were busted for bait-and-switch far more than any other company, as well as other customer financing irregularities.
I haven’t bought any from Sears since 1975.
Alan Trace
I agree with Kate. As i am too, an old timer who has been buying tools and professionally wrenching on cars since 1968. My first set of wrenches, sockets, rachets, screwdrivers were Sears Craftsman tools. They gave me excellent service for many years and when something broke, i walked in and got a free direct replacement of the same quality, made in USA tool. Until the mid 80’s. Then, they didnt carry the exact replacement. It was a cheaper looking, inferior product that only lasted a couple months before breaking again. And as another poster mentioned, worn out or broken sockets were replaced with cheap, chrome plated knockoffs. I didnt know who was in charge and didnt care. All i knew is, the quality started downhill fast then and that was way before the 2000’s! Like i said, i was a pro mechanic starting in the 60’s. Anybody remember Powercraft, sold by Montgomery Wards? I had a couple sets from them also. Anyway,my story is that Sears Craftsman tools started going downhill a long time ago, before the 2000’s. I stopped buying them and went to MAC and Snap-On, which i paid more $$ for but had my lifetime warranty. By the way, i still have a lot of my original Craftsman wrench sets in my box in the garage minus the good ratchets.
John Smith
My Dad bought almost nothing but Craftsman. His first Craftsman was a screwdriver he was given. Someone grabbed it out of his tool kit and tried to remove a hub cap with it- clearly not the intended use, or maybe downright abuse of the tool. It bent into a ‘U’. He didn’t stop the guy in time but the guy said, “Ahh- just take it to Sears and they’ll give you a new one.” He didn’t really believe it, but he did it and when they exchanged it no questions asked, they made a lifelong customer out of him.
He bought very few tools in his 70’s and 80’s so he didn’t experience the paradigm shift. It’s left me with some great tools but a lot of questions about what to do when I need a new/replacement tool.
Chris T Thompson
I am very glad that I bought my Craftsman tools years ago. I think I took advantage of most every sale they offered. I also had a knack for figuring out when older models would go on clearance based upon when the packaging would change.
When the regular prices suddenly dropped I knew something was up. That was when it became foreign made. Sad day.
Rogerto
Eddie Lampert took over Sears around 2013 and that was the beginning of the end for Sears so if you want to blame someone he is the grim reaper he watched and bought up all the real-estate and everything for bargain prices padding his pockets.And continues to run a new company in the background as a sears clone he’s a POS.
John Smith
I had a discussion with someone who said “Amazon killed Sears (and others).” I said that Sears (Lambert) killed Sears. Sears was already doing that model of business decades earlier- everything was catalogued (on paper) and you could get… ANYTHING delivered to the “catalog department” or even your front porch with nothing more than a phone call (corded phone). They should have far out-paced some guy shipping books from his garage. The fact that they didn’t is their own fault- they already had coveted brands of tools and appliances. All they had to was keep doing what they already did and incorporate the new technologies.
MM
My local Sears was falling apart in 2007, six years before Lampert got on board. Their website experience was terrible then too.
According to Statista, Sears Holdings retail sales was on a constant decline since 2006. Lampert clearly made a lot of mistakes but this problem started *long* before him. The ship was sinking for years before he took the wheel.
aj williams
I am really curious about who “I” is. Stuart? What is your name?
I worked for Easco Hand Tools for 24 years and believe that Bringing back to MADE in the USA is a good idea. But with the Technology of 2023.
Stuart
Yes?
At the top of every post is a date stamp and author name.
Coach James
Eddie Lampert is the favorite whipping but for the demise of Sears, but Sears was almost dead when Kmart bought the company in 2005.
Sears began losing market share, according to Forbes, in 1973 as more specialty retailers appeared and the WWII generation, who were Sears’ prime customers in the 50’s and 60’s, was past the need to furnish new homes. The company was on the decline from that point forward.
High inflation during this time, also pushed customers to low cost retailers like WalMart. Sears’ retailing profits peaked in 1972 and declined every year after.
When Alan lacy became CEO in 2000, his decisions pushed Sears even further to the point of no return. It was Lacy’s plan to have Sears move away from its traditional structure as a department store.
Lacy put in place his plan to reduce the number of store clerks and move to self-serve for everything except major purchases. He consolidated Sears’ multiple clothing lines into one brand, reduced the department checkouts in favor of central checkouts, based on Kohl’s floor plan.
The move to self-serve removed a major difference between Sears and Walmart/Target. Under his watch, Sears was forced to pay a $60+ million dollar settlement for defective car batteries sold back in the 90’s. Under his watch, they were forced to pay millions of dollars in refunds and penalties for fraud committed by Sears auto centers.
When Lacy took over, Sears was getting 60% of it’s profit from its credit card and financial services business. Its retail business was already on the ropes.
When Kmart bought the company in 2005, there wasn’t much left, and many financial writers expressed the opinion that Sears was beyond saving. When Lampert became CEO in 2013, it was already over.
Neighbor+Joe
Eddie paid 12 billion for Sears and retained the name for his new holding company. Lacy made mistakes but Sears was hardly on its way out in 2005. Sears was sitting on a mountain of cash and a huge profitable real estate portfolio. Craftsman alone brought in over a billion a year. Lacy may have ignored the leaks, but he did not divest Dean Witter, Discover and All State. Eddie was at the helm when Discover card was sold off then he stripped away the remaining Sears assets such as Craftsman. Jim Cramer put it best, how can a man who never set foot inside a Sears store run Sears.
JoeM
It’s very hard to dance around the Political aspect of what everyone is complaining about. This topic has brought out a huge number of “USA #1!” style COO comments, totally unrelated to the collapse.
We won’t get a magic boost in quality from simply plopping a factory somewhere in North America. Borders do not make magical differences in manufacturing quality. Generations of actively making the highest quality tools possible will guarantee the highest quality manufacturing gets done.
The USA has lost 2-3 generations of quality manufacturing to a Political and Stock Market based decision made in the 1980’s. It was a Capitalist decision, not a Business or Moral decision. What people feel so emotional about right now is Nostalgia. What we’re expecting from these companies opening factories here? is unrealistic. It will take a minimum of 40 years of operation, before these plants will have the global desirability that the current German and Asian markets hold.
That’s just me being honest about the situation. In my heart, I miss the Bob Villa years. Even as a child, up here in Canada, when Sears put out “The Wish Book”… I gravitated toward the Craftsman Tool Chests that came With the hand tools inside. Offering layaway and payment plans… My own Father would look at me, stonefaced, point to the actual numbers of the prices, then flip to the toys and action figures section, or the electronics section, and do the same thing. Dropping me, finally, in the toy section, and tapping casually on the numbers under the action figures, and how they were only 2 digits long. Even then, when I wanted a certain item, they’d go lowball, and get the cheapest. With memories like that, I, too, wish for the Bob Villa backed Craftsman garage sets. I feel that nostalgia. But at the same time… Like my Father taught me… It’s a numbers at the bottom line kind of world. Mitigate your expectations.
John
Did it take China 40 years to force the closure of American factories? No, it did not. You’re Canadian and you criticize that Americans want to go back to America being first for it’s own citizens and not the rest of the world. I remember when the cheap socket sets were made in Japan or Taiwan and they weren’t polished, but just chrome plated and they were throwaway tools. Stop criticizing that Americans want to take back our country. Tariffs should fund our government and then when cheap Chinese tools cost more than American made tools, then maybe it will be more cost effective to manufacture here. Tools have always been more expensive to purchase, because they have a purpose. I bought a Craftsman 3/8 drive socket set in 1990 for 50 bucks. Today it would cost $114. Prices haven’t gone down, but the quality has.
Joe E.
Occasionally, I’ll read comments on other forums and websites where someone will say, “I don’t understand the obsession with Craftsman”, or “They never were that great”.
It’s nostalgia, plain and simple.
If 170 responses and counting in this thread doesn’t make someone at Stanley Black & Decker understand it’s NOSTALGIA driving the love and passion for the brand, then they need to fire who’s running the show and hire people who can tell them exactly what they need to do in order to get this brand where it should be.
That doesn’t mean make every single tool in the United States, no. But many of their current offerings, designs, appearance, tools offered in specific sets… it’s all ass backwards.
Who else goes into Lowe’s and sees the same old stuff collecting dust that was there months and months ago? Everything looks the same. Red box here, red box there, red packaging everywhere. Anymore, I just walk past it because let’s face it, the Lowe’s tool department is boring. 😴
MM
There is obviously some nostalgia for Craftsman, but I think if we read all the replies there are many more posts talking about things like value-for-money, quality, COO, and warranty service, than there are people reminiscing about their childhood romps through the Sears tool department.
Speaking for myself, I don’t really care what happens to Craftsman going forward. It sure would be nice if they brought back domestic production and good value for money, but I already own 99% of the hand tools I will ever use so it’s not like I’m considering buying any. But I can share my experiences with why I used to buy the brand and what happened to make me stop.
Paul C.
Craftsman was a premium USA made tool brand, mostly Apex Tool Group. SBDs premium brand is Dewalt. They are very careful to place Craftsman branded stuff at least a couple steps below that perch. As long as SBD owns it, Craftsman will NEVER be what it was. Pining for USA made Craftsman thinking it will return to premium status is foolish thinking.
These days other brands like Neiko and even Crescent (Apex) have risen up to take the Craftsman USA throne alongside Dewalt that is in a bitter battle with Milwaukee and if shelf space is any indication, SBD is quickly turning themselves into another of many brands in decline as they promote Craftsman and in the end probably lose both markets.
Joe
I would not buy Craftsman tools now for a six year to have in their toy box. They are cheap junk. Glad I started out w Snap On.
Art
Craftsman died when sears died, the lifetime warranty is very limited, if you use them at work after 90 days warranty ends. I only buy craftsman when I need a disposable tool.
Drew M
Craftsman is dead as far as I’m concerned. They’re just the zombie brand of the year at this point.
My hand tools are mostly Tekton at the point with a few Kobalt that I’ll likely replace with Tekton simply because of my OCD. I don’t know what is and is not MiUSA from Tekton at this point but I like that they are trying to innovate and make stuff here as much as is reasonable.
Chris
Looks like I got lucky buying all of my craftsman tools, toolboxes and rollaway cabinets back when I did in 1988-1995. My father encouraged me to do so. Based on self reliance and that folks will not be around forever. A good lesson to learn for a young fella I was then. Interesting bit about Waterloo industries! My Uncle always liked Waterloo.
fred
Funny – but when I bought my rolling cabinet and chests in the late 1960’s – my advisors told me Craftsman or Kennedy was what to buy. I went with Kennedy brown instead of Craftsman red.
James
I own a couple of Craftsman roller chests from the early 90’s but haven’t been impressed with anything Craftsman made in the last couple of decades. I switched to vintage Kennedy for my machine shop tools and Harbor Freight’s US General line for automotive hand tools. Harbor Freight has really stepped up their game in the past few years tp fill the vacuum left by Sear’s demise. It still imports but they have been transitioning away from China and more to sourcing from Taiwan.
Alan Trace
Kennedy boxes were mostly designed and built for machinists and smaller precision tools. Good boxes though.
Otis S.
Agreed, K-mart was the start of Sears ruination. I worked at my local Sears back in the late ’90s early 2000s. Things were good. Shortly after I left K-mart bought them out and u could tell by the way the store was ran that the writing was on the wall. (I still had lots of friends working there.) It was a shame to see the downfall of an American icon.
James
I bought my Craftsman hand tools from. 1970 to 1996. I used them when I was an industrial electrical contractor installing packaging lines in food plants and I bought my first metric tools from Craftsman in 1977 when i bought my first import car, a 1962 Fiat 1200 Cabriolet. I still have mostly Craftsman sockets and wrenches but have supplemented them with other brands these days. I’ve been buying NOS ratchet rebuild kits on eBay to repair all my ratchets as SBD only offers Asian replacements for my USA originals if I try to warranty them. So if I lose a socket or wrench, I source replacements from eBay as well.
Mike
I got my first set of tools that I used as a truck mechanic, from Sears. This was 1974. Mostly Craftsman, some Companion, but all Sears. Many special use tools came from the Craftsman line, and modified to do a specific job. Sears was my go-to for about 15 years. Around ’90, I started getting flak when I tried to use the warranty, but I was out of the mechanic business, so I went with Ace branded stuff. Sears managed to completely screw up the Craftsman brand, and I believe that’s at least partly why Sears no longer exists. The name dilution didn’t help either. Selling the same product several different places can only confuse the issue.
I’ve discovered that Ace suits my current needs just fine, so if American made Craftsman comes to be again, maybe I’ll try it, but I don’t know if I’d buy a full set of anything.
Fyrfytr998
Stuart ended the article with whether or not SBD could revive the brand? I agree they could, but I also believe they won’t.
It’s like when I complain about SBD bettering the V20 line and am met with responses that in the Good, Better, Best format, Craftsman is right where SBD wants it. Right in the middle, and not taking away from DeWalt or Stanley.
At this point, I’ve stopped worrying. I’m too invested in the line to switch without the wife killing me, lol. For the DIY work I do, both the power tools and hand tools do an adequate job. And my discount at Lowe’s helps too.
Dennis Carawan
Will never buy chraftman again Lowes will not honor life time warenty unless the tool #match there number
Terry Knight
Yup. Same experience here with a mallet and a socket wrench.
Herbert Holmberg
Sears and real Craftsman tools are dead and have been now for several years. The brand as it was known USA and quality is gone and not coming back. Black and Decker made few quality tools and the few that they did were discontinued years ago. Decades and decades ago Stanley did make some quality carpenters hand tools, but those disappeared to be replaced by the crap they are now known for decades ago as well.
There is no way that two companies that for at least the last 20 years have produced nothing but cheap crappy tools are now going to team up and produce anything except polished turds!
Forget Craftsman and move on, it is nothing but a note in history books just like Sears and Montgomery Wards.
Lonnie C.
I have been a loyal Craftsman tool buyer since about 1965. I always try to buy American-made. Now, it is to the point that I scour flea markets and the occasional yard sale to buy used but still good condition Craftsman tools.
So sad to see such an iconic American brand fade away.
Mark
My original Craftsman toolset and toolbox were a Christmas gift from my folks in 1976. I still use them regularly while working on my 355k mile truck and several motorcycles. The only tool from my orginal set that failed was a 1/2″ drive ratchet whike attempting to remove rie rod ends on a truck whike utikizing a 4′ pipe as a breaker-bar. That ratchet was at least 20 yrs okd when I managed to break it. Even after explaining how I broke tge ratchet, Sears replaced it, free of charge.
Today, I make every effort to avoid buying any tool (or any product) made in china. While waiting for Craftsman to once again be made in the USA, with solid quality, and backed by a lifetime warranty, I currently purchase tools made by other manufacturers in the USA.
Terry Knight
Craftsman are liars and I won’t change my time till they honor their lifetime warranty on my mallet (wooden handle was eaten out from the inside!) and my 3/8″ socket drive (on which the ratchet failed).
Butch
I’ve been turning wrenches since the 70s. Most often with craftsman tools. Over the years, I’ve seen their tools marked made in Japan, Taiwan, china, and USA. Today I’ve still got a mixture of them as well as snap on, Mac, etc. As long as they continue to do their job, I’ll use them. I’m a Mac distributor now, so my tools will change out over time.
Gunny8541
I worked for Sears from 1983-1992, at a parts and service center in the St Louis area. We were union shop and did a great job. But the executives did everything to under cut every employee there until finally the service technicians went on strike. Since, that time it was always under cutting one executive in charge after another. That is all the hired and now look what you have for any Sears products. The store doesn’t even exist anymore because of these shark executive’s and there BS. So, this is what you have!
John
This post really kicked the hornet’s nest and I think has brought out more foreign (non American) posts than I have ever seen before. Stuart should be able to read the logs and inform everyone, but man there’s more unreadable posts saying that American manufacturing will never come back that I’m pretty sure that this is just astroturfing.
fred
American manufacturing is still alive and well. It is just not the mass-market cheap consumer goods business that it once was. That not astroturfing – but just reality. One of the companies that I partnered in – is still a small-scale manufacturer – still doing very well. But they produce mostly one-off fabrications and assemblies – plus provide services mostly to aerospace and military clients. The employees are skilled, well paid and we prided ourselves on the quality of their work and employee retention.
However. many of the industries that once fueled the US economy were based on conditions that no longer exist. The cheap labor, lax regulation and horrible working conditions that once supported NY’s massive garment industry are no longer part of our national identity. Similarly, the post WWII conversion from making weapons of war to automobiles – coupled with the disarray in Europe and Japan meant that the US was pretty much “the only game in town”.
More recently the paradigm shift that is China has indeed upset the world balance – impacting manufacturing proclivities worldwide. But, despite my 80+ years on this earth, I am optimistic that there is still a role for manufacturing in the US, Canada, Europe and elsewhere outside of Asia. It just will be different – as smart people everywhere find better ways to compete.
Brian
Fond memories of looking with my Dad in the late-’50s for Craftsman Tools at the Sears & Roebucks in the Levittown Shopping Center, Route 13, Levittown/Tullytown, Pennsylvania. I was going on age 4 and I’d have to believe that in that era all the Craftsman Tools were the real-deal which many would come to revere. Over the years I remember using Dad’s growing collection of tools and being prompted to “put each tool back where it belongs”. It took a while for that to sink-in.
Dad had to train my younger brothers to put the tools away too. I’m sure we lost our fair share of Craftsman Tools over the years but the set mostly stayed together even as things were added and replaced. My youngest brother got the bulk of our father’s Craftsman Tools after Dad passed away over a decade ago. My brother’s been a good caretaker of the tools. The one wrench I still have a memory of using most is the 9/16″ box end/open end wrench out of the myriad selections in the garage.
Todd Martin
A few years ago I went into Ace to replace cracked craftsman socket. They would not replace it unless I brought in the whole socket set. That was my final straw. I primarily shop at Harbor freight now. Their new Icon line is pretty nice.
Vortec710
Love my older Craftsman. S-K, and Bonn-E-Con hand tools. Buy lately at swap meets if in decent shape/price. Have big Matco primary base/top and reconditioned Craftsman secondary chests . A fair share of “blended” tools to round out my assortment..HF, Lowe’s , Mac, Matco, Williams, Proto, Bonney, Snap-On, Taiwan, Ja Pan & co., and misc others like Starrett and Brown & Sharpe, etc. when lucky. Lots of quality drill bits and metal turning bits/cutters from retired machinists, etc. Never afraid to buy good quality USA tools, new, used, or in need of minor repair..consider decent investment, possible resale or trades later on
Jerry Spangler
When Eddie began his tear-apart of Sears we saw all areas of that chain begin to come apart. Our family got to personally see the effects on the employees. Our son-in-law with 33 years of customer service saw his work week shrink to one or two days until he was forced to leave. No, they did not replace him
Recently I tried to replace a broken Stanley pry bar which I had bought at Sears. They agreed that it was covered by the warranty but I had to find the Stanley headquarters and send it to them and request a replacement. Ten bucks of hassle for a $4 pry bar.
Eddie really “fixed” Sears.
John
I’m surprised that you had to send it to them. I bought a DeWalt box cutter that was incorrectly assembled and they just sent me a new one. I tore it apart and corrected the problem, but I got two now. This is why Harbor Freight Icon brand is gaining in popularity. They are local and convenient and as long as they honor the warranty they’ll take over, but Sears was bought by Eddie and dismantled like Richard Gere’s character did in the Pretty Woman movie.
JCC
For me, Craftsman tools were a family institution. My grandmother worked at our local Sears until the mid-1980s and so my grandfather, and my father ALWAYS had nothing but Craftsman tools (and Kenmore appliances) because of the employee discount Grandma used to get. When I started buying tools in the late 1990’s, Sears was the first place I used to go to buy them.
I’ll never forget the time I was replacing the steering wheel on my Mustang with the special “Bullitt” version. My best friend and I had carefully removed the airbag module (very, very carefully and with plenty of online instruction!!) and we arrived at the main bolt holding the steering wheel to the car. Well, both of us had decent socket sets, but neither of us had the socket for this particular bolt. Neither his father nor mine had the proper one either. So, at 6PM on a Saturday night, off we went to the local Sears, which had several. It turned out to be a 15/16, US made, and the only use I’ve ever had for it was removing the steering wheel bolt on a Ford Mustang. But that’s a typical experience at Sears back then, which was probably 2009 or so.
Around 2012 I got the sense that all the Craftsman tools were being switched over to Chinese-made. So I spent a fortune and pretty much bought up every US made tool I could, to include a lot of woodworking stuff which was being clearanced out for pennies on the dollar. I picked up a complete set of US-made Craftsman standard and metric wrenches, which ultimately ended up staying in the box after I found a smaller set of Craftsman Industrial wrenches on deep discount from Sears Outlet. Those industrial wrenches I use exclusively for everything…just the best tools ever.
Later on I picked up one of the last US-made full socket sets. It came with a 15/16 socket that I gave to my best friend who still owns a Bullitt Mustang. When I gave it to him years later I said, “I’ll give you 3 guesses as to the primary use for this socket!” “Oh! The Steering Wheel!!” he exclaimed.
Gordy Love
I bought Craftsman tool for years. Hand tools and power tools were first class. Now the power tools don’t last and parts are not available after a few years.
I will not buy Craftsman tools anymore. Very sad.
Dennis Sada
Napa for years had New Britian tools make tools for them until Litton Industries closed New Britian Forging Company in 1990.
Easco tools, made the Craftsman “V” series (the old V, not the new “V” series made by Stanley tools.
In 2010 or there abouts, that’s when things really began to change. EASCO, which was owned by Danaher, merged with Cooper Tools and formed Apex Tools.
By that time Easco had closed their plant, Apex was sold and began a consolidation of plants and brands. This put Sears in a bind, so overseas manufacturing began in earnest.
Apex recently stopped manufacturing Allen and Armstrong tools, those were made in the US and now, there are almost no “popular priced” US made hand tools left.
Even most of Nicolson files aren’t US made; if my recent experience with a Mexican made file is any indication, the quality has gone away IMHO.
Bill
A well-run family company can maintain local manufacturing. Once it is hijacked by capital, the brand will be the beginning of the end. Professional managers are short-sighted and leave the market to make profits in the short term.
Channllock, controlled by the DeArment family, has always been made in the United States, and the same thing is knipex. Channllock brand pliers sell more than husky+kobalt combined.
Stuart
Not always.
Consider Malco. Their Eagle Grip locking pliers were great, but not sustainable. https://toolguyd.com/malco-eagle-grip-locking-pliers-discontinued/
Back in 2009, Channellock announced new screwdrivers – https://toolguyd.com/channellocks-new-code-blue-screwdrivers-and-nutdrivers-2009/ , and they were imported. These were a mainstream line based on their wholesale club line of hand tools.
Why? I asked, and was told that USA production simply wasn’t possible, at least not at a reasonable price point.
It took 5 more years, but they eventually did find a partner who could produce screwdrivers for them in the USA. https://toolguyd.com/channellock-screwdrivers-usa/
Things aren’t as simple as declaring some managers and marketers good and others “short-sighted” or “greedy.”
MM
We do know that Malco’s attempt to resurrect USA-made “vise grips” failed. But we don’t know why it failed. And if we don’t know why we can’t say that the idea is impossible. One possibility is that it was fundamentally impossible from the get-go: the costs were just too high compared to what people would be willing to pay. That’s absolutely possible. But it’s also possible they failed due to various other reasons, some perhaps no fault of theirs (COVID issues), some perhaps because of mistakes that didn’t have to happen, like marketing. I recall when you posted the article about the Eagle Grips being discontinued there were many people posting in the reply section (and on social media) that they had no idea Malco was even making these.
Can fail =/= will fail.
Stuart
The demand wasn’t high enough to sustain the endeavor. I take this to mean they couldn’t sell enough tools at the prices they needed to charge.
Smaller brands don’t have huge marketing budgets. They absolutely could have done better (based on the interactions I had with the 3rd party firms they hired over the years), but I’m not convinced it would have made enough of a difference.
They had a deal with Snap-on. Maybe they needed another big retail arrangement.
Sometimes, despite a brand’s best efforts, things just don’t work out.
KC
Wright, Channellock, Stanley Proto, SK, Wilde, Malco and some Knipex mostly fill my toolboxes today. All have the good warranties!
Still have much Western Forge built Craftsman from days gone by. They were value priced and continue to perform today.