Sears selling Craftsman brand for nearly $1 billion to Stanley Black & Decker

[Chris Hachet]

I have some more like 40 years old. What a good investment those tools were back then.

PHM

A few Craftsman things are still good....!

[Morey St. Denis]

Agreed. The alluring feature with Sears Craftsman hand tools was that lifetime warranty / replacement and in my experience, Sears stores generally honored it without much trouble. Likely this all goes away with B&D running the brand. I have had some limited success with B&D Delta honoring warranty replacement for outright failure as new with their Delta plumbing fixtures brand. Who knows what might develop with the Sears Craftsman proper brand? I own a number of their power tools also, including a vintage drill press. Just informed this week that the Sears retail hardware & tools location that my father worked at part time more than 35 years ago will be fully shut down within 6 weeks. Sad situation, especially considering the plus one hundred more Sears retail stores nationwide slated to close within a few months and the thousands of rural retail employees impacted at the very beginning of this new year...

[Peter Kuhlman]

For so long Craftsman hand tools were well made and durable. Mine were mostly purchased in the 70s and 80s - 15 drawers full - and no complaints. About 5 years ago I went in and purchased a few different pliers - all Craftsman branded. What absolute junk they were. Only used a couple times and just the moisture from my sweaty hands caused them to rust up solid. Terrible metal quality and chrome coating. Also some replacement sockets for those I had misplaced turned out to be junk - again Craftsman branded. Had 2 of them crack. Sure they still have lifetime warranties but who wants new junk? Same with their tape measures - one use in the rain and they go in the trash. Truly sad to see.

What I really miss is the Sears branded paint. Have used it for 30+ years. I only ever purchased the top of the line and would get it when on sale. Superb paint. I cursed Sears when they ended their paint departments!

[Robert Parent]

I would rather buy from Harbor Freight than Sears/Craftsman, Stanley, Black & Decker, etc.... At least at HF I have moderate expectations, fair prices, and they replace stuff without the third degree. Sears/Craftsman has been mostly expensive junk for decades.

Robert

[Bill White]

This is a general comment on the state of retail as we once knew it. Penny's, K Mart, Sears.......all in deep doo doo.
Board of directors meeting, "Let's dumb down all of our stuff without lowering pricing. We'll see how this works."
Look at the once-fine brands that are now being sold in WalMart.
Oh well.......My old Craftsman stuff looks better every day.
What a shame.
Bill

[Malcolm McLeod]

... The alluring feature with Sears Craftsman hand tools was that lifetime warranty / replacement...

My Craftsman (mostly mechanics) tools are 30+ years old - purchased because of the warranty. Oddly enough, I only recall needing to exchange a busted tool once - - and I have abused them mercilessly. I walked into store and held up the (I think) socket to the salesman. He pointed down the aisle, I grabbed a new one, dropped the old at the register, and out the door. Took longer to type this than to do the exchange.

Sad to see a good brand fallen, but especially a shame for the employees.

[William Adams]

Very, very sad I didn't manage to complete my set of six-point metric wrenches.... will have to start making it a point to stop in to Sears stores until I find them all, or give up.

[Cyrus Brewster 7]

... About 5 years ago I went in and purchased a few different pliers - all Craftsman branded. What absolute junk they were. ...

All of their hand tools, including sockets, are made in China, HF quality junk. I would actually go out on a limb and say HF Pro sockets are better.

Glad I bought mine 20+ years ago.

[Dick Latshaw]

This is my oldest Craftsman tool. Purchased in 1960 when I was in flying school at Craig AFB, Alabama. Every student pilot had one - used it to open the tip tanks on the T-33. I think the quality may have declined a bit since then.

[Tom Blank]

Fortunately, I built my Craftsman hand tool inventory in the 70s and 80s - end wrenches, socket sets, screwdrivers, punches, etc. Back when quality was good and you had little need for the lifetime warranty.

I sent this thread to my kids, they want to know where to go now. I have been out of the hand tool market for some time. Who is the current quality manufacturer?

[William Adams]

Brands I've found to be good:

Felo
Wiha
Starrett
SK
Vessel
Bondhus
Schroeder
Snap-On
Klein
Boker
Allen

Boutique tools such as

Elemen'tary
Silca
Mininch

Brands I want to try

PB Swiss
Volcanic

[Van Huskey]

Brands I've found to be good:

Felo
Wiha
Starrett
SK
Vessel
Bondhus
Schroeder
Snap-On
Klein
Boker
Allen

Boutique tools such as

Elemen'tary
Silca
Mininch

Brands I want to try

PB Swiss
Volcanic

You need to add Wera, NWS and Knipex to your want to try list.

As I see it all the sadness for Craftsman is mainly sentimental, they got passed up years ago and it wasn't due to quality. You buy tool truck tools and boxes to last forever, have someone come to you to buy and replace them and impress the gear-head down the street. You buy European tools if you want tools that feel as good as they look and are truly SOTA mechanics tools. Sure the old Craftsman tools are still around but are not nearly as nice to work with as Wera, Wiha, Knipex and NWS just to name a few. Craftsman still makes a lot of tools that will last the average DIY guy a lifetime and in reality that has become their actual consumer BEFORE they started building to a price point. Professionals and serious hobbyists moved on to better tools that were not only better built but better designed both for function and ergonomics. Craftsman has always been a mid-level tool and today's consumers don't want mid-level tools they want cheap and disposable or top of the line, Craftsman was neither and moving toward cheap and disposable was the only thing that made fiscal sense. They had a lot of goodwill with those that owned Craftsman for years but with a lifetime warranty that goodwill was a financial drag and guys that filled their chests up 20-30 years ago didn't make them money, they cost them money. I moved on from Craftsman years ago when I learned a mechanics tool could not only be functional and last a lifetime but actually be a pleasure to use, there are still plenty of C-man tools in my chests but they haven't been on my radar for a long time and it had nothing to do with quality.

[Ray Newman]

"Craftsman has always been a mid-level tool and today's consumers don't want mid-level tools they want cheap and disposable or top of the line, Craftsman was neither and moving toward cheap and disposable was the only thing that made fiscal sense. They had a lot of goodwill with those that owned Craftsman for years but with a lifetime warranty that goodwill was a financial drag and guys that filled their chests up 20-30 years ago didn't make them money, they cost them money."
--Van Huskey

Agreed!

[Dave Lehnert]

I would like to know if the days of walking into the store , doing a warranty exchange, will be a thing of the past now that Sears no longer owns the brand ?????
Also if they will honer the lifetime warranty of tools purchased in the past?

What are the chances you will send a $10 hand tool back in the mail for an exchange?
I just had a new tape measure where the tip busted off ( not from Sears). Past the store return policy but under warranty. I just trashed it. Not worth the time and postage to send it back. Also run the chance of saying it was abuse and not covered.

[Van Huskey]

I don't think it has been mentioned in the thread but part of the reason Craftsman sold for such short money is Sears can develop manufacture and sell Craftsman tools for the next 15 years royalty free and from then on in perpetuity continue at a 3% royalty rate.