I just ran across a discussion saying basically that Sears was going to exit from the Craftsman line.

There was speculation that Ace would pick it up. Another thought was that it would go out on its' own with trucks etc.

I have no clue if this is accurate or not. I do know that Sears seems to be circling the drain, and maybe they think that they could sell Craftsman to get some much needed cash.

Could be a bummer. Craftsman tools aren't the world's best, but they're decent ( the hand tools). The no questions asked lifetime warranty has been fabulous. I haven't used it a lot, but I've never had a problem getting a replacement.

Anybody?

 

I personally don't know but i've bought craftsman tools first since I was a kid and I sure hope that if this is true that the line stays alive and they don't change the return policy.

 

apparently there is some truth to the story.

this is from just a couple weeks ago

Sears Agrees To Sell Craftsman Tool Brand At Ace Hardware>SHLD - WSJ.com

 

Sears is really hurting, what with that anchor of Kmart, and all the mall rents going up due to other stores leaving.
It would nearly be a tragedy to see such a legend as Sears go, but they aren't who they used to be.
I'll probably only rarely set foot in Sears if I can go somewhere without the highschool dropout sales staff. The tool department seems to be half the reason anyone even goes to the stores anymore.

 

Well from what the article said it seems that sears is onlygoing to use ACE as another retailer so that aint so bad.

 

Yep, seems from the article Ace will be another purchasing source for Craftsman tools which, IMO, aint bad.

 

We are all safe.

 

Sears isn't hurting nearly as much as you'd think.....their credit rating just went up.....they've got good cash flow.....and same store sales have improved alot...

 

When can I take my broken stuff to ACE?

 

If I know anything about Sears (and I worked there for 6 years), they won't let go of Craftsman until the bitter end. It's one of the few things that keeps people coming in the store.

Plus Sears has the best tool selection of anybody- can't find half the stuff they have at Lowes or Home Depot. And, I'm glad Craftsman hasn't quite gone the way of Kobalt. Remember about 10 years ago when Kobalt was constantly crowing about being made in the USA? I think the only things they still make in the US are the ratchets, sockets and maybe wrenches. Everything else is from China.

 

I worked for sears for a while....it is a big joke of a company anymore, the stories i can tell you about the 'tards who work there is just mind boggling.

It's no surprise at all they're failing. Craftsman is going alright, but they're really cutting the quality on some of their stuff, regular chrome craftsman sockets look like made in india quality garbage anymore, yet they charge a premium price for them. If i want cheap, garbage sockets i can just go to harbor freight and pay a lot less.

But...a lot of their stuff is still good quality.

As for sears dropping the craftsman line, sort of. Whats happening now is they're looking into franchising the rights to the craftsman line out. They wont actually get rid of rights to the line until they're a dead company, thats for sure. But where they sit now is that the tool department is a huge part of their store, and they're thinking they can save costs by eliminating it, going with smaller locations, and letting someone else worry about inventory,stock costs, and warranty repairs/replacements for the tools, while they retain rights and collect royalties and all that. Sort of a "McDonalds" of tools.

Might turn out for the better....who knows? Then again there's a lot of other people making good tools at good prices out there....

 

I have to say I agree with some of their line going to complete crap. I purchased a huge set in the early 90's while in Germany (U.S. Army, the mailroom guy was not happy with me at all!). Recently I had to exchange some of the ratchets I had abused over the last 20 years, to my surprise Sears wasn't exchanging the whole ratchet anymore, but replacing just the internals with stuff from China! I was pissed as they didn't have a few of the replacements for the "small tooth" ratchets and they just gave me the "new style" ratchet to replace them. Anyway, the new style was the "China" version and total crap. I'm done buying from Sears as I have already had to replace the new versions a few times.

 

I went to exchange a 1/4" ratchet the other day, and the first "rebuilt" one the guy grabbed was in worse shape than mine! Mine was about 20years old, and kept skipping teeth. The first new one was poorly machined, and didn't even engage at all. At leas the second one seems to be working ok. I do really dislike that they have replaced the metal direction lever with a plastic one, though. My new 1/2" ratchet broke the first time I threw it into the tool bag.

 

I was in their the other day and was looking at some tools, and if you pay an extra $10 per ratchet, you can get them with metal levers. I love craftsman still, and what I like to do when exchanging tools is to say you don't need help, grab whatever tool you need to replace off the shelf, go up to the register with the broken and new one, and say "I am exchanging these" and if you get someone fairly new, they toss the broken one in the bin and scan the new one and you are done. I actually got a fair amount of tools from someone I know for free, and some of them were craftsman. A few people who saw me grab them were saying "Why would you take those old beat up piece of crap tools?" I gave them a look and was like "Are you serious?"

 

I do like craftsman tools but a wile back i bought a ratchet set and wrench set and my 1/4th ratchet was broken when i opened the set and my wrench set had 2 12mm and no 13mm. i havent liked them lately. I did like my plyiers and screwdriver set i bought at the same time tho. I dont like sears tho they have a good selection but the people r stupid or at least the one by me is. Id like ace to sell them alot better.