craftsman tools, the kiss of death?

[juanbenae]

sears, gone. orchard supply hardware, a CA chain that was a subsidiary of sears and recently purchased by Lowe's and now closing it's doors. now lowe's is carrying the craftsman brand and they announced the of closing 50 or so stores in the coming months!

I did not notice if lowe's is still carrying the cobalt brand of tools or not when I went into a store today. what I did notice was the place was empty with far more employees than customers. I subsequently went to home depot and it was packed!


if lowe's folds it's tent where else can craftsman go?

[LWJ]

Toys-r-us?

[rockfan4]

Ace Hardware also sells Craftsman. I don't have a Lowes near me, the local Sears is closing, so I plan to go to Ace the next time I break a tip off a overhardened screwdriver.

[sugarwood]

I was working on my DD yesterday, and had not done a project in a while. I looked at my Craftsman tools, and thought I am glad I got a USA made set before the ****house went up in flames.

[911_Dude]

Buying craftsman is investing in a sinking ship. Dont get me wrong. Ive got several hundred pounds of Craftsman tools. But Im not buying new ones. There are plenty of tool makers with lifetime warranties now.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by 911_Dude

Buying craftsman is investing in a sinking ship. Dont get me wrong. Ive got several hundred pounds of Craftsman tools. But Im not buying new ones. There are plenty of tool makers with lifetime warranties now.

Ditto here...when/if I need to replace something Craftsman, I'll probably go SK...maybe call the local Snap-on guy if I'm in a hurry, drive to his house.

[drew1]

The name Craftsman was sold to Stanley, I have heard. In the golden years Craftsmen Tools were made by Apex, Utica, and similar.

[tdw28210]

[RANDY P]

There's an eternal supply on Ebay, that's where I get my lost replacements.

I believe I own pretty much every Craftsman wrench and socket ever made from 3/16 to 1 1/4"

rjp

[ckelly78z]

I was just looking at Craftsman toolboxes yesterday at Lowes. I'm glad that somebody carries them.

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by 911_Dude

Buying craftsman is investing in a sinking ship. Dont get me wrong. Ive got several hundred pounds of Craftsman tools. But Im not buying new ones. There are plenty of tool makers with lifetime warranties now.

it really was not all about the life time warranty for me as I collected craftsman tools over the years but more about you could count on the overall quality. and let's face it, a slide out drawer on a tool box always looks better with a single, matching, quality brand of bits inside.... don't get me wrong, not ever bit is like in my roller but the ones that are most often used are. ive recently bought a jeep and had few non metric tools any longer so harbor freight has been my go to for wrench and other complete set sort of offerings. I keep those all in one drawer label "junk".....


one last bit. the last time I tried to call out a craftsman lifetime replacement at the afore mentioned orchard supply hardware it did not go well. they wanted to deny replacing a broken socket because it was a part of a set, not individually sold. I threw a **** fit but fortunately the manager recognizing me as a regular stepped in and replaced it. the 20 something manager trainee that denied it reminded me after the sweet manager lady replaced it of the policy moving forward. I suggested to him I would simply summons the lady manager next time.... stupid management trainee...

[RANDY P]

Unless Crafstman become Made in 'Merica again and remains Chinese there's better alternatives out there. Gearwrench eats their lunch for hand tools.

The rest is just HF rebadged.

rjp

[porsche930dude]

dont forget kmart. they too had a huge shutdown soon after carrying craftsman. I dont know why they bother keeping the brand alive.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Unless Crafstman become Made in 'Merica again and remains Chinese there's better alternatives out there. Gearwrench eats their lunch for hand tools.

The rest is just HF rebadged.

rjp

Honestly I’ll just buy HF. At least they are honest about their tools. Frankly they are pretty decent quality and cheap, no casual mechanic needs Snap On. I miss the glory days of affordable made in America Craftsman but I also don’t see it returning.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

Unless Crafstman become Made in 'Merica again and remains Chinese there's better alternatives out there.

+1. I have bought used quality hand tools off Craigs list. They are out there. If not easy on Craigs list then new from a store...Harbor Freight with the understanding the tool is disposable. I have a local Ace, HD (4x), Lowes (3X), and Dixieline. IMO all the tools they carry are garbage. Sadly, referencing the "car culture dying..." thread, my son is not a tool guy and is uninterested inheriting my collection. So best case I have 20 or so years of using tools left. Wow what a depressing thought.

[chapo]

Car culture not dying, just different types of cars

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by rockfan4

Ace Hardware also sells Craftsman.

True.

FYI, the wife and I went to our still open local Sears, blue jeans 40% off - no returns.

[A930Rocket]

I passed by a mall that had a Sears. It’s closed. Hadn’t bought anything from them in years.

I did wonder about the lifetime warranty. I guess it’s gone too.

[RKDinOKC]

Acquaintance gave me a nice 200pcs set of Cresent Tools. Understand it is his families business. Thought it was hilarious. The only tool in the set that did NOT have the Cresent name on it was the Adjustable Wrench. I grew up calling all adjustable wrenches Cresent Wrenches.