3 years ago I was sure that Sears was going to die in the next year. Today, Sears is still in the local mall by Macy's, J.C. Penney, and Bergner's are gone.

Hit the garage and estate sales guys...look for craftsman stuff marked "USA". Oh, and look for old style metal gas cans.

When I croak, somebody is going to end up with some decent level Caftsman tools with a smattering of high end (Snap-on, Proto, SK) mixed in.

Sears has been in fire sale mode for several years now, I'm sure selling the Craftsman brand bought them a little more time.

Got a set like that in a grey blow molded case, probably close to the same vintage as yours; love it, has almost everything needed to fix the Porsche. I leave it in the car as my emergency tool kit.

Just did. Thank you.

I use it more than the Snap On Dual 80. Feels like a swiss watch and I've beaten on mine pretty good. Very little drag- easy to undo slightly sticky bolts- you know, the ones covered in goop in deep areas that tighten when you try to swing back?



rjp

We were in Pittsburgh on the weekend. I popped into Lowe's just to look around. I noticed the Craftsman tool boxes. I have a Craftsman 3/8 swivel ratchet that's 40 years old. It's works like new.
Maybe Lowe's Canada will stock them as well.
I wonder what will happen to Kobalt tools?

I have the same grey case filled with only metric wrenches, all sizes of ratchets/extensions, sockets along with deepwells, and nut drivers. I bought it around 1990 to be able to work on Datsuns where no SAE hardware exists.

This is what I leave in my 993 "frunk", along with a few other roadside repair doodads. Has come in very handy when going to help someone with a car repair.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1526989354.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1526989354.jpg

I wouldn't be surprised if Kobalt are made in the same factory as Craftsman . You will probably see the Kobalt name go away at least in a Lowes store but may resurface somewhere else or be rebranded . It will be interesting to see if Stanley decides to make Craftsman tools a more upscale DIY quality tool . They have a chance here to really make a leap forward in the DIY market and possibly the pro market if they do this transition correctly .

I needed a 7mm boxed wrench to bleed the slave cylinder on my 911. I drove past the Sears store and went to HF. I had to buy an entire set just to get the 7mm. That set me back $6.99 plus tax and the wrenches were made in India.

Sears is owned by a hedge fund guy who bought it for its breakup asset value, not its value as an ongoing business. He is stripping it of its assets to maximize its value. Selling Craftsman was just part of the plan. Sears stopped being a viable long term business several years ago. Once all the brand names are gone he will shut down the stores and sell the real estate for his final payout.

I have no doubt this was the original plan, but the value of mall real estate has dropped significantly. He might not get the payout he thought he would when he bought Sears.

He may not get the payout he was hoping for, but he's still following the original business plan. He's running Sears to eek out whatever profit he can while stores cash flow without investing anything in the business. As stores stop cash flowing he shuts them down. Eventually he'll get to the point that the chain no longer cash flows and he'll shut down retail operations completely and liquidate what's left. Selling the brands is part of his strategy. The store brands are either sold or close to it, which means the end is near. Eventually Sears will exist only as a brand, like Polaroid, The Sharper Image or As Seen on TV. He'll probably sell the brand to people who want to slap it on some product and get whatever residual brand recognition is left.

This graphic should help, but every day that goes by introduces changes!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1526999455.jpg

Btw, it gets more complex when you introduce the fact that many brand owners contract tool manufacture out to other owners on this chart. Here’s more info than you ever wanted:


https://pressurewashr.com/tool-industry-behemoths/#whoowns

It looks like Craftsman tools are at Lowe's in Canada as well. I saw some tool boxes (made in USA) and some wrench sets.