Just saw this. Very sad to watch this Sears train-wreck unfold in super duper slow motion.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-sears-sells-craftsman-stanley-20170105-story.html

Retail is so hard these days... used to do that in a prior life.

Here's hoping the Craftsman brand can continue to invent.
faz

By all rights Sears should have died long before the K-Mart thing. The 90's were really rough for retail in general as the internet redefined what shopping was about. Sears was a cataloger (like Montgomery Wards and Spiegel). The mall-sprall of the 70's - 80's was a transition from light retail to powerhouse retail. The mega-model just could not sustain.

Back in the mid 90's Spiegel bought a massive Sears warehouse. Store closings rampant and selling off the warehouse were some of there big ticket desperate moves. But they still were acting like the 800lb gorilla trying to continue a superstore "services destination" with auto, optical, beauty, taxes, travel and the tie to Land's End just really made no sense. It's almost like the stores are saying, well... we can't sell product, so let's add a mini-store over here to fill up that space.

I don't think Sears is "dumping" Craftsman to live longer. My take is that they are cutting Craftsman loose to SAVE Craftsman! Crafto is not the brand it was, but then again, very few brands are. But I think it's a good fit. Stanley offers good quality tools for everyday people. Yes, if I want a great steel, I'm going to Lie-Nielsen to get a plane but for the rest of the world Stanley works.

Again, this is a super slow motion train-wreck. It's sad to watch and even sadder for those working at Sears. I worked for Spiegel for 15 years just before they started winding down. Late 80's Spiegel had fantastic growth, huge aspirations (heck, they bought Eddie Bauer for $260MM **CASH**)... then, 1991 there was that little war thing in the Gulf (the start) and then the Internet hit. 1990 was an amazing time to be in retail... 1995 stunk... and if you were a huge Queen Mary of a ship that could not react... you die.

faz

mine were "Husky"
faz

AND you could order anything. Including livestock.

My favorite Spiegel Warehouse story was a return from a unhappy customer... they ordered a Monkey... A LIVE MONKEY... but what showed up was not... poor monkey.
faz

I doubt HD or Loews would carry craftsman. They have their "premier" brand. Ace is a pretty good fit for Crafty... might turn into an exclusive. Keep in mind that some Craftsman branded tools are products from other MFRs just with a different label.

I've been using Wolfcraft clamps for years. Sears rolled out their version a few years later. The design is too close to be their own. Look, feel, construction and mechanics are the same. Even some of the varieties of size are the same.

Craftsman (resized).JPG
WolfCraft (resized).jpg

faz