Are Craftsman tools pretty much all Chinese now?

[BluePig]

Got a letter on the sale...
"Dear BluePig,

I'm writing to let you know some exciting news about Craftsman that will enable us to put even more hardworking tools in the hands of makers everywhere. On January 5, Sears Holdings announced that it will sell the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker.


Craftsman is and has been an important part of the Sears family for ninety years. And thats not going to change. The research and development team at Sears and Craftsman will continue to develop new innovations that will be available exclusively at Sears and Kmart stores and online. However, as part of this transaction, Stanley Black & Decker will gain the rights to develop, manufacture and sell Craftsman-branded products outside of Sears and Kmart, which will make Craftsman products more broadly available in the USA and internationally.


Craftsman remains committed to maintaining the very best aspects of the Craftsman brand. You'll still find the most high quality tools available at the best value, along with our exclusive lifetime warranty on Craftsman hand tools, which has been a hallmark of the brand for generations.


Sears will continue to have the most extensive range of Craftsman tools and lawn and garden products, along with the same trusted service you rely on. In addition to being sold primarily at Sears and Kmart, Craftsman will soon be available at other retailers nationwide.


Your membership in Craftsman Club will not change and we will continue to provide you with exclusive offers, tips and information to help you with all your projects.


Thank you for your membership and loyalty to Craftsman. We look forward to supporting makers everywhere and providing you with the tools you need for many more years to come.


Sincerely,
Tom Park
President Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard"

 

[funeralweb]

Brand is one thing. Quality is another. I've found the best place to find the quality we all remember from any given brand is at estate auctions.

 

[DRob]

I haven't seen this directly mentioned yet so I'll just toss in this reminder. KMart bought Sears late in 2004. Perhaps we should have known quality would drop off.

 

[Leo]

If I remember correctly, wasn't the JCPenney catalog better than the Sears one? At least as far as toys in the 1970s were concerned. I do recall looking through the Craftsman section in the big thick master catalog from Sears and drooling over all the awesomeness, but for toys, I'm thinking it was JCPenneys FTW.

As I remember in the 60's, Montgomery Wards and JC Penny's were more clothing, childrens goods and housewares than hardware, where Sears was strong. I did accumulate a JC Penny's "Penncrest" tool box, a Ward's "powercraft" socket set, a Ward's "Hawthorn" bicycle and a Wards double barrel shotgun that was actually a rebranded Stevens, so they were trying to get that market. Sears was far stronger in hard goods, appliances and automotive than the other two. I remember the S. S. Kresge stores that became Kmart. S.S.Kresge had also tried to be more like Sears, but cheaper (and lower quality) I have fired an S.S. Kresge shotgun, (I think it was Japanese) and driven on Kmart tires (and they were junk)

Sears grew by offering good quality, high value products at a fair, not bottom, price. They were strong in product that people actually needed, not trendy stuff tor the avant garde crowd. They chose to abandon their strong market and are dying because of it.

The next big name will be the company that does not limit their market studies to Soho, NYC and the arts district of L.A. The majority of Americans still need good quality stuff that lasts for everyday life, and are willing to pay a little more for it. By now, nearly everyone is tired of continually replacing products that fall apart almost as soon as you get it home.

 

[foszoe]

The next big name will be the company that does not limit their market studies to Soho, NYC and the arts district of L.A. The majority of Americans still need good quality stuff that lasts for everyday life, and are willing to pay a little more for it. By now, nearly everyone is tired of continually replacing products that fall apart almost as soon as you get it home.

This sounds good, but do you have any data to back it up? I don't have any to discount it but the growth of walmart in everyday america, I think, hurt sears more than their own marketing studies. I think sears tired to compete with them and lost in everything except tools and appliances.

Their two big brands we always bought were Craftsman and Kenmore.

Now every hand tool has a lifetime warranty. Even Harbor Freight does? Most Americans don't even change their own oil anymore. And a lifetime warranty is a lifetime warranty. With most car care done by someone else, the tools used are for home improvement it seems and when they see them in Home Depot and Lowes, that's where they buy them.

The appliance industry has been swamped with competition: Bosch, Samsung, LG.

Kenmore is still usually highly ranked by Consumer Reports etc but there are a lot of places to buy appliances now.

That's my purely anecdotal analysis

 

[CindyE]

Yeah I loved looking at the Wishbook and Penny's catalogs at Christmas. I recall the Penny's catalog had a great women's underwear section that I looked at, when I moved past toys and such. lol.

LOL
i forgot about that! My brother would look at it and make comments and p*ss my sister and me off. I may or may not have looked at the mens underwear.
Of course, it was also very modest by today's standards! I'm starting to be a little disturbed by some of the Victoria's Secret advertisements i get!

 

[foszoe]

LOL
i forgot about that! My brother would look at it and make comments and p*ss my sister and me off. I may or may not have looked at the mens underwear.
Of course, it was also very modest by today's standards! I'm starting to be a little disturbed by some of the Victoria's Secret advertisements i get!

Yeah.

Back then underwear was meant to be worn.

Underwear now seems to be meant for ripping off !

 

[Dirtebiker]

I just placed an order for the 540 piece Craftsman tool set just ASSUMING they are the same old "USA FORGED" tools I've bought in the past. I typically research everything and run it over with a fine toothed comb before I buy. Didn't think I had to with a company I thought was as American as apple pie.

After minimal online browsing, I'm learning most Craftsman are made in China now? Seriously? I feel dirty now. Should I attempt to cancel the order? Are there comparably priced manufacturers that are still US made? Does this mean my tools will not be "forged", and instead be some mysterious Chinese "metal alloy"? I feel like I just paid a truck load for Harbor Freight garbage.

You pretty much did.
im sure Craftsman is still better than cheapo off brands, but not nearly what they were when they were made in USA!

 

[Leo]

This sounds good, but do you have any data to back it up?

Their two big brands we always bought were Craftsman and Kenmore.

No data, simply opinion. When Sam Walton was alive, Walmart actually tried to bring in some good stuff. Now it is all bottom tier china crap.

I do not think the bosch, samsung and lg stuff is nearly the competition it seems. The stuff seems to be having problem recalls pretty often.

I agree with the Kenmore name representing long lasting value. If you can find old Sears stuff at an auction, it usually has more life left than the new stuff in the store. It seems the quality has gone away in the last 10-15 years.

Kenmore is not what it used to be. The last Kenmore appliance was a $359 gas grill. Not top of the line, but closer to the top than bottom. It turned out to be chinese made crap and parts started breaking almost from the start. Lots of my time wasted trying to get warranty, as there were no repair parts available, even if I wanted to buy them. When a gas control valve failed and a fireball blew the lid off, Sears was not even interested. Demanding a manager all I got was "it is out of warranty, you should no have operated it if you knew it had problems. Kenmore gone, Weber (that continues to run flawlessly) now cooks in the yard all summer.

Before that I had a $1900 top of the line Kenmore Oasis washer dryer set. Sadly, it put me on a first name basis with the repairman. Sears customer service was not helpful. I spent more money replacing control boards that a new Whirlpool set costs. Kenmore out, USA built Whirlpool set is serving well.

Again, this is my experience and opinion.