Lowes?

[Eric C Stoltzfus]

So I went to Lowes today. I wanted to get some jigsaw blades and a few other things. They were completely reorganizing the tool section to make room for all the new craftsman tools. My jigsaw uses the U type blade. They didn't have any of that style blades. I also couldn't find any Stanley tools. What is wrong with you guys?

[Dan Baginski]

I went to Home Depot last week to buy a can of minwax wipe on poly. Apparently they don’t carry the minwax brand anymore. It’s all varathane now. And they stopped carrying bessy clamps too and replaced it with dewalt.

[Art Mann]

If Lowes marketing people think that "Craftsman" will be perceived as a premium brand in the same league as Dewalt, Bosch, Milwaukee, Makita or even Hitachi, they may be disappointed. I certainly don't see it that way. I consider them to be similar to Ryobi at Home Depot, but higher priced.

[Doug Garson]

Looks like Art beat me to it. It will be interesting to see how Craftsman sells at Lowes. It's been years since Craftsman was seen as a quality brand. I'm surprised Sears was able to sell the brand and that it just didn't die with them with so many better options out there. Still have lots of Craftsman tools in my shop, none of them less than 20 years old, most even older.

[Dave Lehnert]

If Lowes marketing people think that "Craftsman" will be perceived as a premium brand in the same league as Dewalt, Bosch, Milwaukee, Makita or even Hitachi, they may be disappointed. I certainly don't see it that way. I consider them to be similar to Ryobi at Home Depot, but higher priced.

People in this group my not think of Craftsman brand as premium but I would be willing to bet the average homeowner, that the big box store caters to, still look at it as a top brand. I am going to bet it will be successful for Lowes.
What ever one thinks of the Craftsman brand, Good or bad, kinda has to set that aside and look at each tool now with a different eye. Since Craftsman is now a brand owned by Stanley/ Black and Decker (DeWalt) most tools are totally different so the past is irrelevant.

[Bill Dufour]

Since they sold the brand and make them in China it no longer applies but. Say five years ago I could go into a big box store and they had some invented brand names and some old names that have nothign to do with the original quality products. The Craftsman name meant it was made in North America and was a reasonable quality. It would not fall apart in your hand under load and injure you. Those other brands?
There is no good way to look at a tool and know if the steel is properly alloyed and heat treated. For that confidence your only choice is to rely on a brand name and decide that a lifetime guarantee means they put some effort into making decent quality or the returns would bankrupt them. Since someone bought the craftsman name they have to honor the existing lifetime guarantees since that is part of the "good will" they paid for.
Bill D

[Jim Becker]

Bill, I strongly suspect that it's been a very long time since the Craftsman named tools en-masse were made largely in North America, even when Sears was still muddling through.

[Doug Dawson]

Bill, I strongly suspect that it's been a very long time since the Craftsman named tools en-masse were made largely in North America, even when Sears was still muddling through.

According to the wikipedia article on "craftsman", they were all(?) sourced in the USA until 2010, but I remember seeing the China label on some of the mechanics tools at least 5 years before that. I have lots of Craftsman mechanics tools from the 70's and 80's, all American-made of course. They were well into the 90's. They always subcontracted. It was never in the same league as Snap-On, but it got the job done, and the warranty was great, particularly for ratchets. The stuff being made now is not quite the same quality as Kobalt, which I hope Lowes is not supplanting. The hot ticket today is GearWrench, better than Craftsman ever was.

[Richard Coers]

According to the wikipedia article on "craftsman", they were all(?) sourced in the USA until 2010, but I remember seeing the China label on some of the mechanics tools at least 5 years before that. I have lots of Craftsman mechanics tools from the 70's and 80's, all American-made of course. They were well into the 90's. They always subcontracted. It was never in the same league as Snap-On, but it got the job done, and the warranty was great, particularly for ratchets. The stuff being made now is not quite the same quality as Kobalt, which I hope Lowes is not supplanting. The hot ticket today is GearWrench, better than Craftsman ever was.

We may be having some confusion here with the word "tools", between mechanic tools and woodworking tools in this discussion. Back in the 90s, nearly all machinery was made by Emerson. Sears also started marketing Companion mechanic tools as a cheaper Chinese made choice. Don't know when mechanic tools started being outsourced.

[Doug Dawson]

We may be having some confusion here with the word "tools", between mechanic tools and woodworking tools in this discussion. Back in the 90s, nearly all machinery was made by Emerson. Sears also started marketing Companion mechanic tools as a cheaper Chinese made choice. Don't know when mechanic tools started being outsourced.

Craftsman never actually made anything. _Everything_ was outsourced. The mechanics tools were last made by Danaher, but it fluctuated (and Danaher was sold.) Companion was always junky.

You never knew quite what you were gonna get. Kind of like Kenmore.

But goshdarnit, whoever was responsible, I thought they made great lawnmowers! Based on a sample size of one every 15 years. Start every time. Everything else I ever tried was trash in comparison.

[Jerome Stanek]

I remember getting Craftsman batteries for my Pro Black and Decker drills the 1940 series that was the top of the line back in the 90's. went to a B&D service center and seeing a weird color 1940 drill and asked about it they told me it was a Craftsman that B&D made for Sears. Batteries were half the price so I picked up about 6 as I had 7 drills.

[Dave Sabo]

As mentioned , Stanley owns Craftsman. They didn’t pay Sears close to a billion dollars for the name because they were feeling nostalgic or charitable. They also know a thing or two about marketing tools to “we the people” at lots of different price points. It’s also quite possible that Lowe’s is just along for the ride on this (though I have no info to substantiate this )

Hartville has one retail store while the Depot and Lowe’s have over 2000 each. It’s an entirely different merchandising exercise.

[Frederick Skelly]

As mentioned , Stanley owns Craftsman. They didn’t pay Sears close to a billion dollars for the name because they were feeling nostalgic or charitable. They also know a thing or two about marketing tools to “we the people” at lots of different price points. It’s also quite possible that Lowe’s is just along for the ride on this (though I have no info to substantiate this )

Hartville has one retail store while the Depot and Lowe’s have over 2000 each. It’s an entirely different merchandising exercise.

So it's true then Dave? Hartville Tool is backed by a local store?

[marlin adams]

I went to Home Depot last week to buy a can of minwax wipe on poly. Apparently they don’t carry the minwax brand anymore. It’s all varathane now. And they stopped carrying bessy clamps too and replaced it with dewalt.

Minwax being phased out but there was plenty of the bessy clamps.

[Gary Ragatz]

I live here in rockwall and went to home depot today and they had plenty of both.

Not sure about Minwax, but my local HD has plenty of Bessey clamps in stock.