Craftsman at Lowe's and Ace

[Ole Anderson]

Anybody else get the tinglies now when walking into Lowe's and seeing row on top of row of red Craftsman tools, chests and equipment? Not that I am such a fan of their stuff, just that it brings back good memories of trolling through the Sears tool department years ago. Even my local Ace carries the basic tools. Good move. I am more of a Home Depot kind of guy, but Lowe's is starting to spark my interest.

[George Bokros]

Craftsmam has been at Lowes for around a year and ar Summit Racing Equipment for about 5 yrs. Sears sold the Craftsman name quite while ago.

[lowell holmes]

I think they probably worth a try.
I am glad the name survived Sears.
First Monkey Wards (Montgomery Wards) and now Sears, sad, sad, sad.

[Günter VögelBerg]

I have bought several small hand tools (pliers, a ratchet set, tape measures, screwdrivers) branded as Craftsman in the past year or so and am happy with all of them. The machining is accurate, the finish is good and the steel seems to be of decent quality.

[Chris Schoenthal]

Actually, Stanley Black & Decker bought the Craftsman brand in 2017. They're building a plant here in DFW to manufacture some of the Craftsman mechanics tools. I'm glad to see that they will be once again made in the USA.

[Kev Williams]

About 20 years ago Sears received my postmarked-a-day-early-but-a-day-late-in-their-hands payment of $29, that for the first time since the mid '70's was able to pay my preferred customer card down to zero. Because it was a day late, they dinged me a $35 late charge. Regrardless of my 'good customer status' or the postmark they wouldn't drop the late charge. I vowed that day to never buy another Sears product. I never have, and I still consider Craftsman a Sears product. And from what I gather from other's opinions, not the top-tier products of old. But I'll never know.

[Ole Anderson]

Sorry Kev for your experience. That is a long time to carry a grudge. I generally wouldn't buy Craftsman corded or battery hand tools, but I have certainly bought my share of Craftsman hand tools. Not because they are the greatest, but because Sears was the tool store in my area for a long time. It is where you went, not a lot of other choices. Only problem I ever had with them was their 1/4" ratchets, which didn't seem to hold up, but then you probably shouldn't put a cheater bar on them. Always covered by a no-question warranty as are most name brand wrenching tools these days. If Snap On and the like is your tool of choice and you can afford them, by all means go for it. I did buy a Craftsman Pro 15" band saw, looks a lot like a Rikon. Saws as well as any other band saw. And I just retired my 35 YO Craftsman compressor, still working. And I am about to put my 1/2" 600 ft-lb IR rattle gun to the test on my MH brakes. Bought it at Sears. I do need to put the pulley back on my King Seeley (Sears) 6" jointer, probably from the 1950's. Sad to see Sears decline along with the malls. Not their fault, a sign of the changing needs of consumers and Amazon.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Industrial supply houses have been selling both Craftsman hand tools and Jet power tools for years. Jet really came on strong when B&D bought the Delta brand.

[Kevin Beitz]

At one time Craftsman was my go to tool. Sears ruined that....

[Bruce Page]

I get a little nostalgic when I see it. There was a time before the internet that Sears served people like me very well. I would scrutinize their catalogs page by page. I have only a couple of their tools left, a 3X21 belt sander, a ½ inch drill motor, and a full set of mechanics tools that I bought as a teenager.

[Bill Dufour]

Lowes does not sell individual screwdrivers so they will not trade out a worn craftsman screwdriver. they did exchange my 4' craftsman level.
Bill D

[Ole Anderson]

While Lowe's may have been selling Craftsman for a while, it seems they really ramped it up lately, it seems like half of their tool department is now red.

[Roger Feeley]

Ole, I don’t consider it a grudge. It’s just a reason to choose another store. I had my own bad experience with Sears and it opened my eyes to better stores that I had always ignored because I grew up in a “Sears family”. Once I got a taste of the non Sears world, I never went back. My problem wasn’t a grudge against Sears, it was being blindly loyal to Sears in the first place. But I digress.

When we have many options, sometimes we use any excuse to narrow the field. A single bad experience with a store can be such an excuse. We are under no obligation to give stores a second chance. We also don’t owe them our loyalty. That has to be earned through excellent customer service and personal relationships. Sadly, those two traits aren’t part of today’s business model as businesses have abandoned domain knowledge and customer service. Businesses have sterilized the customer relationship down to just making the financial transaction. In doing so, they opened the door to online competition. After all, if all you get at a brick and mortar store is a competent checkout, why bother going there?

[Frederick Skelly]

Businesses have sterilized the customer relationship down to just making the financial transaction. In doing so, they opened the door to online competition.

Roger, this is a good insight. There are also other factors, but "opened the door" is certainly accurate. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

Ole, FWIW, I've bought some craftsman hand tools at Lowes recently and thought they were fine. They aren't SnapOn, but they do what I need.

You folks have a good day!
Fred

[Greg Parrish]

If you want SnapOn quality but at Craftsman like prices, look at the Williams line from JH Williams (SnapOn parent). It’s their industrial line but they are basically the same tools as the SnapOn in many cases. Also the service is just as awesome as SnapOn. I found a great dealer online for them at a place called Tools Delivered. For me, it was an easy switch for hand tools like wrenches and sockets.

Roger, this is a good insight. There are also other factors, but "opened the door" is certainly accurate. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

Ole, FWIW, I've bought some craftsman hand tools at Lowes recently and thought they were fine. They aren't SnapOn, but they do what I need.

You folks have a good day!
Fred