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Thread: Craftsman at Lowe's and Ace

  1. #1
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    Craftsman at Lowe's and Ace

    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.
    NOW you tell me...

  2. #2
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    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.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  3. #3
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    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.

  4. 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.

  5. #5
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    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.
    It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

  6. #6
    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.
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  7. #7
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    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.
    NOW you tell me...

  8. #8
    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.

  9. #9
    At one time Craftsman was my go to tool. Sears ruined that....

  10. #10
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    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.
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  11. #11
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    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

  12. #12
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    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.
    NOW you tell me...

  13. #13
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    I have a set of Craftsman tools I bought some 40 years ago. They were good tools when I bought them, and still are. Never really bought anything else from Sears, even though I tried. (I did have some poor transaction with Sears as a company. )
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  14. #14
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    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?

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ole Anderson View Post
    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.
    That is true. They reached a deeper marketing/sales agreement with the brand and have been more or less making it the "house brand". That's not really boding well for Kobalt...although a lot of the stuff likely comes from the same factories.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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