Sears is selling the Craftsman brand to Black and Decker

[K Frame]

And they're closing a bunch of Sears and Kmart stores around the country, including the Sears where I bought most of my handtools over the years in Central Pennsylvania.

Bummer. Not unexpected, but still a bummer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/01/05/sears-kmart-stanley-black-decker-craftsman/96191312/

[HankB]

Interesting . . . considering that neither Craftsman nor B&D is the brand it used to be. I DO know that in the past, B&D was the vendor for some Craftsman power tools.

Just saw a video about using a router and a jig to finish an 80% lower - the jig makers made a video using a B&D plunge router, but noted that they no longer recommend it, due to poor quality control.

I have an older B&D router in which the switch failed, and B&D no longer made it, even though the switch was used on numerous B&D and Craftsman products. Poor product support. (I got another brand switch and made it work.)

And last year, I bought a DeWalt (commercial B&D) jigsaw from Home Depot - the blade kept falling out. So back that POS went.

[RevDisk]

And they're closing a bunch of Sears and Kmart stores around the country, including the Sears where I bought most of my handtools over the years in Central Pennsylvania.

Bummer. Not unexpected, but still a bummer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/01/05/sears-kmart-stanley-black-decker-craftsman/96191312/

Which one? I heard of the Kmart in Lancaster getting closed, with a liquidation sale starting Friday. Any other nearby locations?

[Ben]

I've always thought of B&D as "Kmart tools". I don't know what their current quality is. I know some parts of Craftsman have been going downhill over the years (I can feel and see the difference between my 30 year old ratchet and my 10 year old ratchet), but I still liked the brand. I wonder what will happen to them now?

I even still liked Kenmore for some appliances, but I understand Sears has been vastly outsold on appliances by Lowes and Home Depot. So yeah, not unexpected on the closings, but for us older folks, kind of a bummer. I still remember the Sears catalog at Christmas. Also going to Sears with the folks and them letting me wander around and browse the toys and sporting goods and tools. It was like a family outing. :)

[wmenorr67]

Going to be interesting also since I can get Craftsmen tools at the PX, but anymore Kobalt, Lowe's brand, is just as good if not better anymore for roughly the same price if not less.

[Declaration Day]

I don't know how Sears and Kmart manage to stay in business.  There's one of each in my home town and you won't see more than 20 cars in the parking lot at any given time, except perhaps the holidays.  Neither one is on the closing list.

[K Frame]

Which one? I heard of the Kmart in Lancaster getting closed, with a liquidation sale starting Friday. Any other nearby locations?

Capital City Mall in Camp Hill.

[K Frame]

Going to be interesting also since I can get Craftsmen tools at the PX, but anymore Kobalt, Lowe's brand, is just as good if not better anymore for roughly the same price if not less.

Yep. I've been quite impressed with the Kobolt tools I've purchased over the past couple of years.

[Boomhauer]

No loss Craftsman is *expletive deleted*it anyway.

Want a US made Craftsman alternative? SK tools or Wright tools

[lee n. field]

And they're closing a bunch of Sears and Kmart stores around the country, including the Sears where I bought most of my handtools over the years in Central Pennsylvania.

Bummer. Not unexpected, but still a bummer.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/01/05/sears-kmart-stanley-black-decker-craftsman/96191312/

So, what are they now?  A lame-*** clothing store one step up from Walmart, like Penny's is now?

[wmenorr67]

Sears is closing one of their Tulsa stores that I know of but is supposed to be keeping the Auto Service part of the business open, it is in a separate building so should be easy to do.

Be interesting to see if NTB, used to be owned by Sears, or some other auto service company buys up the Sears Auto Service side.

[makattak]

Two of the three local KMarts are closing but the Sears store (and Macy's) are staying open.

That's a shame. I was just in the Kmart that's going to close. It was very clean and an altogether great experience being in the store.

Of course, that's because there were 3 other shoppers in the entire store, but still.

(And the prices were higher than the grocery store for items both carry, like diapers or deodorant...)

[KD5NRH]

And they're closing a bunch of Sears and Kmart stores around the country, including the Sears where I bought most of my handtools over the years in Central Pennsylvania.

Meh.  They don't even carry any gun parts.  The frickin' store is called Sears fer Pete's sake, so how do they not have gun parts?

[charby]

We have been getting Sears Hometown stores popping up in towns where their used to be a larger Sears store or a Kmart.

Seems to just handle Appliances, Home/Garden Equipment and some Tools.

[makattak]

We have been getting Sears Hometown stores popping up in towns where their used to be a larger Sears store or a Kmart.

Seems to just handle Appliances, Home/Garden Equipment and some Tools.

I would bet that Sears could make a good profit if they'd drop their other departments and focus on those. Those are products that most people will want to see before purchasing and/or are very large for mail delivery.

[KD5NRH]

I would bet that Sears could make a good profit if they'd drop their other departments and focus on those. Those are products that most people will want to see before purchasing and/or are very large for mail delivery.

If said focus also included a full line of spares for current and prior models on hand, I'd agree.  When the lawn mower needs a carb kit, it's hard for Amazon to compete with having the part in your hand within an hour.  Waiting for it to be shipped in tends to turn into getting it then waiting days/weeks for another time when you can do the repair, then days before you can get out and mow.

[41magsnub]

If said focus also included a full line of spares for current and prior models on hand, I'd agree.  When the lawn mower needs a carb kit, it's hard for Amazon to compete with having the part in your hand within an hour.  Waiting for it to be shipped in tends to turn into getting it then waiting days/weeks for another time when you can do the repair, then days before you can get out and mow.

And they send you a kit for mower model xyz123A-1 instead of xyz123A-2 and it won't work, but is close enough you question your sanity and fight with it for a couple of hours first before figuring out it is the wrong part.

[HankB]

Meh.  They don't even carry any gun parts.  The frickin' store is called Sears fer Pete's sake, so how do they not have gun parts?

I remember when Sears (and, for that matter, Wards and Penny's) carried guns.

Their disappearance heralded the beginning of their long downhill slides.

[brimic]

I think the only thing I've bought from Sears in the last 7-8 years was a set of stud extractors, which I couldn't find anywhere else locally, and they weren't even a Craftsman brand.

[KD5NRH]

And they send you a kit for mower model xyz123A-1 instead of xyz123A-2 and it won't work, but is close enough you question your sanity and fight with it for a couple of hours first before figuring out it is the wrong part.

That too.  Took me four tries to swap out the rear brake cylinders on the Saturn because the GM part number on the wrong one was exactly the same as the right one.  Thanks to three local parts stores, it was an all day job, but still a one day job.

[Fly320s]

Meh.  They don't even carry any gun parts.  The frickin' store is called Sears fer Pete's sake, so how do they not have gun parts?

Yeah!  And Sears Auto doesn't carry machine guy parts either. Jerks.

[K Frame]

Meh.  They don't even carry any gun parts.  The frickin' store is called Sears fer Pete's sake, so how do they not have gun parts?

They also don't carry vac-u-jacks and blow up sex dolls, which is, I'm sure, just another reason you hate them. 

[lee n. field]

I remember when Sears (and, for that matter, Wards and Penny's) carried guns.

Their disappearance heralded the beginning of their long downhill slides.

I bought my first gun, a Charter Arms AR-7 rifle, from Penny's.  And I remember seeing handguns under the glass countertop at the Rockford IL Monkey Wards.

[RevDisk]

I visited one of the liquidation sales. The "clearance pricing" was normal pricing for Target or Walmart.

[Perd Hapley]

Yeah!  And Sears Auto doesn't carry machine guy parts either. Jerks.

So you've been wearing out a lot of parts on your machine guy?