VIDEO HERE (11:11 minutes)
Monday, August 19, 2024
The decline of a Great American Tool Brand: What Happened to Craftsman Tools
Craftsman Tools have been around for nearly 100 years, and in that time, they earned a reputation for quality and service that was unmatched in the industry. n the past 20 years, however, that reputation has been damaged by outsourcing manufacturing and attempts to bring it back.
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I remember finding a Craftsman 100 foot in the bottom of an elevator pit after pumping the water out. I took it to the Sears store and they replaced it no questions asked.
ReplyDeleteNot anymore. They will offer you a repair kit or a repaired tool , if you have a receipt. And I think it has to be recently purchased.
DeleteGood brands often seem to vanish or become shit brands we would like to see vanish
ReplyDeleteCraftsman's decline was Sears' choice. First, they stopped honoring the warranty- a major reason to buy. Initially with some restrictions, eventually with impossible conditions. That angered every single customer. Then, they started making crap in China. It was always outsourced; Craftsman never made a single tool- there were no "Craftsman" factories. Tools were made in quality American factories. Between the move to cheap overseas and the failure to honor the lifetime anytime any reason guarantee, their market just said no. The first titme I replaced a Craftsman screwdriver, it was walk in, hand it over, and the clerk handed me a new one: zero discussion, zero hassle. The last time, I was asked for a receipt (on a 20 year old tool), told I couldn't exchange it anyway because they didn't make that exact one anymore (it was a freakin' screwdriver), and in any case could only exchange it at the original store. Which was no longer in business. Told the clerk GFY and never bought another Sears tool.
ReplyDeleteI used Craftsman tools when I was doing set-up at the ammo plant. The main reason was it was easier to just climb in the truck and drive the 20 miles to Sears to buy what I needed, rather than wait on the monthly Matco or whatever tool truck to come around.
DeleteIf I broke a tool, it was like you said, I'd just hand it over to the clerk and he'd hand me a replacement, no fuss no muss.
Used my quarter inch ratchet as a slugging wrench, busted it of course and took it back, grabbed a new one, showed tool guy and he rang it up as free, same with breaking ends off screwdrivers and splitting sockets with the impact wrench. I think the demise of Western Forge is linked to Craftsmans fate
DeleteDaryl
Purposely abusing tools is exactly why they had to change their policy. I don’t blame them.
DeleteHe didn't mention two important causes.
ReplyDelete1 - Industry response to bad U.S. government policies was to offshore manufactory.
(Labor costs played a marginal role.)
2 - In the 1980s, a 25 year old hedge fund manager used OPM to over value the fund. He then used that to buy a struggling K Mart. He then leveraged that to buy Sears & Roebuck. He then proceeded to break Sears into parts to be sold. Clothing, appliances, home furnishings, tools et c were sold off to different buyers.
Pretty slick but F that guy.
He got his comeuppance. About ten years later himself was struggling personally. Financially broke, I think. He dropped out of the news.
Eddie Lampert. Fast Eddy.
Deletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lampert
DeleteHe leads a connected life, strip-mining Sears all the way down would make one think somebody might be angry a coastal cosmopolitan sunk an institution as old as this for fun and profit.
I looked up the "Early Life" section though I really didn't need to. It was exactly what I expected.
DeleteTragic what he did to Sears and other companies, a pox on guys like him.
DeleteReally sad too as Sears should have been able to transition to online like a boss since they were the original Amazon but bigger.
I have a ton of older Craftsman tools, along with a few other brands and when I was younger I stayed away from SK and Thorsen as that is what my oldest brother had and I wanted to avoid confusion. My father would buy some of the specialized tool for my birthday and other times since he knew I had most of the basics.
Like Kenny I like the ability to go to the mall at 7 PM to replace or acquire I tool I needed to get the rig back on the road for work the next morning.
Due to the same ol' song and dance: American Greed!
ReplyDeleteTake the broken one back to Sears, get a new one from the rack, sign the paper, and you were on your way. That was one of the biggest bennies of Craftsman. Yeah, you can still buy the Craftsman tools at Lowe's, and they still have the "lifetime warranty," but try and exercise that warranty, and you'll be disappointed. You'll end up throwing the old one away and buying another one.
ReplyDeleteI recently took two broken screwdrivers to Lowe’s for replacement. Went and found the new ones. Took to service desk and handed to clerk. She looked at them and said ok you are good to go. No questions asked!!
ReplyDeleteSame here
DeleteI bought a Craftsman 305 mechanic's tool kit and it came with a 26" long, 11" deep 12 drawer front tool chest back in 84. Soon after my mom divorced my dad then a couple years later married a guy who was the Sears Appliance supervisor. Over the next 8 years I managed to get almost every Craftsman tool offered. Sometimes it was a gift and other times I would get him to buy me tools when they were on sale and he would use discount coupons to get tools at less than half of the retail price. Lowe's still honors the warranty.
ReplyDeleteWatch the video till near the end and the idiot basically was saying, "Keep manufacturing in China so they don't have an incentive to go to war with us".
ReplyDeleteKeep manufacturing in China so we have no industry to support a war against them. Keep manufacturing in China so we have no middle class, blue collar, prosperous society. What a way to flush a country down the shitter.
DeleteI inherited my Grandfather’s tools, mostly Craftsman some Black & Decker when all their tools were made in America. I have his Craftsman straight claw hammer, fold up measure tape, assorted screwdrivers and sockets. Every Friday it was a ritual to go to Sears & Roebucks in Miami Fla. My Grandparents always dressed to the hilt to go there, first we got to eat at the M&M Cafeteria then to the S&R store. I was with him when he bought a 22 cal Nylon 66 in Black with Crome barrel. I believe it was around $39 dollars all at Sears. He Built houses in Pembrook Pines, Ponderosa Pines, Opa-Locka, Coral Gables in the mid to late 60’s. Man it was a fantastic time to be a kid in America. I started working with him at 8 years of age in 1966, the money that he spent on those roach coaches was something else. I sure miss my Daddy Calvin, he was a great Man.
ReplyDeleteI "busted rods" (tied rebar) with a spool of wire on my belt - always used a $3 (?) Craftsman side cutter - when it was customized, beat to hell, and dulled out, brought it in for a no questions exchange. That was in the Glades in 1966 - I lived off Coral Reef Drive & went to high school near The Gables - so you struck a chord. I still have a few of my pop's Craftsman tools. Great memories, and you are right - a fantastic time to be a kid. Thanks.
DeleteOnly had two ratchets break in all my years. 30+ years ago just took them in and walked out with new one's and even an additional repair kit, no questions asked.
ReplyDeleteGood old days.
Don't need their new junk. I think my collection
ReplyDeleteof the last 65 years will last me till my end and probably my son and grandsons. Always bought
any old craftsman and snap-on at flea markets and yard sales. Think I may even have enough 10mm to last, but that could be iffy!
Bubarust
I have thousands of dollars in Craftsman tools.
ReplyDeleteThey no longer replace, life time warranty is gone.
When they started closing N. Texas stores I went to at least 7 and came out with a lifetime supply of my most used tools, spent about $4k that week.
When I run out of workable 82544s I will likely retire.
The Stanley - Black & Decker brand bought the Craftsman brand from Sears.
ReplyDeleteAhh the good old days , every payday I would make my way to the Sears in the East Town mall in Madison and pick up some new tools . I still have the vast majority (I absolutely Hate loosing tools) and they all are in good shape even though some are 50 years old .Been working for Milwaukee doing maintenance for the past 5 years so I 've made good use of the discount (less than half of what you pay at Deep Homo or Blowes) and replaced all my old DeWalt cordless tools with fresh Milwaukee stuff. Gave all my DeWalt tools to a good friend who runs that platform. The good thing about being a mechanic at a Milwaukee factory is that I can play with stuff and decide if its really worth it before I buy one.
ReplyDeleteNot a mystery. The dissolved with Sears.
ReplyDeleteCraftsman and its demise is an analog for the culture and society of the US.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when J C Penny had its own brand of tools. Good observation.
DeleteThe craftsman power tools were homeowner quality at best. None of that crap would survive on a job site for very long. Drills, routers, saws were oversized and under powered junk.
ReplyDeleteTo comment on the last moments of the video, he mentions Harbor Freight tools. Not to get in to comparisons here. I bring this up to observe how now HF offers multi tier branding. Not only cost but quality. They make no bones comparing the quality of thier own lines. It's brilliant marketing. The consumer now has the power of price vs quality in thier hands. While big box stores throw all brands together, with no comparisons, other than the brands themselves telling you how good thier product is. Consumer niches will always be filled if a void is found. I believe Harbor Freight is fast moving away from the cheap chinesium reputation they once had. Just my opinion
ReplyDeleteI can tell you that the Harbor Freight bench grinder & drill press that I bought when HF was still selling them out of a semi-trailer are both still working just fine. the grinder is still smooth-running with little vibration, which is more than I can say for a similar Black & Decker I've used.
DeleteCC
Bought a set of 3/8 sockets at Sears in Burlington, NC in '68 or '69. Still use them. I got a set of metrics, too, because I had an Alfa. Back in the warranty days, Actually, you can work on a metric car with SAE sockets except for the dreaded 10mm. I replaced the 3/8", 1/2" and, of course the 10mm socket and flex socket. The new sockets were six point which was crappy as far as I'm concerned. I don't used them much any more and my son will lose them when I'm gone.
ReplyDelete