Sears may sell Kenmore and Craftsman brands

CNN ^ | May 26, 2016 | Paul R. La Monica

[PROCON]

Still, there isn't much left for Sears to spin off or sell. At some point, the management team has to try and figure out how to lure back shoppers.

A sad story.

Sears was the "go to place for everything" for much of my lifetime and I do still own many Craftsman tools.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Instead of selling off those brands, maybe they should either close the stores, or make them much smaller places to sell them, and drop everything else.

[BenLurkin]

I have had a number of Kenmore products over the decades and have been very satisfied with them.

[doorgunner69]

Craftsman hand tools were and still are a reasonably priced alternative to the primo stuff like Snap-On. I used to rely on Sears for tools when I lived near a store. None around now and I dislike the Chinese crap Lowes and Homo Depot sell.

[JBW1949]

Sears quality fell off when they went cheap...

They used to carry quality men’s clothing and Craftsman tools had a lifetime guarantee...

The J C Higgins sporting goods was mid quality and they had a large selection to choose from...

[Drew68]

I have had a number of Kenmore products over the decades and have been very satisfied with them.

My Kenmore washer and dryer are still going strong after 5 years of heavy use. Wish I could say the same for my GE appliances.

I was at Ace Hardware yesterday, first time in many years, and noticed that they sell Craftsman.

[Popman]

I worked for Sears about 10 years ago...

I am sure the same issues that I faced as an employee are probably worse or the same...

every system from POS to inventory was antiquated and caused serious customer issues...

They are a dinosaur retailer.

At some point they will go extinct...

[fella]

Sears needs to concentrate on padding the upper managements resumes by getting them all MBAs and 6 sigma certified. Streamlining their logistics to bring their customers quality goods and services at affordable prices is just so old fashioned.

[Secret Agent Man]

I cant believe it but I actually ordered a couple things online from sears in the last month. Order wasnt screwed up and got to me okay.

First time in years I bought from them. Maybe beefing up their online presence would be another area for them to strengthen and increase sales.

[meadsjn]

Sears just needs to try a more aggressive diversity program, like the LGBT program Target tried. That'll fix'em good.

If corporate management had a clue about management, this election season would provide a clear strategic path. Anti-American is not the way to go.

[knarf]

yeah ... me too

[knarf]

I have a Kenmore dryer that has to 40 or so years old

The only thing I've done is replace one belt and two timers

[fireman15]

They used to carry quality men’s clothing and Craftsman tools had a lifetime guarantee...

Many years ago my dad had a Craftsman framing hammer that I broke one of the claws off busting slag off a weld I had made on one of our tractors. My dad told me to take it back to Sears and they would replace it with a new one. I couldn’t believe it when they actually did it.

Unfortunately, a week later I went to a lumber mill auction and bought a bunch of old 3 phase electrical equipment. On the way back something broke on the flatbed truck I was using and I had to get under the truck and bang on it with the hammer and hay wire it back together. When I got back I realized that I had left my shiny new hammer under the truck. I drove 50 miles back to where I had the trouble, but someone had already found the hammer.

Craftsman doesn’t mean what it used to. I bought an impact driver from Sears a couple years ago; it was made in China. The battery would drive about three lag bolts before it was through. After two weeks it quit working altogether. I assume it was defective from the start but didn’t have time to waste making sure. I took it back and bought a Harbor Freight tool for half the price which works much better and has served me well for the past couple of years.

[Dallas59]

They rely on a customer base that is pre-internet. As they die off...the younger set just looks at Sears as someplace their grandparents shopped at.

[sparklite2]

I remember the first time I went into a Sears store as a homeowner. “My god,” I thought. “I’m home.”

But that was long ago,
and now my consolation,
is shopping Amazon.

[cincinnati65]

Don't know how much "wronger" Sears can go. Keep the brands, which are really the "Crown Jewels" of what's left of the old Sears. Close the brick and mortar stores. Open smaller "distribution/pickup" centers. Step up the online presence. Offer free shipping to distribution/pickup centers, or direct shipping at home for a fee. Stock high turn, high profit items in the distribution centers -- tools, appliances, some electronics, etc.

I would definitely hold on to Craftsman and Kenmore -- maybe part ways with Diehard. Diehard's a good product, but selling car batteries without installation would be a hard sell to most consumers.

In a few years, you could reposition the company to compete with Amazon.

[Red Badger]

Maybe they should try selling stuff people want to buy at prices they can pay?.............just an idea..........

[jtal]

What would be left?

[KarlInOhio]

I've always been happy with Craftsman tools. I broke my father's 30 year old shovel and Sears replaced it with no questions asked. Same with a couple screwdrivers I abused. I expect that the lifetime guarantee will be gone when Sears sell the brand.

[PROCON]

Yup, that’s why Amazon is prospering.