America is alive and Sears is dead! /s
A few comments \ questions
My dad gave me a Craftsman metric ratchet set in 81 still have and use it though I did lose a few pieces over the years
Zappa sang long ago “Is that a real poncho or a Sears poncho?”
That might hold true today but back then I didn’t think that rang true-when did things start to slip exactly?
Just bought a “made in USA” screwdriver set just plastic wrapped-looks good but is it us or Chinese steel?
Sears saw the end long ago and tried a lot of things to stay afloat -
Real Estate, IT partnerships with IBM Advantis, Prodigy) you’d think in urban areas they still have lots of owned real estate more valuable than the business
You can still get help but it’s spotty unlike days of yore
Kenmore is rebranded Whirlpool GE-”elite” is higher quality
This exemplifies their issues ;
Just bought a GE branded Taiwanese xmas tree a very fine item there in Yonkers. I went to my local store 1st and not only did they not have it in stock but they couldn’t tell me if Yonkers had it in stock! I had to go to the Yonkers store to find out, they had it bought it with points and Sears card and I took it home. however the very next day the price went down $45 online and I called IL customer service for a Price adjustment they wouldn’t give it! I have to go back to the store to haggle for an adjustment -unacceptable in my view
Heh...back in high school (Junior year-early 1960's), my dad gave me a Craftsman socket set and a Nash Metropolitan he had bought for $300. He said "when you have rebuilt it to my satisfaction, you can drive it." I did rebuild it, and drove it, but it still had some intermittent fuel feed problems.
Turns out that the one part that I did not rebuild (the carburetor...dad had a mechanic friend he worked with do that). So I finally pulled the carb...it turns out that this "superior" mechanic had put the float in upside down.
Still have the socket set and all the sockets. Still works just fine. Not the Metropolitan, though...... :^)