Posted on 01/05/2017 8:00:47 AM PST by Leaning Right
Sears Holdings will sell its Craftsman tool brand to Stanley Black & Decker for about $900 million, the companies announced Thursday.
The deal will provide another cash infusion for Sears, but it comes at a cost — broadening distribution of the well-known brand gives consumers one less reason to choose to shop at the struggling Hoffman Estates-based retailer.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
True. The two companies you listed, Kodak and IBM both became virtual monopolies, and refused to develop new products because they would interfere with their current product line. A Kodak engineer in their skunk works invented the digital camera back in 1975. The brass killed it, cause it would damage film sales. IBM had one laser printer they sold in two versions, a home use and a business use. The business use on cost about $200 more. The home use one was the same printer, but they added a chip to slow it down. They also deliberately crippled their PCs so they wouldn't compete with their super profitable mini-computers and mainframes.
That was the last brand name (other than their Kenmore) appliances keeping Sears afloat. The company may finally die the death that mismanagement imposed on them. I still wonder how Sears (home of the century-old Sears Catalog) could have messed up the transition to online shopping, which they should have dominated.
“I mentioned how we used to get everything at sears except for food.”
My family too. Back in the day - as they say - a middle class family could find and afford just about anything they needed at Sears: tools, appliances, clothes (not flashy, but good quality that would last many years), shoes, sporting goods, jewelry, etc. You could get new tires and batteries for your car, new carpet for your house, a new TV for your den, whatever.
We weren’t rich by any means. We were strictly middle class and we shopped at Sears all the time. It pains me to see it fall apart because of poor management and changing times. Same thing for K-Mart. Many middle class families shopped at K-Mart. Now, tied to Sears, they’ll go down together.
“This is an act of desperation, what farmers used to call “eating the seed corn.” It will keep you alive but come spring, you’ll have nothing to plant.”
Eating treated seed corn would kill you long before spring!
Check out my #37.
I was in a stand-alone Sears for the first time in 2-3 years on Sunday. With all sincerity I have been to livelier wakes. It smelled old, half the racks were empty and the employees looked like they had just seen the iceberg. It was depressing. We left without purchasing anything because they simply didn’t have anything of interest.
If you're willing to pay a bit more for very high quality tools, check out Lee Valley Tools (www.leevalley.com). Their focus is on woodworking tools, so you won't find everything you need, but you should give them a look-see.
Same here. Sears has become the Hall of the Dead.
“At one time, the brand name Black & Decker meant something. Now it means nothing. I suppose Craftsman will go that same route.”
Craftsman has been of pretty bad quality for a long time. Black and Decker is now a joke.
Sears had ownership in Prodigy, one of competitors to AOL in the 90s, but the new owners sold their interest and decided to complete with Walmart and Target in the discount store race (remember Sears Grand?). Then they got stupid and merged with K Mart.
#7 Be careful if you are asked the following:
On them second floor lintels between the lally columns, do you want we should rabbet them or not? … From the blueprints you can’t tell. You want they should be rabbeted?
Do not say yes.
“Young people don’t buy tools? “
Huh? Sure they do. Especially when once they get their first house they will need tools and appliances. But sears is not just a hardware store. That is just part of it. Old people die off. Without young people coming in the future of any store chain is doomed. Sears has to work on their image — if they can.
Craftsmen has been in decline for a long time as well... which is obvious by the fact they couldn’t even get a sale price in the BILLIONS for it. There was a time, “Craftsman” meant something...
I Wish this guy who’s running Sears would step aside and let someone with retail competence run this company... this has been a 10+ year slow motion train wreck.
Last time I looked (last month), most Craftsman branded tools were made in Red China. FUSR. FUCT.
Craftsman brand tools were the only reason I went to Sears. Most of my tools were purchased there. Needed an odd size socket a few months ago and went to the Ace Hardware store 4 blks. from my house. They usually have everything, but didn’t have what I needed. Only place in town that did was Sears. And it wasn’t expensive. Sorry to see the downhill slide
Some of Harbor Freight's stuff is at least made in Taiwan.
You’re just making fun of something a builder would know about. Incongruous jargon. :0)
B&D has become the Harbor Freight Tools for quality. Just enough to tantalize with the shiny raccoon effect and low price to get the unsuspecting to buy it.
“Nailed it” : )
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