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Sears Agrees to Sell Craftsman to Stanley Black & Decker to Raise Cash

NonoBadDog said:
Sears lost out when they cut the Craftsman commercial line. The Craftsman line has been going downhill ever since. If a guy couldn't afford Snap On or Mac Tools they bought Craftsman. I don't buy Craftsman anymore. Stanley bought a lemon.
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I bought Craftsman mechanics tools all the time. I prefered the way their wrenches and ratchets felt in my hands over the Mac's and Snap On's. I would buy Snap On screwdrivers, because I loved the square grips.
 
RetiredUSN said:
I bought Craftsman mechanics tools all the time. I prefered the way their wrenches and ratchets felt in my hands over the Mac's and Snap On's. I would buy Snap On screwdrivers, because I loved the square grips.
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I like the way Craftsman wrenches and ratchets feel in my hands, too. S/O always felt too "thin".
 
radcen said:
I'm more sad than mad. Though part me says they should liquidate completely and close up and get it over with. To me this is just a band aid on a severed torso, so to speak.
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The liquidation is happening. This is it. The CEO just pumped 200 million of his own money into Sears to make sure the liquidation was a slow and smooth transition and not a fire sale.
 
I worked for Sears during its heyday as the largest retailer in America. I think the problems started when Sears (primarily a hard lines retailer) decided it wanted to compete with high end department stores (primarily soft lines retailers.) They lost sight of their customer base and did a lot of things wrong because of it. Good marketing says you can be everything to somebody or something to everybody, but you can't be everything to everybody. They forgot that.

I remember the day we moved into the Sears Tower in 1973. I was not thrilled about the company displaying so much arrogance that it had to build the the tallest building in the U.S. It was downhill from there. Too bad. It was a great company at one time. We will see a lot more of this as retailers fail in the face of internet sales.
 
Blue_State said:
What will become of malls?
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They will be climate controlled hang-outs for idle folks requiring large product mark-ups to cover the ridiculous mall space leasing costs. Shopping volume (and better prices) will continue to increase over the internet.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
They will be climate controlled hang-outs for idle folks requiring large product mark-ups to cover the ridiculous mall space leasing costs. Shopping volume (and better prices) will continue to increase over the internet.
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Absolutely. The mall as we know it is gone. Maybe turn them into giant skate parks. I look forward to the future.
 
Gaius46 said:
I have a Kenmore refrigerator, washer and dryer. All are of decent quality and easily worth what I paid for them. However getting parts from Sears is incredibly painful. The sensor that senses when water is in the washer's tub failed a couple of years ago. It took Sears 3 weeks to get me the part. Three weeks without a washer, when you have 6 people at home, is unacceptable in a world where Amazon can get you most things in 2 days.
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My dad knows all about that. He fixes appliances like those (microwaves, window air conditioners, dishwashers and stoves as well). Sears and LG...he has a very very low opinion about both of them when it comes to getting parts for customers.
 
KevinKohler said:
Good. I actually think long standing companies like this are part of the cause of our stagnation. Let it die, so that something new can be born.
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I think that it's sad that competitive capitalism ruins more than it heralds.
 
d0gbreath said:
I think that it's sad that competitive capitalism ruins more than it heralds.
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I think that's completely opposite. You hear about the failures more, especially high-profile failures like Sears, but you don't hear about the many more successes that run just fine and without drama or attention.
 
d0gbreath said:
I think that it's sad that competitive capitalism ruins more than it heralds.
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How do you feel about non competitive capitalism? The problem with you conclusion is that there is no way to know the inflection point.


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radcen said:
I have been expecting this for several years. Sears has been on the ropes for years, and I believe all long-term hope has been lost, but to me this is the first nail in the coffin lid.

I get that they need cash, but if you sell everything that still has value, what will you be left with? Nothing that has value and stores that still nobody wants to shop at.
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Craftsman tools are good tools, but not better than the much cheaper Chinese tools from Harbor Freight, etc. Smart move to get rid of this niche when there is a buyer available. They need to expand their online presence to better serve contemporary clients and the technical tools available to home buyers. I shopped in KMart over Christmas and the local store is still going good. It's tough to compete against WallyWorld.
/
 
radcen said:
I think that's completely opposite. You hear about the failures more, especially high-profile failures like Sears, but you don't hear about the many more successes that run just fine and without drama or attention.
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We do hear about successes in the news media, or the stock market.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
How do you feel about non competitive capitalism? The problem with you conclusion is that there is no way to know the inflection point.


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There is no such thing as noncompetitive capitalism. The inflection point can be determined by looking at a companies books. It's called red ink.
 
d0gbreath said:
We do hear about successes in the news media, or the stock market.
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So your reference to 'competitive capitalism' was superfluous?

I don't understand your point about red ink being a point where capitalism ruins more than it heralds. Interesting way to put it, but red ink could also be caused by a failed business model.
 
AliHajiSheik said:
So your reference to 'competitive capitalism' was superfluous?

I don't understand your point about red ink being a point where capitalism ruins more than it heralds. Interesting way to put it, but red ink could also be caused by a failed business model.
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Amazon, now the largest retailer in the U.S. ran red ink for years on purpose. They had enough money to perfect some activities and systems as they grew. When sales grew to the right point, the red ink turned black and Amazon became dominant to say the least. It was a brilliant business model.
 
Blue_State said:
What will become of malls?
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I think they will disappear over time and the land put to other uses. We have an outdoor shopping center with about 50 stores about 15 miles from my home. We go there to buy our groceries. The land was originally used as a mall which was torn down to create the new shopping center. All the stores are entered from outdoors and the center appears to be doing pretty well.
 
d0gbreath said:
I think that it's sad that competitive capitalism ruins more than it heralds.
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If competitive capitalism destroyed more than it build, how are we all here right now? I'm sending this message on an Apple iPad (1st gen) that I bought at a yard sale for 35 bucks!
 
KevinKohler said:
If competitive capitalism destroyed more than it build, how are we all here right now? I'm sending this message on an Apple iPad (1st gen) that I bought at a yard sale for 35 bucks!
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You hear about Sears and JC Penney struggling to stay afloat. You don't hear about the thousands of Mom and Pop stores that quietly close when Wallyworld opens in another town.
 
Of all the large retail stores to go under...the slow demise of Sears saddens me the most. It's been around so long that it's practically an icon in US history.
 
Moot said:
Of all the large retail stores to go under...the slow demise of Sears saddens me the most. It's been around so long that it's practically an icon in US history.
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Even icons can fail. Historical performance means nothing, only what they've done recently and what they've done recently has been suicide financially. They're getting what they've reaped.
 
d0gbreath said:
You hear about Sears and JC Penney struggling to stay afloat. You don't hear about the thousands of Mom and Pop stores that quietly close when Wallyworld opens in another town.
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I drove to work in a economy car that would blow the doors off of even the best that wealthiest could buy 50 years ago.


Capitalism.
 
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