Black and Decker Purchases the Craftsman Brand

[theeyres]

Originally Posted by Dhuhn

Ever since Kmart bought Sears they have been going down hill since. It like they threw there hands up and gave up.

Unfortunately both brands were in decline. I don't know what Kmart thought by buying Sears because Sears was almost dead. Still is. I'm sure both will go be the wayside in not too many years.

[gearhead]

Originally Posted by hankpage

Many of electrical tools with the Craftsman name have been made by B&D for a while now. Most parts were interchangeable, just different colors.

Same as the Kenmore brand of appliances, they are clones of whoever gave the quality for the best price at that time. JM2¢, Hank

Kenmore...good grief what a disaster. When we built this house 7 years ago we bought all new Kenmore Elite appliances, everything...front load washer & dryer, refrigerator, freezer, garage beer fridge, garage fish freezer, big cooktop, dishwasher, and double oven. The only one that hasn't died is the cheap garage fridge. Sears techs can't find their butts with both hands. Takes 2-3 trips to fix it. We thought we would buy local and support the family owned Sears around the corner. NEVER AGAIN.
All that said I think we will lose Sears. I hate it. Like others, I can remember when you went to Sears the sales folk knew their products. Some folks spent their entire career selling tires at Sears. Made good money with benefits. Soon to be gone.

[Desert185]

We bought a Kenmore washer, dryer and fridge in 1998 when we bought our current home. They're still working fine, although we upgraded to a larger, LG fridge just recently and put the old Kenmore in the garage.

My BIL recently bought a Craftsman gas weed eater. What a disaster. He ended up buying a Stihl. Incredible difference in quality and capability.

The death knell tolls for Sears.

[66joej]

Don't know if anyone noticed but further to Sears demise. They are closing 5 major stores in the largest malls in Canada including their flagship store in Toronto. As we noticed earlier the writing is on the wall.

[Allesfam]

I think the most ironic thing about Sears is they practically invented the mail order business with their catalogs only to give up on the idea. They will now be put out of business by companies like Amazon who have brought the mail order business into the computer age.

[talk2cpu]

Before I retired as a finish carpenter, I would buy Craftsman tools. Still have router and belt sander that work and look like crap. Most everything else has failed and been replaced by Bosch. I have found them to be reasonably priced and wish I could have afforded that quality when I was still working.

[Desert185]

Originally Posted by talk2cpu

Before I retired as a finish carpenter, I would buy Craftsman tools. Still have router and belt sander that work and look like crap. Most everything else has failed and been replaced by Bosch. I have found them to be reasonably priced and wish I could have afforded that quality when I was still working.

Bosch or my favorite...Makita.

[hankpage]

Originally Posted by Allesfam

I think the most ironic thing about Sears is they practically invented the mail order business with their catalogs only to give up on the idea. They will now be put out of business by companies like Amazon who have brought the mail order business into the computer age.

It amazes me that, as you say, the leader in mail-order would fail so terribly in online sales. I have tried in the past few years to use Sears web sites and they have been the hardest to navigate and the most confusing with conflicting prices I have seen. It was almost as if they were trying to fail. As a teen Sears was the first company to issue me credit and I will be sorry to see them go.

You never saw an outhouse without a Sears-Roebuck catalog ..... or at least a good portion of it. Hank

[Desert185]

Sears is down 13% this morning to just under $8/share. Death watch...

[Williston324]

The Kenmore brand is manufactured by many different companies. You can use this link to find out which one made yours.

http://www.appliance411.com/parts/sears.shtml

[sourdough]

I think I read a quote from one of Sears executives that said he didn't have high hopes for their survival. It is sad. As hankpage mentioned, they gave me credit many decades ago, made good products and I LOVED looking through their catalog (wish book) way back when. Times are changin, not so much for the better, and it's sad they did not adapt to our modern buying habits.

[Desert185]

I remember going to Sears to buy Craftsman tools with my dad when I was a kid. Old man was a hell of a mechanic. We had Craftsman, Proto, SK, Snap On...helped him (watched him) rebuild an engine when I was 12. The Sears tool buying was a father/son experience like going to Foster's for a milkshake. Good times. Still have them all. Good memories.

[JRTJH]

Sears, Wards and Penney's were the "big three" catalog stores. Montgomery Wards closed several years ago. Penney's just announced closing about 150 stores and Sears is almost extinct. It's definitely a changing market when the only catalogs available for the outhouse are Cabella's and Bass Pro.... I do hope they don't go out of business too, if they do, it'll be back to corn cobs and scratching.....

[ctbruce]

Using the Bass Pro catalog would almost be sacrilege....

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Sears, Wards and Penney's were the "big three" catalog stores. Montgomery Wards closed several years ago. Penney's just announced closing about 150 stores and Sears is almost extinct. It's definitely a changing market when the only catalogs available for the outhouse are Cabella's and Bass Pro.... I do hope they don't go out of business too, if they do, it'll be back to corn cobs and scratching.....

[66joej]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Sears, Wards and Penney's were the "big three" catalog stores. Montgomery Wards closed several years ago. Penney's just announced closing about 150 stores and Sears is almost extinct. It's definitely a changing market when the only catalogs available for the outhouse are Cabella's and Bass Pro.... I do hope they don't go out of business too, if they do, it'll be back to corn cobs and scratching.....

Problem I see is they still use the glossy paper.

[JRTJH]

Tear the sheet to be used out of the catalog, hold it with both hands, "scrunch" it several times, makes glossy much less slick.....

That's what they tell me, I'm far too young to ever remember "outdoor plumbing".....

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Tear the sheet to be used out of the catalog, hold it with both hands, "scrunch" it several times, makes glossy much less slick.....

That's what they tell me, I'm far too young to ever remember "outdoor plumbing".....

Then for sure you never had to dig a private hole in the jungle... the number of GIs that fertilized the country side while on a trip paid by Uncle is tremendous.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by CaptnJohn

Then for sure you never had to dig a private hole in the jungle... the number of GIs that fertilized the country side while on a trip paid by Uncle is tremendous.

Been there, done that and I do have the Tee shirt, poster and I believe the Concert program (complete with some autographs) around here somewhere. Many of us have fertilized the countryside and a few, probably more than others

[Todd727]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

It's definitely a changing market when the only catalogs available for the outhouse are Cabella's and Bass Pro.... I do hope they don't go out of business too, if they do, it'll be back to corn cobs and scratching.....

You do know that Bass Pro just bought Cabella's?

[JRTJH]

Yup, both Cabella's and Bass Pro "promise" no change in current level of service to their loyal customers.... (Whatever that means). At least they were bought by a company that actually knows something about the outdoors and hunting/fishing. Unlike when Brunswick bought Airstream (back in the 70's) and "redesigned the world's leading RV design)... That's when Airstream started using Lippert frames, having "bowed" RV's and the "best of the best" became "just like the rest"..... Thankfully, Brunswick lost interest and sold Airstream during a "realignment of corporate investments" and THOR bought them. Even to this day, Airstream's are nowhere near what they were when Wally Byam was in the "front office"...

And to think, Airstream doesn't even produce a catalog worthy of "outhouse duty".....