Went to it this morning to pick up a couple craftsman tools on sale, Had a long talk with the owner about what will happen if sears goes under. He said The 2000 plus home town stores are a separate company not effected by sears! Said 95% of the stuff the sell is already been sold to other companys from sears. So we will still see the Home town stores!!!
Our local hardware store has a lot of Craftsman tools.
Sears in Augusta is in the process of closing right now, so I am not too sure that is the case. But we can go to Kmart and get a few craftsman tools...
Quote from: Ricker on January 24, 2017, 06:21:12 PM
Sears in Augusta is in the process of closing right now, so I am not too sure that is the case. But we can go to Kmart and get a few craftsman tools...
Sears and the small home town sears stores are two different companys. There is one in Newport, Farmington,belfast, and other places in maine. They are not closing.
Sears just sold the craftsman line to someone. Can't remember who. That was about all the had left. I always liked craftsman wrenches.
Quote from: ozarkgem on January 24, 2017, 06:59:49 PM
Sears just sold the craftsman line to someone. Can't remember who. That was about all the had left. I always liked craftsman wrenches.
I think it was Stanley.
Gerald
GAB, for what it's worth I just heard the same thing the other day.
Here, the ACE Hardware store in Canton carries Craftsman tools!
Quote from: newoodguy78 on January 24, 2017, 07:38:14 PM
GAB, for what it's worth I just heard the same thing the other day.
Yes , Stanley/ Black and decker is buying them.
I was told around 150 Sears stores in my area is going to close...
Newer Craftsmen hand tools are made in China. They have been for a while :(
A big company that is seeing the times a changing.
I guess another Montgomery Ward. Showing my age
I have an old Monkey Ward welding machine my dad bought when I was somewhere around 10 years old. Pretty sure it's a miller rebranded and MW. Still works but no so well any more.
If you do a google search you will see that Montgomery Ward is coming back...
I've always liked Craftsman hand tools, and I realize that Sears, Roebuck and Co. is a part of Americana. But Sears is one of my least favorite companies. I believe it is the only one I vowed I would never do business with again. Their customer service just plain stinks.
Yes, sadly that was my experience with them back in 1978. I'd purchased a Kenmore washing machine, and one week past the two year warranty, it broke down. I phoned for a repairman to take a look at it (cost $60.00) and he told me the drum was rusted, and it couldn't be repaired "for less than a new washer would cost." As I handed him the check for the "service" call, I told him, "I really do want Sears to enjoy the money I paid for that washer, and this "repair" cost, because it is the very last penny I'll ever spend on your company."
I kept my promise and discovered Snap-On tools are wonderful!
Well, it is a shame a company that went from the catalog to a brick and mortar store couldn't find the transition to become an internet store. The old way of thinking that allowed it to morph into brick and mortar stores isn't around I guess. That went with the quality care of customers.
They have had it coming.
Amazon is now doing to Sears,
What Sears did to the general store/mercantile 100 years ago.
Catalog then, internet now.
Bye Bye sears.
This isn't about Sears but it's about customer service and the modern merchandise world. We buy a lot of stuff from McMaster-Carr. They have almost everything under the sun, their prices are good, delivery comes the next day for us but best of all, their website is so intuitive you never find yourself lost. Now I occasionally need something from Grainger. Everything about McMaster is true about Grainger except their website. I always buy small items on-line. At Grainger, I'm always getting screwed up. They now have a helpful live person join in when they see somebody lost. Last time I ordered from Grainger, I ended telling the person that they should order something from McMaster and see how a website is supposed to work. He/she said "yes, I have heard that." :D
I had to exchange a broken socket at Sears today. I asked what would be changing now that Craftsman had been sold. The clerk said there wouldn't be any changes at least for now. There were two clerks there and they both said they expect the Craftsman part to improve. Stanley is planning on building at least two factories here in the USA. For now Sears will be the only place to exchange tools under warranty. They also said they expect more tools to be available under the Craftsmen name. I hope that's true.
I hope they keep on taking craftsman tools back.
I really don't like sears washing machine and things like that. But the wife stopped into a small town sears store and they had a chest freezer with a dent in it. Real cheap. Had i about 8 years and still going,so far.
But Roxie is right. We bought our appliances new back in 2000 when we had the house built. We have had some problems with the washer,some normal wear items,but each time they tell us it's worth it to fix it. We happened to buy decent appliances,without knowing it.
Our Sears location has closed down too! A lot more will be closing nationwide. Unfortunate!
At one time I thought they had one of the best garden tractors.
Today I would not even take the time to look one over.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Sears_Best.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1488953868)
Quote from: Kbeitz on March 08, 2017, 01:18:34 AM
At one time I thought they had one of the best garden tractors.
Today I would not even take the time to look one over.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Sears_Best.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1488953868)
Those garden tractors were beasts: Powerful, heavy duty, dependable and easy to work on. I bought a later model and still using it after 30+ years. I stopped by a home owned Sears and saw a heavily discounted 2016 Craftsman garden tractor which I brought home with me. It has all the bells and whistles/safety gadgets and a five year extended warranty (as it will not be easy to work on). I think it will last the rest of my adult mowing life. And it will pull the implements that fit my old one.
Mary's folks lived in a 3 story house that was bought from Sears.
Quote from: Kbeitz on March 08, 2017, 01:18:34 AM
At one time I thought they had one of the best garden tractors.
Today I would not even take the time to look one over.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Sears_Best.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1488953868)
Do you know who made them for Sears? Wheel Horse maybe.
Or roper
Yep Roper made them. David Bradly made the first Sears tractors. I have
a Roper and it's one of my very best tractors.
It's an oldie... I think whirlpool makes them now.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Good_shot~2.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1489201549)
Roper was a manufacturer of lawn and garden equiment in the US during the latter half of the 20th Century. Roper began building outdoor power equipment in 1966 when the George D. Roper Company purchased the former David Bradley manufacturing works from Sears. Roper continued to supply lawn equipment to Sears for the next thirty years. In 1989, Roper was purchased by General Electric (GE) and Roper outdoor unit was sold to AB Electrolux. Roper became part of their American Yard Products (AYP) division which included the Husqvarna brand. This division was later established as its own company using the Husqvarna name
dose anyone remember the GE electric lawn tractor? from the mid 70's. an idea that may have been way before its time
Jacobsen made many Sears/Craftsman mowers in the 70's. Of course they also made many other brands. Just changed the paint color and logos.
Quote from: snowstorm on March 11, 2017, 07:14:15 AM
dose anyone remember the GE electric lawn tractor? from the mid 70's. an idea that may have been way before its time
I had a few of the electrics. They really had some power for electric.
But when it came time to change the battery's I gave them up.
I still have parts of them laying around. General Electric made them.
Wheel Horse also painted them red and sold them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Electric_tractor~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1489240219)