Craftsman to be made in the USA!

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by JohnnyJohnson
Originally Posted by 2strokeNorthstar
Which one? Stanley or Sears? Good question. Stanley survived and Sears has one foot in the grave

Yes and the other foot on a banana peel.

[off-topic]
First, it is an Organic banana peel.
Second, They paid for the banana tree and the land on which the banana tree grew.
...With bonuses.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by ragtoplvr
Made in the USA is no guarantee of quality. Good wrench steel properly heattreated is expensive, we have low grades of steel here too.
The mantra of costs, we must cut costs, at all cost, all the time, along with defending from takeovers is the USA's biggest problem.
I do wish craftsman would bring back the classic round head pushbutton fine tooth ratchet, if they haven't, I never go in there now so I do not know.

Rod
It's true, the last of the USA made Craftsman was not that good. The US made a lot of junk when they were trying to cut costs before they were eventually off shored. SK Tools were much the same.

Back then they would rebrand whatever the lowest bidder made from a list of dwindling American tool manufacturers. Craftsman actually offered US made tools for a while after they off shored their hard line tools. They were rebranding Knipex Cobras at one point during the early 2010s.

Now-a-days, they are owned by a tool manufacturer, and they are getting factories built just for them (I assume other Stanley brands will be made in these factories eventually). I would argue that if you are using US made as part of your marketing strategy, your tools have to be at least decent. If they can hit Taiwan level quality and not be significantly more expensive, that's good enough for me.

I also think that the gap between the cost to produce in China v US is starting to shrink due to rising wages in China, and increased tariffs. China isn't the same as it was when Craftsman off shored their sockets and wrenches back in the early 2000s.

I was looking at 1/2 drive socket sets on Amazon yesterday. Tekton made in Taiwan $200 CAD v SK Tool made in USA $600 CAD. If you could get a Craftsman set for $350-$400 I would buy that in a second.

 

[Chris B.]

Remember when President Obama said "those jobs are never coming back"? Lots of them have come back over the past 2 years thanks to President Trump!

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted by spasm3
I really hope the quality its above what they sell now.

I look at it this way, they have one shot at it. If the tools are garbage it's game over for me.

 

[Donald]

But Craftsman are now sold at Sears, Lowes and Ace Hardware. I do not believe they are the same.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted by Donald
But Craftsman are now sold at Sears, Lowes and Ace Hardware. I do not believe they are the same.


I "think" that Stanley Black & Decker controls marketing and sales at Lowes and "maybe" Ace. Sears can market a different Craftsman line on it's own according to the agreement.

There are numerous articles showing how Sears is introducing Craftsman tool lines that are different (manufacturer) than what Stanley Black & Decker is marketing.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-md-sears-craftsman-lawsuit-20190307-story.html
"But two weeks after Sears emerged from bankruptcy Feb. 8, the reorganized retailer "launched its own new line of professional-grade mechanics' tools under the sub-brand ‘Craftsman Ultimate Collection,'"


https://toolguyd.com/no-you-cannot-buy-the-new-craftsman-tools-at-sears/
"Translation (or at least my interpretation): Stanley Black & Decker can develop, manufacture, and sell Craftsman tools as they please, Sears can continue developing and selling their own Craftsman tools, royalty-free for 15 years, after which Sears will have to pay royalties to Black & Decker.

Additionally, on Craftsman's FAQ, they have this question. Will Sears continue to sell Craftsman Products?

Yes, Sears will continue sourcing, marketing and selling Craftsman-branded products in their stores, independent from Stanley Black & Decker."

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted by spasm3
I really hope the quality its above what they sell now.


It would not take much at all to improve on the current offerings. Even HF ratchets look high end in comparison but the brand is still salvageable and could claim customers back from HF with quality US made products.

 

[OnTheRocks]

Originally Posted by EdwardC
Looking forward to affordable tools made in the US!


I don't know how affordable "Made In U.S.A." can be.

Politics aside, this will create jobs. Purely by the numbers, pricing for anything "Made In U.S.A." will reflect the cost of importing raw material, perhaps importing pre-assembled items for final assembly, whatever the import tariff will be, and union labor. There is no way to produce domestically, maintain quality, and compete on pricing.

I'm a driveway wrencher. Not a professional. I do not use the tools all day long, every day. If I do a half dozen oil changes a year, I'll change oil a couple of hundred times in my lifetime. Someone (guy or girl) changing oil for a living, will do just as many oil changes in a week. So a lifetime tool for me, may only be good for a year or less when used by a professional.

I do own Craftsman products Made In U.S.A., and imported from China. Personal bias aside, I have yet to experience failure, and cannot specifically articulate how a Craftsman from China is inferior. At least with what I have. What you have may be different. Craftsman pieces in my collection which do not say Made In U.S.A., sockets, wrenches, ratchet handles, fit & work just as well. I know that some people over the years have had failures and broken tools. It just hasn't happened to me..

What made Craftsman a good brand, was that the tools were actually well made, and they honored the warranty. It was never the least expensive item.

 

[Exhaustgases]

Thats good news. But how can we trust them now, just like years ago they did a china deal for awhile, that was 30 or 40 years ago if I remember correctly, and smart people stopped buying them and due to lack of sales they stopped it. This last time I thought they would never wake up. I don't want to buy a china tool at a US price, if they want to make a china tool then a 1000 piece set should only cost $150.. So thanks to craftsman tools, they helped put sears out of business sorta. In the old days the tool section at sears always had a crowd, never again will that happen.
But then even stupid snap on does the super high price china crap too.

 

[Exhaustgases]

So when is it happening? When do they hit the stores?

 

[DoubleNickels]

Originally Posted by Exhaustgases
that was 30 or 40 years ago if I remember correctly,


Some of us aren't old enough to remember that. Not trying to be flippant, or calling you old. I just don't go back that far.

I am only old enough to remember buying Craftsman from Sears, before it was bought by Stanley/Black & Decker/DeWalt, and now sold in more stores. Back then, I like Craftsman from Sears because of the lifetime warranty.

Originally Posted by Exhaustgases
So thanks to craftsman tools, they helped put sears out of business sorta.


Talking to a manager at Sears the other day, Craftsman Tools are still selling. Selling better than a lot of other things in the store. My local store has 3 floors of merchandise. The tools are in a corner in the basement. Most of the store's merchandise, like fashion, jewelry, housewares......nobody's buying that stuff. Even deeply discounted, the fashion line is not relevant. Nobody is grabbing up the furniture. For whatever reason, Kenmore sales have slumped. Not 1 girl I know is buying make up, fragrances, or yoga pants there.

Maybe it's too good. I will never buy another tool set for the rest of my life. Still have a set from when I was a teenager, and haven't broken anything yet. I'm surprised that my dad still has his Craftsman tools from when he was young. I still buy the occasional piece of open stock socket or box end wrench to replace 1 I lost. But Sears will never get another $300 from me for a set of tools.

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by Exhaustgases

But then even stupid snap on does the super high price china crap too.


OK....I'll bite.

While this is true with some of their Shop Equipment products (Jacks, Jack Stands, Creepers, Blasting Cabinets, Parts washers, ETC),
However......Snap-on branded hand tools are USA made & very high quality. Yes.....Even the Ratchets from 10 years ago without the USA logo on them!; That definitely blew open the rumor mill!!!!