Looks like the Craftsman Brand may not be owned by Sears for much longer.
http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-91641071/
8 replies (most recent on top)
Whoever buys it is going to have to put serious money into rebuilding the brand. It has a horrible name among anyone from serious backyard mechanics and basement shop tinkers and above--often referred to as Crapsman. Most on hobby-related forums would agree that Harbor Freight basic hand tools tools like wrenches, sockets, etc. have improved while Craftsman has gotten significantly worse to the point where Harbor Freight is a better buy. And more likely to get warranty support a couple years from now. The power tools have had a bad name for at least 20 years now. There was a brief glimmer of hope in the early 2000's when some of the big tools were being sourced from Orion but that didn't last long. The only demographic that still thinks Craftsman is a quality tool is the barely-able-to-hang-a-picture crowd that remembers Grandpa's Craftsman tools.
At flea markets you'll find the Craftsman wrenches and sockets dumped in the same boxes as other oddball stuff. The sets selling for more than pennies per piece (actually selling, not sitting on the table with a price tag no one would pay) are the tool truck or industrial brands. Sure the old stuff is decent but if you break one, its replaced with a crappy Chinese replica made of soft metal. If you even still have a Sears close enough to make replacement worthwhile and then only if they actually have it.
And here I thought I was a move to pay off vendors since we aren't getting merchandise in like we should be.
The Hanjin bankruptcy aside, some of our loyal vendors are delaying shipments right now.
I was hoping selling Craftsman was going to help with this. I guess not. :-(
SHC does not really own craftsman, diehard or kenmore. They are fenced in by the government pension fund. This means they are pledged or held by the government so that is SHC goes under they (the government) will have these assets to sell, use or whatever to cover the pension underfunding. So in effect KCD can be sold with the government pension funds approval and all proceeds will go to covering the underfunded pension. In reality the pension fund owns KCD.
Opinion is that selling off the Craftsman Brand won't save Sears.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/selling-craftsman-wont-save-sears/ar-BBx2av5
I can see Sears letting other retailers sell craftsman tools,but they will be telling the customer to return them to Sears for returns and exchanges just like Ace Hardware does already. Then we will be giving out free tools to more people who never really even brought them st Sears,we already do that for flea market and gargage sale hunters who we know are bringing in tools they found at these sales but there is nothing that can be done about it with the current craftsman warranty.
So maybe it does look like he is preparing for chapter 11 or else why would he sell craftsmen- it's good for the pension fund but bad for Sears- looks like a move to sort some things out before the end to me.
I read the money would go to the pension obligation. If Eddie sells craftsman, the company is dead. I don't think Kenmore and Die hard is as big of a deal. Without Craftsman, who needs Sears at all?
If they sell craftsmen it will not fetch the $2 billion being touted. If it is sold more widely it will reduce footfall into Sears as it will be available everywhere without going to sears. Most importantly since the pension guaranty guys control the kenmore diehard and craftsmen brands I would assume that any proceeds will go to help reducing the pension deficit. In that respect would be a good thing- but begs the question is Eddie getting ready for a chapter 11 and trying to divert some of the inevitable trouble coming his way by paying off some of the more critical debts first....