[M_Six]

When I was in the Cavalry we had tons of Craftsman tools, mostly because of the warranty. The track pads on the tanks and personnel carriers used a 15/16th nut, so we had dozens of Craftsman 15/16th sockets and breaker bars. For torque, we'd take a large breaker bar and slide a camo net pole over it and twist off the track pad nuts. Needless to say, we cracked a lot of sockets. Anyone going back to the states on leave and returning would have to bring back a bag full of the busted sockets so they could be replaced at the local Sears store. Never knew of anyone who ran into a problem replacing them. Sad to see Sears go under.

[Never_Enough]

I'm surprised the K Mart in my town is still in business

[CTinline-six]

A shame, but not surprising. That's what happens when you sell Chinese tools at prices that are higher than the competition.

[IanMan]

We all know SEARS has been dying for years, but what I thought was most funny was how the CEO came out around election time saying he didn't care for Trump supporters. Alienating one of if not the biggest customer of your business is a great way to stay ahead of the competition, #amiright!?

[Alfisti]

People say it's a shift to online, I really don't think it is. The middle of the market is gone, not just in retail but in damn near everything.

Walmart and dollar store do well, as do Sachs and Nordstrom etc. Everyone else bleeds.

[stbm5]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Well he left the CEO role today. He's still on the board, but that won't really matter in the next few weeks.

it matters. he is still chairman of the board, the board's all lambert cronies, he controls 1.6 billion in secured sears debt (means he will get properties and already gets over 200 million a year in sears interest payments), and he and his hedge fund own 50% of sears stock. the way his loans to company are set up means he will be 1st in line for repayment in bankruptcy.

[stbm5]

Originally Posted by PshhhhhMW

Youd think everyone would learn from Blockbuster Video and AOL but it's still happening. General Electric is heading that direction too I read somewhere.

GE is not in danger of bankruptcy. they've got problems but they are not at all like sears. they have very healthy divisions and they have products that are needed. they overpaid for some past purchases, have had slowdowns in some areas and a lot of debt - BUT, they have fixable issues.

sears was run into the ground intentionally - a very different scenario.

[Sea-Tac]

Originally Posted by Real Dodger

https://apnews.com/1cbf64586e114ac38bab82a42b8be12e
Sears files for Chapter 11 amid plunging sales, massive deb


I thought they would hold off on that till after Christmas. I know many of the stores will continue to operate, but I didn't think the bankruptcy would happen this fast.

Sears has been dying a painful death for the last 5-7 years. It’s time to close it down.

[PINeely]

Almost all Craftsman tools are made in Asia now, and I can personally attest that the quality is significantly lower than the American ones. Prices stayed the same though.

Only reason I'll miss Sears is for their appliance repair services.

[shay2nak]

Bummer. The one in my hood had shrunk quite a bit. I spent my money there for certain items to give them business. Same with the Toys R Us.

[stbm5]

sears hasn't owned craftsman for a while now. craftsman tools have for a long time been manufactured by multiple companies both in usa and china. that's been a source of frustration for tool buyers for a while because you could buy one tool box and it'd be great but the next year they'd have someone else making it and maybe it'd be crap. Stanley tools owns craftsman now. basically if sears had a brand with any value they've already sold it to pay back their CEOs hedge fund. what a scam. now they wish they could sell Kenmore... the only thing sears has left is their property but its secured collateral for their loans for guess who? eddie lampert. he makes bank whether they are successful or go under.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by PINeely

Almost all Craftsman tools are made in Asia now, and I can personally attest that the quality is significantly lower than the American ones. Prices stayed the same though.

Only reason I'll miss Sears is for their appliance repair services.

I miss the old American made Craftsman tools and I still have a lot of them around. They had a while where there were a few hits and misses with Chinese tools... as said above, it's very inconsistent one year to the next.

Not all Asian made tools are bad and not all American made tools are good... but the current Craftsman seems to have the worst of all worlds right now.

I don't know who does their product planning but it's pretty terrible.

[PINeely]

Originally Posted by Z K

I miss the old American made Craftsman tools and I still have a lot of them around. They had a while where there were a few hits and misses with Chinese tools... as said above, it's very inconsistent one year to the next.

Not all Asian made tools are bad and not all American made tools are good... but the current Craftsman seems to have the worst of all worlds right now.

I don't know who does their product planning but it's pretty terrible.

Agreed, I have a lot of Tekton and the like, seems the Taiwanese made is pretty consistently good quality versus the Chinese made which can be hit or miss. Got American brands getting comfy riding their name and made in USA status while quality drops but of course there is very high quality stuff out there too.

German tools run circles around all of them though

[Dog Face Pony Soldier]

I have clear memories of my grandparents telling me every fall to go through the Sears catalog and circle things I wanted for Christmas. This was the Amazon Wish List of the mid-1970s.

[EDWYER]

Originally Posted by glennQNYC

I have clear memories of my grandparents telling me every fall to go through the Sears catalog and circle things I wanted for Christmas.

Same here.

[Germanauto]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

People say it's a shift to online, I really don't think it is. The middle of the market is gone, not just in retail but in damn near everything.

Walmart and dollar store do well, as do Sachs and Nordstrom etc. Everyone else bleeds.

Probably one of the most accurate statements in this entire thread.

There is still room for mid-tier retail like Target and Best Buy for example. But overall that end of the market has contracted significantly.

There's basically far more retailers than what's needed in this digital age. Consumer tastes change as generations evolve. As you pointed out, malls with with high end stores are flourishing. There is no room in 2018 for malls with shitty stores.

[M_Six]

Maybe not with big malls, but every strip mall that's gone up in our area over the last 5 years has been filled with Payday Loans and manicure shops and rent-to-own places. Definitely geared toward low income.

[M_Six]

I used to like shopping at Sears (we're talking 20+ years ago). Our local Sears store disappeared 5 or 6 years ago, but there is (or was) a smaller Sears appliance store in the next town over. Our washer and dryer are Kenmore, so I don't know where we'll get service if that appliance store closes. Now we're limited to buying appliances from Home Depot or the one or two local appliance retailers. For folks near major towns, losing Sears is not an issue. For those of us in the boonies, it's a big hit.

[EDWYER]

[catcher22]

meh

*goes back to surfing Amazon*

[UncleWede]

IF Sears isn't going to come repair our appliances, I am going to be in a world of hurt! Our washer/dryer get regular "repairs" due to quarters, heating elements going bad, and drum belts.

Even when nobody is in the house, it seems loads are going in/out of both washer and dryer.

[Z K]

Originally Posted by PINeely

Agreed, I have a lot of Tekton and the like, seems the Taiwanese made is pretty consistently good quality versus the Chinese made which can be hit or miss. Got American brands getting comfy riding their name and made in USA status while quality drops but of course there is very high quality stuff out there too.

German tools run circles around all of them though

Tekton seems pretty good from what I've seen. Gearwrench is mostly Taiwanese made as well and good quality. As you say, Chinese is hit and miss. For American, I had good experiences with SK, Armstrong and of course Snap On is great.

I recently warrantied an old American made Husky torque wrench and got a Husky Chinese torque wrench... the ratchet was noticeably pretty rough. Definitely not the quality of my old Husky.

I'm not very familiar with German made stuff. Where does someone even get those in the US?