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Struggling Sears to sell Craftsman brand to Stanley Black & Decker for $900 million.
- Thread starter Spike Spiegel
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TangoAlphaLima
Member
Well, they keep downsizing to cut costs, and selling Craftsman just infused them with $900 million, so they may last longer than a couple years.
Really hard to see what their long-term strategy is, though, other than trying to hold on as long as possible before their inevitable death.
andythinkpad
Member
Watching Kmart/Sears/Shopyourway.com driving toward abyss very slowly is pretty fascinating.
Just don't leave any unused SYWR points on your account when they declare bankruptcy.
Just don't leave any unused SYWR points on your account when they declare bankruptcy.
valkillmore
Member
Sorry but Sears can take off. Feels so outdated & old fashioned being in there. And any Sears I've gone into you've got holier-than-thou staff that have no right to be acting like that. You work at Sears, not Saks. I've had nothing but poor customer service experiences at Sears over the years. Same with Future Shop, and they went away too.
The K-Mart here closed last December and the Sears is set to close in March. Never really cared for either store, though K-Mart often had some decent Christmas stuff relatively cheap. Always bought my annual Christmas bear from them. Guess I'll have to drive up to the one in Norman to get that now -- at least until it closes in a few years.
TangoAlphaLima
Member
Isn't that typical, though? Start-ups are beating all the major companies these days. The only way the major companies can catch up is to absorb the start-ups before they get too big, or do some kind of joint venture. Sears didn't need to beat Amazon to online sales, it merely needed to identify Amazon very early on and use its capital to acquire the company.
Spike Spiegel
Member
WooHooAlex
Member
Seems like it's a nice move for short-term cash, but will probably hurt them in the long-run.
Thaedolus
Gold Member
Hah, I know exactly what you're talking about
sonycowboy
Member
Yet another example of they dying of a once-great brand.
Sears and Roebuck was THE definition of the department store for generations. I remember when I was a kid in the seventies my parents bought a ton of stuff via mail order, and it's where we got our sporting goods.
And, to my knowledge, they're the ones who created the christmas gift catalog, called the wish book. It was freaking huge and would be how we marked up what we wanted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Wish_Book
http://monsterdad69.blogspot.com/2011/12/resurrecting-past-1980-sears-wish-book.html
Sears and Roebuck was THE definition of the department store for generations. I remember when I was a kid in the seventies my parents bought a ton of stuff via mail order, and it's where we got our sporting goods.
And, to my knowledge, they're the ones who created the christmas gift catalog, called the wish book. It was freaking huge and would be how we marked up what we wanted
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sears_Wish_Book
http://monsterdad69.blogspot.com/2011/12/resurrecting-past-1980-sears-wish-book.html
Cosmic Bus
pristine morning snow
Pretty surprising, as I figured that would be one of the first things to change.
My dad's been using Craftsman in his refrigeration business for decades, and always took full advantage of their warranty. He's had a lot of tools originally purchased in the '70s be replaced time and time again without question. This stuff is (was?) one of the best investments a person could make.
SliceSabre
Banned
I sometimes forget that Sears is even a store still. Even when I'm buying for other people I never fucking go there. Their prices are rarely ever reasonable compared to the competition.
Last time I was there to buy something I was shopping for a TV over 7 years ago.
Last time I was there to buy something I was shopping for a TV over 7 years ago.
TemplaerDude
Member
I actually bought some Christmas presents from Sears this year for various people, however that would have been the first time I've bought anything from a Sears in close to a decade. The employee I had to deal with to get the fancy perfume for my mother had a stick shoved so far up her ass I felt like I was dealing with Mrs. Chanel herself, like good golly, take a step back, you work in retail, fucking relax.
uncredited male
Member
Every year I would circle the GI Joe Aircraft Carrier but my parents would let me down.
PaulExcellent
Member
whitemex88
Member
Does Sears own Die-Hard batteries too?
Straight Edge
Member
Went to sears last Saturday with $899 budget for a washing machine. Wandered around the machines for 15 minutes without a sales person in sight. Went to bestbuy and was helped immediately.
Khalifa Jayy
Banned
Three weeks ago when they offered 100% cash bonus for certain products with blue tags. Ended up getting some carpet cleaner and some dishes. With the 100% points back, we bought some other miscellaneous items for our home. Pretty neat and probably directly contributed to their dire situation, though.
EDIT: Also, Sears Outlet is awesome. Fridge deals in abundance. Washers and dryers for cheap, too.
Spike Spiegel
Member
Yes.
PHOENIXZERO
Member
Not much longer until KMart and Sears are completely sucked dry of whatever equity they have left and their empty husks discarded.
Lasthope106
Member
Well this is sad news. Craftsman was probably the only thing I did like buying at K-Mart.
They really have done a piss-poor job at coming back. Getting out of the electronics and games sales really made the stores bland an unexciting. I have not reason to go there. When I go to Wal-Mart, Target, I always check those departments and more often than not I end up buying something. If not a game, then something else I need at home.
They really have done a piss-poor job at coming back. Getting out of the electronics and games sales really made the stores bland an unexciting. I have not reason to go there. When I go to Wal-Mart, Target, I always check those departments and more often than not I end up buying something. If not a game, then something else I need at home.
Seriously, this looks like a last ditch effort to delay the inevitable.
teruterubozu
Member
Wow what Sears is this? Every Sears I've been to the staff looks dejected and broken.
Dead Prince
Banned
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
Hasn't the quality of Craftsman been slipping? When I was a kid, my dad said that Craftsman was one of the best, but I don't think he buys their tools anymore. I just have a socket set and some other random things from them, but my heavier duty tools are other brands.
The Sears Grand near my house is a ghost town. It's a giant building that must cost a fortune to run and it's still there. They even had a now hiring sign out front recently. I'm amazed it's not on the list of closures.
The Sears Grand near my house is a ghost town. It's a giant building that must cost a fortune to run and it's still there. They even had a now hiring sign out front recently. I'm amazed it's not on the list of closures.
univariate
Banned
Wow, Sears sold it for pennies. $900M isn't much for an established brand.
valkillmore
Member
I'm not saying they didn't look dead inside. I'm saying they think they're less dead inside than their customers.
Which is not true.
Atom Heart Mother
Banned
Sears to me has always been puzzling. Went into one on Christmas Eve 2016 to find my dad something and the staff there was unhelpful. Nobody was shopping in there. The Sears was in a big mall in North Jersey...on Christmas Eve. Mall was packed. I asked the staff where I could find some longjohns and they just said "Go to Men's". You can't walk me over to where they are specifically? Any department/clothing store would've done this. Awful customer service. No wonder it's a ghost town.
Rest
All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
You didn't know that? The only places I've seen Craftsman Tools are Sears, Kmart, Ace, and maybe a Home Depot or two. Craftsman ads always have the same voice actor as the current Sears ads, and usually the same production style and music.
You can get it other places, but just not often. It seems almost like they have store by store contracts to sell at other retailers.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
Sears should have closed their retail stores, and turned into a direct to market Kenmore, Craftsman, HVAC and Automotive dealer. That's where all their money comes from.
davidwhangchoi
Member
i love Sears. got some insane deals on hdtvs back when 1080p first came out.
They also will be licensed back the ability to sell those products royalty-free for 15 years.
JGBtypeR
Member
I bought a Craftsman shop vac this summer, but I bought it online, so I guess I didn't even go to Sears.
People thinking this means Craftsman is going to go down hill are wrong. Stanley Black & Decker are a huge tools company and own a lot of companies such as Dewalt, Porter Cable, Bostitch, and Mac: http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/products-services/tools-storage
According to Stanley's wiki they used to own Craftsman until the 80s anyways, which was probably "when they were good" for most of our parents.
People thinking this means Craftsman is going to go down hill are wrong. Stanley Black & Decker are a huge tools company and own a lot of companies such as Dewalt, Porter Cable, Bostitch, and Mac: http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/products-services/tools-storage
According to Stanley's wiki they used to own Craftsman until the 80s anyways, which was probably "when they were good" for most of our parents.
This right here, I cannot believe the board hasn't tried to remove him and what he's doing isn't considered illegal. He really has fucked over this company and isn't doing anything to make them competitive. I still find myself going into Sears for kids clothing which is dirt cheap, tools, and we bought most of our appliances from their outlets which are a huge bargain. It sucks to see them suffer like this with a leader who isn't there to see the company succeed.
Didn't know Sears owned Kmart.
This news sucks for me. My mom just retired from Sears last year and I used to go to Sears all the time to shop for clothes. They were stupid cheap, usually spent no more than $15 on dress shirts and $20 on dress pants. Since she worked there should would know when stuff got super cheap. I would get $5 dress shirts all the time that I still wear. And their $10 licenced shirts were great value too. Damn I'm gonna miss sears.
This news sucks for me. My mom just retired from Sears last year and I used to go to Sears all the time to shop for clothes. They were stupid cheap, usually spent no more than $15 on dress shirts and $20 on dress pants. Since she worked there should would know when stuff got super cheap. I would get $5 dress shirts all the time that I still wear. And their $10 licenced shirts were great value too. Damn I'm gonna miss sears.
Decade? More like since the mid-90's. I'm honestly shocked Kmart and Sears are still around.
Because he's doing exactly what at least a majority of the board wants him to be doing.
Corporations aren't sacred objects, and if the pieces of the corporation can be put to more effective use in other ways, it only makes sense to do so.
Hanging on to the past because of nostalgia and emotion and trying to re-inflate the business by pumping new investments into a declining brand is a sure way to lose a lot of money.
Sears can not compete in any way that makes financial sense in the current market, and it's not just because of of the current leadership. You can go back and blame the leadership that did not respond properly to the new competition from walmart in the 80s and 90s followed by Amazon in the late 90s and 2000s, although the roots of the problem are probably even deeper than that.
He's gutting the company by design. He never wanted to turn the company around.
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