Lowes will begin selling Craftsman products

Interesting, Craftsman products available at Ace Hardware, Kmart, Lowes and Sears. Lowes will probably drop their Kobalt tool line.

They may be available at Sears and Kmart for a "limited time only". ;)

Hope not.

Remember - Sears sold the product line and name and doesn't own Craftsman anymore.

Mart> Bill wrote:

Why? Do you think they can rationalize the inventory and space for another line of similar (quality) tools? I don't see it.

Yes, but you'll still see the Craftsman products in Sears retail outlets.

You are most-likely correct. Let me know if you see them start having clearance sales! I'll start looking to see if there are any big Kobalt tools that I might like to have.

My guess is they'll either keep both and have the Craftsman brand as their "premium" or dump Kobalt altogether.

Getting to carry an esteemed brand like Craftsman is a gift for any retailer. As long as the quality and lifetime warranty is preserved, it's a win-win.

There are may more Lowes stores than Sears, so they should be able to keep prices down to sell in bulk.

As long as they exist but in 10 years they probably won't.

It takes a good bit of floor space to represent the Craftsman brand very well. It will be interesting to see how well Lowes does it. It may give me a reason to visit Lowes more often. At Sears, there must be 5 or 6 Craftsman lawnmowers on display. I doubt that will happen at Lowes. My next lawnmower will probably be a Honda anyway. ; )

Bill

If lawnmowers are included. It may only be tools. Hand tools and power tools are ade by different suppliers too. They also broke ties with Whirlpool after many years of making Kenmore appliances.

The Craftsman name may live on, but will the quality?

It is? Apparently, didn't help Sears.

In CA, Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) was bought out by Sears and sold Craftsman tools. Unfortunately, they tossed the infinitely superior William and Bonney line of hand tools to carry Craftsman.

I used my FIL's Craftman electric weed-eater. It was "designed to break" (my quotes!), so it did. I replaced it under Craftsman's "lifetime warranty" and it promply broke --again!-- within 1 min. Izzat what you would qualify as "quality"? ;)

Craftman has NEVER had "quality". Broke my 10mm Craftman combo wrench not too long after learning about Snap-On quality. The closest Sears store was 100 mi away. The Snap-On (Bonney?) jes never bothered to break. That's "quality". ;)

nb

As a disgruntled former owner of a Lowe's self-propelled 21" rear drive Husqvarna, I'd be happy to see Lowes carry Craftsman mowers instead.

I replaced the Husqvarna with a self-propelled Honda from HD 4 yrs ago and have been quite pleased with its performance. (Except that it's hard to pull backward)

Actually, OSH "was bought out by" Lowes in 2013:

Actually, while the above statement may be true, it had absolutely nothing to do with my stated claim. ;)

"In 1996, the company was acquired by Sears."

nb

I'm speaking specifically of their hand tools and mechanic tools. Those are what have a stellar reputation. I don't see any reason for Lowes to sell Craftsman lawnmowers. When Sears started sticking a Craftsman badge on any and every $h!tty power tool and lawn and garden object, nobody who respected their hand tools fell for the rouse.

Those horses were out of the barn decades ago and I don't see Lowes making the same mistake.

Apples and oranges. Sears was a dying retail model with one foot in the grave when Lowes was an emerging giant with a successful strategy.

As soon as they put the first Lowes next to a WalMart, Sears became cassette tape of brick & mortar retail.

.....they created the "100 yd boulevard", six divided lanes with a giant intersection every 100 yds and box stores as far as the eye can see. Add restaurants out near the street and you have the same "boulevard" all over America!

Hard to tell which town yer in, anymore, cuz they all look the same. I've seen the exact same "boulevard" less than 3/4 of a mile, apart, despite being precisely parallel to each other and with "off-ramps" off the same stretch of "freeway". Scary!

nb

It has everything to do with the subject you were replying to "Lowes will begin selling Craftsman products", technically Lowes has been selling Craftsman products since 2013.

I noticed that phenomenon when I was doing a lot of touring as a musician. You can sort of tell what part of the country you're in by the scenery along the highway. There's only 4 or 5, really-- city/suburbia, farmland, desert, mountains, ocean-view.

But once you're off on an exit, every place looks exactly the same, as you described.