Growing up as a kid, Sears has everything was the sears ad campaign, and it was true.
They did have everything. Everything you needed as a kid anyway. But also once I got bigger, tools, appliaces, boots, cloths, electronics. I was a kenmore, JC Higgans, Ted Williams, kind of guy. Dad bought jon boats, boat motors, shot guns, recurved bows, hunting coats, ammo, yard tools, lawn mowers, everything!!! Gas grills, airconditioners, dish washers, bicycles, minibikes, go carts, swing sets, trampolines, basketballs, and basketball hoops. All kinds of sporting goods, from baseball bats to swimming trunks. Water skis, ski ropes, ski belts. TV's, stereos, computers. Heaters, batterys, autoparts, battery chargers, baby cloths, jewlrey, the list is almost endless...
So what has happened to sears? Why is sears circling the bowl.
Sears tools. Craftsman tools. Reliable tools. I have friends who will only use craftsman tools, and nothing else. Every year you could get new amazing tools. Jig saws, saws alls, circular saws.
So... Why did Sears sell the Craftsman name and line?? I think it is the kiss of death...
Sears Craftsman tools are what bought us into the stores.
Honey, I needed a new screw driver, but look at this deal I got you on this new chain saw, happy birthday...
l think that the first bad thing sears did was to drop the catalog. That catalog was every kids dream. All that stuff right there in one catalog, wow.
And now the sale of craftsman, done, baked, over. Once you sell your assets, you are done as a company, your business model has failed. You have failed to evolve.
And there we have it, Sears failed to evolve. Just think if Amazon had the infastructure that Sears has for distribution and delivery.
Sears should have revived their catalog, put it in print and on line, and make it EASY to buy their stuff!!!!
But NOOOO, all sears does on line is to bombard you with endless emails for goods and services that you dont want. God forbid that you look at a Craftsman electric chain saw online. For the next 6 months the have popups hit you every where you go, and the endless stream of emails for roofing and sears windows is exhausting.
I think Sears missed the boat. They should have embraced on line sales and distribution and used their stores for show places, warehousing, and distribution. No creative thoughts have come from sears for quite a while., and their store employees are lacking to say the least.
I hope I am wrong, but I don't think we will need to worry about sears for very long. They will sell off the parts untill we will have to go to Lowes to get Craftsman tools. They will no longer be "Sears Craftsman"...
Thanks for the rant forum...

I work at a block manufacturer in CT, in 1940 my bosses father purchased his first block making machine from Sears and Roebuck. He put one dollar down and a commitment to pay one dollar a week to pay the balance. good luck finding a place that would work with you like that now a days.
we have one like it (not the original) in our retail store show room.

When I was a kid growing up in the early 50's, my folks bought their appliances, some furniture, clothing and shoes from our local Sears-Roebuck store (quite a large two story building above ground and also a basement below, with a separate automotive repair service center). My dad also bought most of his hand and power tools there and even his first brand new reel type lawn mower; (I still have the old Briggs & Stratton engine off of that mower). Most folks my age can remember also that Sears sold the Allstate branded Willys autos and Cushman motor scooters - they sold some of the best tast'n popcorn I ever ate as well!

Sears has now closed several major stores (including the one we shopped at many years ago) in our area, having only a few storefront type outlets in strip malls - these do carry Craftsman tools and yes, I've been seeing that ACE Hdw. stores now carry Craftsman. How sad it is to see them and the likes of other big name stores, i.e., Montgomery (Monkey)-Wards, Western Auto, etc. go by the wayside.

The Allstate car was built by KF as the Henry J.I still have a cordwood saw and engine Dad bought for 89.00.I got a complete exhaust for a Model A Ford for 7.00.A lot of my tools came from Sears and Western Auto.A pair of dungarees and work shoes came from Montgomery Ward for 8.00 postage included.I still use a Wen 3/8 drill I bought from Sears for 30.00.

Only WEN tool I have (and I think there are two of them in a drawer out in the shop) is a red in color electric soldering iron. For many years, Sears sold jeep parts (as did Monkey Wards), even having a separate catalog listing the parts, many of which I ordered back when I first got into collecting and restoring vintage flat fender jeeps, which began in '66! To this day, I can still take back a broken Craftsman tool (I'm talking old tools) and Sears will honor their warranty by giving me a new replacement.

Back in the 70's I was in the local Sears [Antioch, CA] when a mechanic from one of the nearby factories came in with a 3/8" ratchet that needed replacement that the guy said he had bought in 1938. It was torpedo shaped and the salesman [and I] had never seen one like it, but it was a Craftsman and the man was given a new one. The salesman said he was keeping the old one for himself!
When B&D bought the Craftsman name part of the agreement was that Sears had to continue honoring the free replacement for 20 years. Which reminds me; need to return a 1/4" and a 1/2" ratchet!

I too have exchanged a number of Craftsman ratchets (among several other tools) over the years at Sears - each time with no hassle whatsoever!

The Sears store in the mall 12 miles from here only stocks clothing. You can order anything you want off their website but it will take 7-10 days to get it. The Ace Hardware store 3 blocks from here don't know what tools are. They have lots of them and if you dig around long enough you may stumble upon what you want but not likely. You can go to their website and order anything you want as long as you don't need it until Tuesday when their truck comes in. Harbor Freight is only 10 miles away and has a pretty good selection, order on line and get it in two days. Have to be careful about "quality" but everything else there is awesome. They even carry my purchase to the truck for me.

Ace has the right idea - order online and pick up in the store - it's best mix of bricks & mortar and the Internet. The only way that bricks and mortar retail can survive entities like Amazon.com is by competing with exemplary service. Unfortunately, that means hiring better employees who will put down their smart phone long enough to provide said exemplary service.

You are exactly right. Sears just really missed the boat. They could have evolved, but did not. Now it is probably too late. They need a little creative thinking but will probably not go for it. They have made things a pain rather then a pleasure.
Amazon has made things easy. That is why they have gotten so popular so fast...

Sears went down hill when they dropped the big catalog.I still have tools that bought in the fifties.They opened a store in the Bangor ME mall in 1975.That store is closing now.I stopped in to see what was left in the tool dept.It was pretty well cleaned out.Items that were left were poor deals at 50% off.A fellow was looking at a sump pump and checking prices on his smart phone.Sears had the pump priced at 100.00 bucks.Home Depot had pump for 70.00.I had a gift card that had 3.00 left on it.Bought a small cylinder of butane to refill my lighter I use to light my grill and propane torch.Friend and I were in the store for some garden tools.There was a wheel barrow priced at 70.00.I had just bought the same one for 43.00 at a hardware store close to home.He opened a credit account even after I told about problems I had with Sears credit.When you made a payment they put it on the interest.The principle remained the same.It took him a long time to get out of that account.Last thing I bought from Sears was a lawn mower.Parts were hard to get and it cost me 14.00 shipping for three small parts fo a string trimmer.I once worked on a Sears washer that had 8 parts missing on agitator spindle.The Sears told the owner there was nothing wrong with the machine, that the noise was normal.Sears abused customers for a long time.They opened too many stores in areas of low population.

Two fellows from Maine took a load of Xmas trees and sold them all easily.On the way home one of them was counting their money.One said we sold the trees too cheap.After gas expenses there wasnt much profit left.The driver said next year we will use a bigger truck.Sears suffered the same fate.They tried to fix things by jacking up prices,didnt work.Walmart and other big stores are dropping out for the same reason.

what is the arrangement between Sears and Lowe's now. At the local Lowe's see all kinds of craftsman stuff.