Sears Puts Kenmore, Craftsman Up for Grabs

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sears-puts-kenmore-craftsman-grabs-161300519.html

[sinkspur]

Kenmore and Craftsman are boomer brands.  There might be a few companies interested in them as another line but only for a few years.

Doesn't Whirpool manufacture Kenmore?  What's the value of another Whirlpool appliance on the market when you can just go buy Whirlpool?   

[Frank Cannon]

Kenmore is just a private label product anymore. No one will care, but Craftsman still has the lifetime warranty on hand tools. I routinely use their screwdrivers as chisels and just get a free new one. Hope that doesn't change.

[geronl]

Sears-KMart is not going to last much longer is it?

[sinkspur]

Sears-KMart is not going to last much longer is it?

No.  Both retailers have stores that  look like something out of the 60s.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

My dad had purchased Craftsman tools religiously in my lifetime. Sad to see this happen to them.

[skeeter]

My dad had purchased Craftsman tools religiously in my lifetime. Sad to see this happen to them.

So did my father. But today's Craftsman is not my dad's. IMO Sears was the worst thing to happen to that company.

[mirraflake]

My toolbox  is 90% Craftsman.

MY $100 chinese made 4 year old floorjack just blew a seal and is unrepairable.  MY 93 year old uncle gave me his 1960's Sears floorjack and it still works great. Leaks some oil but ok..Found out companies still offer rebuild kits for it online so plan on buying the kit.

He also gave me his old socket sets-he was a millwright in a plant until he retired. He purchased them in late 40's for a guy who was retiring.  They still work great.

[ABX]

Those are the last two sub brands of any value Sears owns. It looks like she is about to shut down completely.

[andy58-in-nh]

Sears-KMart is not going to last much longer is it?

All brick-and-mortar retailers are slowly going out of business, or else transitioning to on-line product and service delivery models. 

[INVAR]

All brick-and-mortar retailers are slowly going out of business, or else transitioning to on-line product and service delivery models.

That has the potential to turn exploding fuel prices and shortages of goods into a real-deal famine.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

That has the potential to turn exploding fuel prices and shortages of goods into a real-deal famine.

 

Go to Walmart and look around. Nobody will be starving to death anytime soon.

[Wingnut]

My toolbox  is 90% Craftsman.

MY $100 chinese made 4 year old floorjack just blew a seal. 

Hey, whatever you do in the privacy of your own home is no concern of ours.  Just keep your kinky sex life out of here!

[dfwgator]

My dad had purchased Craftsman tools religiously in my lifetime. Sad to see this happen to them.

Tim Allen will be devastated.

[thackney]

That has the potential to turn exploding fuel prices and shortages of goods into a real-deal famine.

How would fuel prices affect online sale more than brick and mortar stores?

Both need products shipped to the "store".  One has the customer driving to complete the sale, the other has the store.

[Smokin Joe]

Go to Walmart and look around. Nobody will be starving to death anytime soon.

I have. During the oil boom here the Walmart couldn't keep the shelves stocked, despite stocking three shifts a day. No incoming stock, a little panic, and the shelves will be stripped of anything worth getting in short order.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I have. During the oil boom here the Walmart couldn't keep the shelves stocked, despite stocking three shifts a day. No incoming stock, a little panic, and the shelves will be stripped of anything worth getting in short order.

Ridiculous to think that means that we'll have a famine.

[paul544]

Craftsman made in China now.  Won't buy them anymore, lifetime warranty or not. 

[thackney]

Craftsman made in China now.  Won't buy them anymore, lifetime warranty or not.

What American made tools do you buy now?

[GtHawk]

Shouldn't that actually Kmart puts Kenmore, Craftsman up for grabs, since they own Sears?

[thackney]

Shouldn't that actually Kmart puts Kenmore, Craftsman up for grabs, since they own Sears?

When Sears and Kmart merged in 2004, the new combined company is Sears Holding Corp.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56358-2004Nov17.html

[GtHawk]

When Sears and Kmart merged in 2004, the new combined company is Sears Holding Corp.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56358-2004Nov17.html

Yes it's called Sears Holding Corp. because they felt Sears had a more palatable name than Kmart, but it was Kmart that purchased Sears.
Sears Holdings Corporation is an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It is the owner of retail store brands Sears and Kmart, and was founded after the latter purchased the former in 2005. Sears Holdings owns the brands Craftsman, Kenmore, and DieHard
Bottom line they have bot been in a death spiral no matter what you call the holding group.

[roamer_1]

It is worth mentioning that these catalog giants (Sears, JC Penney) are the ones having the hardest time converting to on-line... You would think it would be a boon for them - Just convert the paper catalog to digital - And think of the savings that should give them. It should have been positive.

Not that long ago, their stores were showcases, and the lion's share had to be ordered anyway. You would have thought they'd have seen that coming.

[Smokin Joe]

Ridiculous to think that means that we'll have a famine.

Perhaps 'famine' isn't the right word. The comment was made in terms of spiking fuel prices and lack of availability.

With the decrease in on-premises or locally warehoused stock, and reliance on 'on demand' inventory maintenance, it would not take much of a disruption to cause the resupply mechanism to be insufficient or, in the instance of a major problem, to break down entirely. Disruptions in fuel supply, computer systems, transportation routes could all cause the shelves to empty without anything to restock.

Consider grocery/convenience store shelves before a hurricane, (or electronics store shelves afterwards).

Any panic only accelerates the process.