# Sears Announced That It May Sell Three Of Its Iconic Brands -- Kenmore, Craftsman And Diehard



## CluelessNewB (May 26, 2016)

The latest news from one of America's worst managed companies...

http://q13fox.com/2016/05/26/sears-may-sell-kenmore-and-craftsman-brands/

Just in case you need one less reason to go to Sears.


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## mmprestine (May 27, 2016)

Sears failed when they abandoned men and went after the women.  Poor quality tools will get you no where fast.  Funny, my grandfather and father both swore by sears but in my generation they are crap.  They are a like a good athlete that wont retire, just die and save the name.  Remember Wards, I have been passed down some of the their tools and they are very good high quality stuff.  I remember in the 80's when they died.


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## chips&more (May 27, 2016)

Nothing lasts forever. Even our sun is going to die in 5 billion years. I wonder when the internet is going away? Will it morph into some kind of terminator?


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## kvt (May 27, 2016)

I thought they were dead a few years ago,   I still do not go there as some times the stuff from HF is just as good as some of the last stuff I got from them.   And the last time I took my lifetime warranty stuff in for fix or replace it was like pulling teeth.    One of the other problems is  they stopped making stuff and started rebranding most of the other peoples stuff or selling other peoples stuff as theirs.   Whichever way that was the decline for me,  why pay extra for something I can get from the manufacture for less.


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## cjtoombs (May 27, 2016)

Once those three brands are left, what's left of the company?  Those three brands are likely why a good percentage of thier customers come to the store.  I worry that they will be bought up by companies that plan to cheapen the products then ride the name as far as they can before people realize they are now poor quality Chinese crap (Cresent wrench, anyone?).


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## intjonmiller (May 27, 2016)

cjtoombs said:


> Once those three brands are left, what's left of the company?


Clothing. And TVs. And appliances that they don't have to manage, just sell. Last I heard their strip-mall appliance-only stores were doing better than the rest of the chain (though that's been a few years; I assume this means that's no longer the case). So not much, and the whole thing will be gone soon. 

Yes, they've been poorly managed, but the biggest problem was being lost in the middle. Over the past decades companies have polarized their markets and survived, or tried to stay the same and failed. The middle class has disappeared, and with it middle class stores. You have to go cheap like Walmart/Hyundai/others or expensive like Dillards/Nordstrom/Starbucks/Callaway/Mercedes/etc. There's just not much of a market left for those in the middle, thanks to a number of factors including poor management of other companies (sending manufacturing jobs overseas, for instance) and consumers who buy most everything on price alone. If more people were willing to pay 10-15% more for better quality the entire economic situation would be different. Politicians have far less influence over the economy than those who are actually buying and selling. Blaming a president (regardless of party affiliation) is just a matter of mass adoption of political rhetoric as "fact". Some companies drove the "cheaper is better for you" philosophy harder than others, and collectively (not necessarily individually) we have rewarded them for it. Then as that became the almost universally unquestioned belief in most purchasing decisions the companies that hadn't cut their quality had to either do so to compete or be run out of business. The exceptions are the ones who differentiated themselves enough that people would pay more for that category, while cutting costs elsewhere. This is why you see luxury vehicles at Walmart and dirt cheap, disposable cars in line at Starbucks. And it's the main reason why companies like Sears, Mervyn's, ShopKo, K-Mart, Circuit City, and others like them have either failed or are in the process. They didn't go cheap enough or nice enough for enough people to be willing to go there. 

There's a great book on this subject, by the way, if anyone wants to read about it in greater depth. "Trading Up: The New American Luxury". 

Original: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trading-up-michael-silverstein/1114477806
Reprint, new subtitle: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trading-up-michael-j-silverstein/1100362672


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## intjonmiller (May 27, 2016)

Also it's hard to cheapen the Craftsman name more than it already has been.


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## CluelessNewB (May 27, 2016)

Sears should have been Amazon.   They were slow to jump on the internet and when they finally did had such a horrible web presence (and still do).  I don't blame this on consumers I blame this on misguided brain dead management.   They lacked vision and focused on the next quarter rather than the next decade.


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## intjonmiller (May 27, 2016)

Fair points, but it is extraordinarily rare for management to direct consumer behavior. (This is one of the ways Steve Jobs was so unique.) The ability to understand customers and direct an organization around those customers' needs and desires is the most fundamental role of an executive. So yes, management failed, but they failed to understand how consumers had changed. Most consumers no longer drive to centralized shopping centers. They buy online or they go to a place nearby or one that is convenient to their commute. Driving across town just to go to the mall (where Sears usually is) just is not common enough anymore. 

Their website is still one of the worst I've ever seen. At least they have improved the ability to see if you're looking at a product that Sears actually carries versus 3rd parties selling through their site. They indeed have been trying to be Amazon, but without letting go of the physical stores; you can not excel in both worlds, at least not when you're the size of Sears in the realm of physical stores or aspiring to be the size of Amazon online. 

You don't have to agree that fault lies with consumers. Most consumers (who have ever even taken 2 seconds to consider the matter) don't agree with that statement. That's why it isn't going to change any time soon.


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## mzayd3 (May 27, 2016)

CluelessNewB said:


> They lacked vision and focused on the next quarter rather than the next decade.



That is the root cause for most of our problems. We as consumers are just as guilty.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Terrywerm (May 28, 2016)

Some years back I purchased an electric clothes drier at Sears, white in color, and paid for delivery. Naturally, the power cord is extra and must be installed separately (who the heck dreamt up that one?). So, it was delivered, along with the power cord while I was away at work. No problem, as my wife indicated that the delivery men (not Sears employees) were perfect gentlemen. I get home, check the tag on the box, and it appears to be the correct machine. I open the box and find a black drier inside, not a white one. Called up Sears to speak to the salesman who sold me the drier, and he was off for a few days.  Okay, I can live with that, everybody deserves a little time off.

Got hold of him when he returned a couple of days later, told him the problem and he said he would take care of it. So, the next day the truck shows up, the crew brings in the new drier and takes out the wrong one. Opened the box before they left to make sure that it was the right color. Looked good, so I set about attaching the cord, which by the way, I now have two of. Cord attachment is simple, three screws. No way to install it incorrectly. Installed it, replaced the cover plate, turned off the breaker, plugged in the drier, and turned on the breaker. I am REALLY glad I did it that way as turning on the breaker resulted in a loud BOOM. The breaker kicked right back out, and the magic smoke escaped from the drier. Everybody knows that once the magic smoke escapes, the device will no longer work. Contacted the salesman again and explained the problem to him. He insisted that I installed the cord incorrectly, causing a short. So now I have to schedule service to come out and check out the drier before they will do anything else. Called for service, they arrive a couple of days later and check the machine over, finding a bare wire touching a board inside the machine, fried board. The cord and its installation were definitely not the problem. Warranty issue, no charge for the service call. The service man calls the salesman, tells him what he found and that he needs to schedule delivery of yet one more drier.

Several days go by with no phone call from the delivery company to schedule the second exchange. Call the salesman once more. Now he's on vacation for two weeks, but because of the complexity of this sale and all of the problems, he has to handle it, nobody else will touch it. Ended up leaving him a voice mail to call me upon his return. I then drove 8 miles up the road to a local appliance sales and service store, purchased the EXACT same drier with the Whirlpool name on it for slightly LESS money. The cord was included in the deal, and it was delivered that very afternoon.

Once Sears finally came and picked up their defective machine I never looked back. I have purchased all of our appliances from our local appliance dealer and I've been much happier. The best part? When I need a part for one of my appliances, I call the local store, tell them who I am, and they pull up a list of the appliances I have purchased from them, including model and serial numbers. I tell them which part I need, and they are able to immediately look up the correct part, and set it aside for me to pick up. If they have to order the part, it is drop shipped directly to my door. Long story short, you can't beat great service, and Sears just doesn't have it.

As for replacing a failed Craftsman hand tool, don't even get me started.


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## intjonmiller (May 28, 2016)

Local appliance stores generally rock. 

The cord issue is just that there are at least 4 possible types, so the manufacturer doesn't include one. In my experience it is rare for the dealer to include it either. 

The warranty exchange on Craftsman hand tools varies GREATLY by store, manager, and employee. Some understand the original terms of sale and just do it. Some think it's their job to save the company the cost of that socket and if they lose you as a customer in the process then that's for the best because you're just the kind of customer who always expects "free" tools, so even more savings for the company!


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## Ulma Doctor (May 28, 2016)

we are all guilty of killing companies like Sears.
the American consumer wants gold for peanuts and will step over a dying relative to save $.50 on a can of unregulated Tuna.
we seriously need to take a look at our future economic well being.
by manufacturing nothing but entitlement, we have weakened the Giant.
i have great fears for our collective future.


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## Superburban (May 28, 2016)

kvt said:


> One of the other problems is  they stopped making stuff and started rebranding most of the other peoples stuff or selling other peoples stuff as theirs.   Whichever way that was the decline for me,  why pay extra for something I can get from the manufacture for less.


Sears never did manufacturer their own stuff, they just had it made to their specs. Just like auto makers, and the rest of the world, Sears realized that if they make stuff too good, they will be passed down through the families generations, and sales will eventually decline. Sears answer like most other companies was to turn to planned obsolescence, and/or cutting manufacturing costs by by re-branding existing products, and dumped the existing standards. The beginning of the end of our great product names, factories, and jobs, was when trade was opened up with China, and they were designated as most favored nation trading partner.


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## intjonmiller (May 28, 2016)

I disagree only that China was the start. It was Japan before it was China. The attitude/philosophy is the problem, not the specific country that took it on. If it hadn't been China it would have been someone else. That's the problem with the way capitalism is actually practiced. If you can do something to make a larger profit then you should, period. No further reflection or consideration is needed or appropriate. That value is particularly revered in publicly traded companies where the stock market punishes those who don't take every opportunity to cut corners to make money, but it's a common problem among private organizations as well. Thus the demand would have been filled by some other country no matter what. China is not to blame for spectacularly fulfilling the demands of US corporations.


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## Superburban (May 28, 2016)

Ahh yes, I remember the made in japan crisis. Yes, they undercut us on a lot, but they did most of it by modernizing the manufacturing process, not by cutting out the labor costs by using slave labor. We could hold our own with Japan.


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## intjonmiller (May 28, 2016)

Frankly it is my belief that "MADE IN CHINA" is the most successful marketing campaign of all time. Every executive who wondered how his competitors were getting their prices so low had his question answered at a glance. I wonder how many of those turned around and did the same? People talk about Apple and Coca-Cola and a few others as the most valuable brands in the world. I think that "MADE IN CHINA" sticker has them all beat. Whether or not you like that (and most of us don't) you have to respect how effective it has been.


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## Superburban (May 28, 2016)

Quality of a product, is not a function of where it is made, rather a function of the manufacturing specifications. Cost is not as much a function of either, but how the manufacturer can manage its resources. Selling price, is mostly determined by what people will pay.


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## intjonmiller (May 28, 2016)

Right. And when manufacturer (A) sees a competitor (B) pricing a product below what (A) believes to be his hard cost to produce it (that bring laden with false assumptions for days), he will tend to look to outside solutions to help him compete, with the cost of labor being one of the biggest targets of that attention. Actually managing his resources better is seldom considered as a matter of course. "My **** doesn't stink" syndrome. My plant is running perfectly. Nothing I can do but move production to where there aren't so many greedy workers keeping my costs so high. 

Another book on this subject is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt, and its sequel, It's Not Luck.


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## bosephus (May 28, 2016)

blame the consumer and china all you want but the way i see it sears only has its management to blame .  

 i would think that transition from a brick and mortar business model to an amazon style business model would have been a natural no brainer for sears .
considering how many decades they did the largest mail order business in the world .


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## Andre (May 28, 2016)

I never had a gripe with Sears or Craftsman, granted I have never purchased a tool from there myself. The last I remember from Sears was a screwdriver set by grandfather bought, and a tape measure he replaced around the same time. They took the tape measure, threw it in a bin underneath the counter and said "the tape measures are all over on that shelf, pick one out. It's yours"

Their old ratchets with the squared off handles are my favorite. I have a nice, new condition Husky set with a small round handle but I just don't favor it. 

Occasionally a screwdriver tip will bend under load, but a whack with a hammer fixes that. Never had a socket break, and their wrenches are honestly pretty decent, but I do prefer SnapOn and Bonny wrenches. 

At the price point, and I really mean at the price point, Harbor Freight tools are not a bad buy. But you buy a product made for the price point. They make some quality tools, and some not so much. I always feel bad buying at harbor freight, supporting China because I can't afford domestic tools for 5x the price. I bought a 7 pack of 1/8" TIN (supposedly) coated drill bits with a said 118* drill point angle. I haven't unwrapped them but even with them in the case I can see every bit has a different point angle! LOL They might be sharpened by hand for all I know, or a fleet of machines all set up differently.


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