The legend says that 89 years ago, the head of hardware at Sears Roebuck really liked the name Craftsman, and bought the trademark from an existing tool company for $500 ($6,921 in 2016 dollars). Today, parent company Sears Holdings is troubled and in need of a cash infusion, and has quietly solicited bids for Craftsman. It’s reportedly worth around $2 billion.
We know this not because Sears Holdings has been out bragging about the potential sale, but because ever-mysterious “people with knowledge of the matter” talked to Bloomberg Markets about the sale. Interested buyers have to get their bids in by the end of this month.
Who are those interested buyers? The source has named the companies that are exploring a bid, which include Stanley Black & Decker, Techtronic, Apex, and Husqvarna.
Apex is one of the current manufacturers of Craftsman tools, so simply buying the brand would be an interesting move. The final bids aren’t due until the end of October, though, and not all of these companies will necessarily make a final bid.
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2 comments:
While selling the Craftsman line would be another admission that Sears is going the way of Montgomery Wards and others like it, we long time users of the tool line can only hope that the products will maintain their excellent quality and lifetime warranties.
Excellent quality?? I quit buying Craftsman tools a long time ago. Their prices go up while their quality goes down. Their "lifetime warranty" only replaces your broken tool with a refurbished tool that was once broken itself. I actually prefer Lowes' Kobalt brand over Craftsman, but I typically only purchase Snap-on and Mac tools now - I even sometimes buy them used to save money and they are still better quality and have a better warranty that anything I get from Craftsman.
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