Sears' iconic brand, Craftsman, is leaving the mothership and being bought by Stanley Black & Decker for around $900 million. This announcement comes on the heals of Sears planning to close 150 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide this year. The deal for the 89-year-old Craftsman brand allows Stanley Black & Decker to manufacture and sell Craftsman products in non-Sears stores. Sears will also continue to sell the Craftsman brand in its dwindling retail stores.
Stanley Black & Decker CEO James Loree in a statement said "We intend to invest in the brand and rapidly increase sales through these new channels, including retail, industrial, mobile and online. To accommodate the future growth of Craftsman, we intend to expand our manufacturing footprint in the U.S. This will add jobs in the U.S., where we have increased our manufacturing headcount by 40 percent in the past three years."
We love to hear about jobs being created, but it is still yet to be seen how many jobs will be lost from Sears due to the selling of Craftsman and what happens to those Lifetime Warranties. One of the major selling points of Craftsman is the lifetime warranties and quality that the tools offer. or used to offer. Stanley Black & Decker already owns and operates DeWalt, Porter Cable, Mac Tools, and some others, so it will be interesting to see how all the brands will play nice with each other after another tool icon joins the ranks.
Craftsman has been dabbling in more technologically advanced tools recently, even exhibiting a Bluetooth riding lawnmower and a Bluetooth smart lock tool storage chest at CES 2017, according to CNET. The new Craftsman smartphone app will connect to the mower to allow the user to track maintenance concerns and allows the user to search for and order replacement parts. The app will also be able to lock and unlock the smart tool chest if you'r in Bluetooth range. Users can still use a key to lock and unlock the chest, but it shows the brand is still attempting to innovate.
Via BizJournals
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