Craftsman tools... Whats up?

[Canuck]

Went to pick up a tool box accessory today that was ordered three weeks ago... still not in even though they said it would be there on the 15th. Went to the hardware dept to pick up a few items and the shelves were bare... not one Craftsman brand handtool in the store. the clerk said all inventory was packed up in the past two days,did not know why...did not know if they were being discontinued or closed.
Call another Sears store they said they still had stock but it too was being packaged up in the next few days and cleaned out. They could not offer an explanation.
Anyone seen the same thing in their location.

Paul

[budnate]

Yikes!!! 80% of my tools are Craftsman, I better hussle over my broken crap today and trade them.

[njsteve]

Was this at a Sears store????

I just tried googling and couldn't find any news in reference to it.

[x Baldwin Motion]

They have a Craftsman/Sears section at the local KaMeApaRT. The shelves have been sparse. Just ordered the kid a bunch of stuff online. Great discounts and fast free shipping. Not sure what we'll do with broken tools if KrapMart stops stocking them. The nearest (25 miles away) Sears went belly up about 4 years ago.

[Canuck]

It was Sears.
I dont know if this is unique to Canada or just this region. i just found it odd that they could not offer an explanation.

Paul

[budnate]

just in from my Sears in Seattle, traded all my broke stuff no hassle and a few items were clearly broke due to improper use of a tool.. they did not stock a couple special tools and he said the online store will take care of me no problem just call them and talk with a person there...I asked about them closing...they didnt know anything about it and the place was well stocked.

[ORIGLS6]

I bought my son a Craftsman roll-around chest for Christmas this year. The local store had what looked to be a normal inventory and some great deals on the tool chest combos. I was in two of the bigger stores in our area (each about 45 miles from where I live) and they both seemed to be stocked well at the time. Heck, they just built a new store about 30 miles South of me. Been open less than a year and my son just picked up an intermediate section for his box there between Christmas and New Years.

HOWEVER, there's a small family owned envelope company in my hometown. They've had a substantial contract with Sears for many, many years. Last November Sears told them they were done. This was upwards of 85% of the business. The owner told me that things had been going downhill ever since K-Mart bought Sears, and he wouldn't be surprised to see Sears absorbed into the K-Brand stores.

[x Baldwin Motion]

Dennis, that's exactly what happened here, Sears store closed and Kmart now has a very small and under stocked "Sears section"