Craftsman (tools)

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Craftsman is a line of tools and lawn and garden equipment, owned by The KCD IP, LLC. The tools are sold in Sears and Kmart stores. Craftsman® is ranked by men as the No. 1 brand in America for overall quality, according to a recent brand survey. Consumers in general ranked Craftsman No. 2 in terms of quality - preceded only by Waterford crystal. (Source: Nov. 2002 EquiTrend(SM) survey by Harris Interactive).Workers in more than 100 towns across America work together to produce 80 percent of the over 5,100 Craftsman tools. Since 1927, Craftsman has sold more hammers and other striking tools than any other brand.

[edit] Sales

Craftsman sells more mechanics' tools than any other brand. For example, more than one million Craftsman sockets are manufactured in a day, and 30 million Craftsman wrenches are sold each year. Since 1927, Craftsman has sold more than 85 million pairs of pliers, 725 million screwdrivers and 28 million adjustable wrenches.

Sears sells more lawn mowers and tractors than any other U.S. retailer. Craftsman lawn mowers and tractors are produced by Electrolux and are slightly altered versions of their Poulan, Poulan Pro, and Husqvarna products. By far, the majority of Electrolux's lawn mowers and tractors are sold through Sears. The products were sold all in silver at one time, recently Sears divided the product lines into 3 colors. For unknown reasons, the top color progressively moves down the lineup, moving to less expensive products. Green was the high-end color, but was replaced by silver, then red, and, most recently, black.

Craftsman markets more than 5,000 products in 80 tool and equipment categories.

[edit] Warranty

Craftsman hand tools have an unlimited lifetime warranty; however, some items are considered specialty tools, and thus not covered under the warranty.

Craftsman Portable Power Tools, Bench Power Tools, Air Compressors and other items carry a one-year warranty; however, Sears offers extended upgraded warranties, which in some cases will replace the item as opposed to repairing it.

After the merger KMart began selling Craftsman products; however, KMart stores do not honor the warranties (thus, a buyer must return the tool to Sears).

[edit] Legal Battles

Craftsman tools came under fire in 2004 in a lawsuit accusing Sears, Roebuck and Co of false advertising and consumer fraud for questionable use of the "Made in USA" slogan.[1] & [2]

Sears Holdings Corporation

People: Floyd Hall | Alan J. Lacy | Sebastian S. Kresge | Alvah C. Roebuck | Richard Sears