I have made many trips to big box tool stores over the years, mainly Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Sears.
At some point, I started taking photos of tools and displays, usually as reminders of what I wanted to research further, for personal or ToolGuyd interests.
The images in this post were taken between 2009 and 2012. I hope you find this to be an interesting throwback!
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Please forgive the quality of the photos – early smartphones didn’t have great image quality. Some of the earliest photos were taken with a mobile phone in 2008 or 2009, and don’t have accurate date stamps – I’ve marked them as being taken in 2009 for simplicity.
To start things off, I came across a Milwaukee M12 promo combo kit at Home Depot in 2010, featuring a cordless drill and radio. I don’t think Milwaukee had another promo package like this since then. Next to it is a Milwaukee corded rotary hammer.
Milwaukee’s cordless tool promos changed the following year. That’s when I started tracking the Black Friday and holiday deals on ToolGuyd.
At around the same time, Ryobi still had their Tek4 3.6V/4V line of compact and personal cordless tools and accessory.
Ryobi discontinued the Tek4 line a long time ago, but I wonder how well it might have sold today. Milwaukee’s RedLithium USB line certainly seems to be selling well.
Not only does the Dewalt drill kit on the shelf feature NiCad battery tech, it’s not even 18V – it’s a 14.4V model!
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There’s also a Milwaukee corded angle grinder.
Milwaukee corded power tools and Dewalt 14.4V NiCad drills – what a throwback.
Home Depot’s 2008 or 2009 holiday season deals section featured Husky, Dewalt, Ryobi tools – which still had a blue color scheme at the time, and Porter Cable.
This 2009 holiday season Husky multi-cartridge ratcheting screwdriver was a memorable offering. It seemed like a great idea at the time, and I recall unsuccessfully looking for it again the following year.
Back in 2009, Lowe’s had this Dremel project kit, which came with a 300 series rotary tool and mini benchtop worktable. That compact Workmate-like worktable seemed like a neat design.
Back in 2009, Lowe’s put this Bosch 14.4V cordless drill on clearance. What’s the greyish model below it – maybe Porter Cable?
I came across this Kobalt technician’s tool case at Lowe’s in 2009.
I talked about Vaughan’s ball peen hammers in a recent post. They looked just a little different back in 2009. In the 13+ years since then, the pricing has only increased by a few dollars.
Dewalt’s magnetic ToughCase hit stores back in 2010. The same set is still available!
This isn’t a retail store snapshot – it’s a photo of some of the then-newly-announced Dewalt 12V Max cordless power tools.
Dewalt brought us to Stanley Black & Decker’s private box seats at a Baltimore Orioles game for dinner, and I couldn’t not take a photo ahead of the next day’s media event.
I posted about the launch that very night, and I remember a couple of comments about the beer can the next morning. Sorry, I thought it would be convenient for scale!!
I really enjoyed those early Dewalt media events.
Here’s the selection of Knipex tools at a Sears store back in 2011, plus Knipex-made Craftsman Cobra pliers.
In 2010, a Sears store near me had a “Blue Tool Crew” innovation station. They tried different things over the years, but never really stuck with any one strategy.
Sears had a great tool buyer or team of buyers back then. In 2011, I spotted ToughBuilt folding bolt cutters at a local store.
In 2010, I found BenchDog bench cookie work supports at a Sears store.
Does anyone else remember Black & Decker outlet stores? I visited this store before they all closed in 2012.
Sears loved their all-in-one tools over the years, didn’t they. Here’s a Craftsman “figure 8 universal wrench” from 2012.
And here’s a Craftsman hybrid ratcheting wrench set at Sears, also in 2012. The open end had a ratcheting bit inside.
There were a lot of these gimmicks – multi-do-everything socket ends, x-in-one wrenches, sockets, and drive tools, and so forth.
Black & Decker’s Matrix modular cordless power tool line was innovative and practical for DIYers. This was a Home Depot display in 2012.
Here’s an airplane fuselage traveling down a small road an on oversized flatbed truck in 2011. They were transporting US Airways Flight 1549 – the plane that Chesley Sullenberger and Jeffrey Skiles piloted into the Hudson River after hitting a flock of birds shortly after takeoff.
This isn’t the most surprising thing I’ve seen transportation-wise. Back in high school, I was sitting on a large window sill in the school library during my lunch period, and an aircraft carrier appeared in view as it slowly proceeded up the river.
Ah, one of the last versions of the dog bone wrench. This was the Craftsman “65-in-1” at Sears in 2012.
I believe it was Lowe’s that kicked off the dogbone wrench resurgence. This was their display of Kobalt Multi-Drive wrenches back in 2010.
Update – looking at ToolGuyd’s archive, it was the Black & Decker ReadyWrench that seemed to restart the dogbone wrench trend in 2009.
In 2012, Lowe’s had even more heavily-promoted and mass-produced Kobalt tools for the holiday season. These Kobalt Magnum Grip pliers didn’t seem to sell very well.
Back in 2010, Bostitch hand tools were a thing at Lowe’s. This is a ratcheting adjustable wrench with “100 year limited warranty.”
For our last break, here’s a gate I came across in 2012. I wonder if there’s a backstory, as there doesn’t seem to be any functional purpose to it.
Husky tries new things every year. These are T-handle screwdrivers at a Home Depot store in 2010. There were 8 driver sizes, plus a stubby bit holder.
Back in 2010, this Lowe’s folding knife gift set offered 25 cheap knives for just $25.
I didn’t quite understand who this was for. Is this a set of cheap knives you could gift to different people, or were you supposed to give the 25 knives to one person?
I came across Stanley FatMax wood chisels at a Lowe’s store in 2010. Unfortunately, it has become very rare for me to find made-in-England Stanley or Dewalt tools these days.
I first spotted the USA-made Plate Vise back in 2010, and bought one the next time I saw it.
While not the most useful tool for my needs, it does come in handy for cutting certain materials without the need for a complex workholding setup.
I liked Stanley’s tripod LED lights and still have one or two. This display was at a Home Depot store in 2009.
20 lumens max brightness!
I spotted this Surefire G2 LED Nitrolon flashlight at Lowe’s in 2010. I don’t recall if this was before or after I bought mine. It might have been after – this one has a 120 lumens max output, and I distinctly remember mine delivering 80 lumens max brightness.
I spotted this Simonds folding file set at a Sears store in 2009. I found similar from other brands after that – I posted about the General Tools version in 2019 – but I don’t think you can buy the same tool anymore.
I came across the Shark nail puller at a Sears store in 2009.
Curiously, there were two versions.
Ah – one was made in Japan, and the other was made in China.
I was familiar with the brand and this tool by then, and it looked like production had changed from Japan to China.
There was a time – 2009 – when Sears sold an SK ratchet alongside their Craftsman tools.
Here’s a Kobalt 24-in-1 auto-loading ratcheting screwdriver. I spotted this one at a Lowe’s store in 2012.
Ah, the Husky rotary ratcheting wrench, which launched at Home Depot in 2010.
This was the first time I caught shill commentors. I traced multiple favorable reviews and overly positive comments to an office where Husky’s OEM/importer was based.
It wasn’t Home Depot or Husky deceptively talking up the tool in comments, but the OEM or sourcing company that was contracted to produce the tool.
Here’s a Ridgid JobMax tool and attachment display at a Home Depot store in 2012.
I found this to be a particularly well-designed retail setup, especially for a temporary holiday placement.
This wall of Craftsman wet/dry shop vacuums appeared at my local Sears ahead of the 2011 holiday shopping season.
Dewalt launched this ratcheting T-handle screwdriver bit set around 2011. I spotted this one at Home Depot. Of course I bought one for myself and one for my father. I still have mine, but never really used it much.
It was 2011 when Home Depot was selling the Leatherman Wingman for $25 as a holiday season promo. The same tool is now $70.
Back in 2011, Lowe’s was promoting their new Kobalt 18V cordless power tools, and declared their superiority to Ridgid with new in-store displays.
Home Depot countered with their own Ridgid vs. Kobalt “dare to compare” advertisements.
I think that Lowe’s and Kobalt have learned their lesson, as I haven’t seen anything like this since then.
Lowe’s sold these Kobalt 1/2″ drive flex (universal-type) sockets in stores in 2012.
When is the last time these sockets were available? What’s the point of a lifetime guarantee or warranty if replacements aren’t available when you need them?
I spotted this prominent Fein MultiMaster oscillating multi-tool and accessories display at a Sears store in 2010. I remember being impressed with the selection.
This was a great endcap; brands and stores don’t really do them like this anymore.
Rob
I have one of the B&D dog bone wrenches back when they came out (and I think you featured them). I have it on my boat, it’s come in useful a few times when I need to tighten something up quickly. The one brand you didn’t show that I think was great were the Craftsman 12v Nextec line. Still have a few of them that I use often, the right-angle driver, the hammerhead hammer, rotary tool and their take on the handheld jigsaw. Also purchased the Husky t handle screwdrivers, they included hex/Allen (Alvan if you watched My name is Otto) wrenches in it, that are very useful.
Drew McDaniel
Rob,
If you blow up Stuart’s “Blue Crew” picture, the display is for the Nextec stuff. I see the hammer, and there is a set of tools in the lower right. I still have a tool bag of them, and still use the drill, the rotary tool and the dual light, along with the battery that had its own small LED built in pretty frequently.
A W
Ahh yes, the classic thought provoking conundrum: would you rather fight one horse sized duck who is armed with a pack of 25 knives, or 25 duck sized horses, with 1 knife each?
A W
Oops, wrong reply button.
Stuart
(Place a new one where you intend it, and I can move things over for you.)
Keith Hudson
I imported a nextec angle impact to England really useful
Chaz
I loved the Nextec line. One of my favorite lines of tools. I still haven’t seen an equivalent to this. The Nextec had everything you needed and nothing you don’t. Yes, 12v Milwaulkee, but it’s priced to a different market.
Stuart
The same company that made Nextec for Craftsman owns Skil, which launched its own new 12V platform in recent years.
Joe E.
Seeing those Sears pictures brought back memories. Shopping for Craftsman at Sears was an experience that can’t be replicated. I started to buy my first tools from Sears in the mid 2000’s when I was in my 20’s. Now I’m in my late 30’s. I still have piles of the USA made stuff and it has served me well. The sales and a discounts were the best part. You could really score some great deals, especially around the holidays.
Fast forward to today, and shopping for Craftsman Tools at Lowe’s seems about as fun as wiping my ass with 60 grit sandpaper. There are no good deals and it’s just overpriced, poorly manufactured junk at ridiculous price points. Stanley Black & Decker wants it made as cheaply as possible because at the end of the day, it’s profits before the consumer for them.
Mike
Ditto about the Sears memories – local Sears would have some good sales on US hand tools and I would upgrade whenever they went on sale – pliers, sockets, wrenches, cabinets and chests, and screwdrivers. Even had the 19.2 power tools and lights. All still useable, although the acetate handle screwdrivers have been banished to an open plastic tub due to smell and the power tools long since sold at yard sales. Today, I have little interest in buying Craftsman tools
MM
Ah, the dogbone wrench. It’s been a while since I had seen one those monstrosities.
The G2 Nitrolon flashlights were great, I have two of them of them (and an aluminum bodied G2) and I still use them. They’re not as bright as today’s lights but they are plenty bright enough to be useful and they are very durable. One of mine survived being lost on a hunting trip when it fell out of my pocket in a farm field. I found it by dumb luck in the same field 2 years later. It had survived not only the weather and exposure but also being run over by farm machinery multiple times as that field was plowed, planted, and harvested. When I recovered it it had significant damage from that but it still turned on!
As for the rather silly gate, I think there was probably a fence around the yard originally. With time the fence fell into disrepair and someone decided simply to scrap it rather than rebuild or repair it. The brick columns were left in place, probably because they are more work to demolish. The question then is: why bother keeping the gate? And if you look in the background, there appears to be a second pair of columns with a similar gate at the other end of the same path!
Big Richard
The Sheffield England made Stanley chisels may be hard to find, but the DeWalt versions are not. The DWHT16063 4pc set is still made there and seems to be readily available – https://www.dewalt.com/product/dwht16063/wood-chisel-set-4-pc
I actually bought a set within the last 2 years, and for the price they are a solid mid level chisel.
Koko The Talking Ape
Thanks for the tip!
Stuart
You have to be careful. Some NOS (new old stock) are still made in England, but they’re also made in Vietnam.
In January, the peg at my local Home Depot had all made-in-England chisel sets. In February, made-in-Vietnam sets appeared at the front of the peg.
Big Richard
I don’t think I’ve looked at them that recently, probably was around the holiday season when I saw the England versions available. I’ll have to take a look again. Possibly a temporary thing due to recent supply chain disruptions, who knows.
Saulac
Ah, the dog bone wrench! My only one permanently stays in the oil change/lube box. The idea is to save me from having to crawling in/out a few times to get the correct wrench size. But it can not even doing that one job well. I have run into more and more drain plugs that it can not reach.
Which tool is the “dog bone wrench” of today?
MM
Today’s dogbone wrench may be this thing:
https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/lowes-kobalt-multi-wrench-2022/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
fred
Or this one for female-recessed drain plugs:
https://www.zoro.com/k-tool-intl-8-in-1-drain-plug-key-wrench-jw0709/i/G6892332/
MM
While that works like a dogbone wrench in terms of mechanical configuration I think it’s actually probably not a bad product for someone who works on vehicles or heavy equipment a lot. I’d have bought, and used, that in a heartbeat if I still had my machining business. It would have fit the gearbox plugs on every machine in our workshop, not to mention everything on our forklift, mini ex, and shop truck. Most of the time that style of drain plug isn’t too difficult to access so that tool could actually be useful. It also appears to be quite nice quality. On the other hand, I feel the dogbone wrench is one of those silly tools where the quality is poor and the multifunctionality actually gets in the way more than it helps, such that there are other tools which can do the same job better like we talked about in the Kobalt Multi-wrench discussion. Why bother with a dogbone wrench when an adjustable wrench or a cam-style universal wrench fits in more places and takes up less space in your kit and fits more sizes of fastener? That specialty drain plug tool has no better equivalent, really. The only alternative is an assortment of specialty sockets plus a handle or individual specialty wrenches.
Jared
That was fun. 2010 doesn’t seem so long ago – but the prices and tool tech from that era sure look it.
That folding file set actually looks fun.
OldDominionDIYer
Exactly what I was thinking! Man, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then! Some really funny “tool” innovations! Comical really! Thanks for the stroll down memory lane Stuart!
Drew McDaniel
Spent a small fortune at the Black and Decker outlet stores in the early 2000s. Mainly built my first “serious” cordless collection before the Nextec stuff came out. I bought a bunch of their Firestorm stuff, but after the Nextec stuff came out from Sears, I mainly stopped using the tools, except I found their OPE to be useful for what I needed from OPE at the time. Also bought some of their Versatec cordless stuff. I still have their scrubber and a snake light.
Drew McDaniel
Stuart,
One thing that you missed on this post was the Dewalt 8V Gyro Screwdriver, which searching your site, came out about ten years ago. That was a great find and I bought one on your recommendation. Kind of surprised that battery form factor did not expand between the driver and the light. I helped sell a couple more to friends by loaning it out who were impressed with the power on that thing.
Stuart
Aside from the random off-topic breaks, all of the images were walk-around-the-store images photos, with most never shared or shown here before. Even now, I only share some of my mobile tool photos here or on social media.
If you want to explore more in the realm of tools, we have a chronological archive.
For instance: https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/2013/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
If you want to pick a particular month, you can do that too, such as https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/2013/01%3C/a%3E for January.
If there’s interest, maybe I can work in a roundup of some kind. The only problem is that once I start looking at older content, there’s always the compulsion for me to update everything.
Rob H
This article made me think of tool shopping with my dad back when sears was a thing. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.
Steve
Sears was a powerhouse back in the day and Craftsman tools were the standard to be measured by. I fondly remember saving for my first large ball bearing tool chest and looked forward to walking down the isles to see what was new. I still have a few Craftsman punches, but the rest has been long since replaced. Good photos – thanks…
James+C
Ah, the Kobalt Magnum grip, the only tool I’ve literally thrown in the trash out of frustration.
fred
While we are on the nostalgia kick about dubious tools – you can still get a B&D auto wrench:
https://ramseyhardware.com/p/automatic-adjustabl-wrench-black-decker-028877562889
Stuart
I threw out the Kobalt Triple Cut. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/kobalt-triple-cut-review/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
MM
I was gifted both sizes of those. Good lord they are terrible. Normally I donate my unwanted tools to Scouting but I didn’t give those away as I considered them a safety hazard.
MKY
Stuart –
Very enjoyable article. Thanks.
The gate / sidewalk picture: probably part of an invisible doggie fence. lol
Typo
They looked just a little different back in 2009. In the ***$13+ years*** since then, the pricing has only increased by a few dollars.
Stuart
Thanks! *fixed*
I don’t know – as someone mentions, it look s like they took out a fence or wall, but just left this part.
Rob
The grayish drill, under the Bosch 14.4-it’s a Hitachi. I don’t know why I remember, but they had “alien” looking tools back then.
Stuart
They did, but they were green. That drill looks to have Porter Cable’s 19.2V grey color with Hitachi’s then-18V texturing.
Dan
What a walk down memory lane! I sure do miss Craftsman, I don’t recognize the current brand as Craftsman and believe they should have let the name die versus what’s happened to it. Sears was always my go-to for any tools for both work and personal use and those tools have served me very well. I had a Craftsman tool catalog from 2006 that I had to throw away. Every time I looked through it, it brought me to tears.
Rx9
Ah Sears Christmas memories. Black Friday at 6am.
I got a lot of fantastic Gearwrench deals out of Sears at that time.
An 85490 6-Piece Indexing Double Box Ratcheting Wrench Set for only $40.
Amazing.
Stuart
The Gearwrench deals were amazing – 40% and 50% off regularly.
Rx9
Actually, I think that deal was an online one sometime during that period. There were some truly smoking hot deals online, but you had to be watching like a hawk to get them.
Morgan
I have that Milwaukee radio in the first picture. Got it using my damn-near-worthless points on a credit card back in the day. It was about the only thing which I could get that I knew wouldnt end up in the trash days later. Surprisingly, it still works great and its my goto radio in the garage. Years later, I would end up all in Milwaukee anyway – so it all worked out.
That picture of the blue crew Sears hits right in the feels. I miss those days. I would just walk around every single aisle. I could burn hours if needed to kill time, and did frequently. While HD and Lowes can do similar, they dont have the hold factor that Sears did – maybe 20 minutes or so. Sears during holidays, forgetaboutit – hours!
fm2176
Yeah, Sears was unique in that it was the one place where the entire family could kill time. Videos games and toys for the kids (from what I recall, toys were usually only displayed around the holidays), clothing and home goods for the wife, and tools and lawn and garden for the husband.
Whenever I went to the mall, I’d purposefully park outside of the Sears Garden Center, just to have the excuse to walk through the tool section. Sometimes I’d wave my family forward into the mall, with a predetermined link-up spot (in the days before we kept cell phones). As a road technician I’d scout out the local store if I needed a particular socket or wrench, or if something happened to break on the job (not uncommon when working on forklifts). Now, Sears is basically a memory.
A W
Ahh yes, the classic thought provoking conundrum: would you rather fight one horse sized duck who is armed with a pack of 25 knives, or 25 duck sized horses, with 1 knife each?
Chuck
I remember buying this set of knives when it was available. I worked as a supervisor for a company that did nothing for employees for the holidays. When I gave my guys one of those cheap Chinese knives, you would have thought I’d given them $100.00. They knew it was from me, and not the company. It’s amazing what such a simple gesture can do for morale and production.
fm2176
I never took pictures, but wish I had. Lowes and Home Depot weren’t frequent stops for me until 2014 or so, but Sears was the go-to place since I was a kid. I did stop into Lowe’s when Kobalt was first released, though, after hearing about the Williams-made tools from my Snap-On dealer at work.
If only I had the foresight to use the 35mm camera I carried as a kid to snap pictures of Hechingers and Builders Square, or Lowe’s as it was in the late-’80s, when my local store was smaller than the local Kmart.
Smokey
Those Ridgid Jobmax ratchet heads are like $150+ on ebay if you can find new old stock. I always thought that 12V power base and the pneumatic base for in the shop would be a sweet setup.
Tator
I want that Milwaukee corded rotary hammer!
Razi
Tools evolved over time like everything else. That’s technology.
Matt
The prices in particular are notable. Good on Vaughn, I’ll specifically go after their products. And I have a couple of those leathermans – but I remember ~$40 being the price.
Not pictured, but its the sockets that get me. 9.99-39.99 for the various craftsman sets. Made in USA. And I still have and use all of them regularly. My 3/8 drive metric set is still my go-to, although the ratchet I was given at age 16 when I bought that set, while still regularly used, is no longer the first one I reach for. Mid 30s now…
Yadda
HD had tons of the Leatherman Wingman left after Christmas. I picked up some of them and the Skeletools a year or two later at greatly reduced prices.
HomerBucket
Wow those HD price tags have *only* six digit SKUs! 10 digit is the norm but since there are still lots of 6 digit SKUs around they are formatted as 0000-XXX-XXX on tags. The newest SKUs are 1009-XXX-XXX series which just started appearing a couple months ago!
Raycr
Knipex plier wrench were really expensive then but have not gone up much in price since then.
You can still catch the cobras on sale at Amazon for just a few dollars more.
fred
Some tools actually seem to have gotten cheaper since I first started buying them. That is certainly true if you adjust for inflation, buying power of your dollars and what you were earning at the time. Back in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s when I first started buying tools for personal use – discounting was very modest – and you often paid MSRP. As an example of buying power, the average family income was $5600 per year in 1960 – so buying a new Chevy for $2800 was 6-month’s wages before taxes.
Franco
I bought so many of the above mentioned tools. One I do not have is the actual Dremel tool, I really like the small “workmate” type clamping table.
I do have Dremel type tools; a Craftsman, a Milwaukee M12 (that died, 4 blinking lights death), a couple of in house brands + other actual die grinders. Had I seen this Dremel at the time, I might have got it just for the table.
Anyone know of a similar benchtop workmate clamping table, like the Dremel, but sole on its own?
Yadda
B&D Workmate sold several different similar models. You can often find them on the secondary market (eBay, Craigslist, FB Marketplace
Yadda
I have two, one with a tool box underneath and a second that is very similar to the Dremel version.
Coach James
I have the Craftsman version of the triple cut. It’s been good for cutting hoses.
We had a B&D outlet in the town I grew up in. It was attached to the B&D plant. The plant slowly laid guys off until it finally closed.
Dustin
This was a fun and nostalgic read, thanks for putting it together.
Couple things of note. I still regularly use my Ryobi Tek4 Multimeter, it has an enormous screen with a backlight that can be seen from the ISS.
Also my god that ratcheting dog bone wrench, like who could look at the proposed design for that thing and be like “a wrench with a head the size of a ping pong paddle, lets put this thing in production!”
Jason
Still hanging onto mine as well! Have the flashlight but its output isn’t great compared to newer LED’s. Seems they fetch a hefty price on EBay may have to let it go
Those pictures definitely take me back having worked at Home Depot around that era.
Yadda
I still regret not buying the Craftsman branded Knipex pliers. They were on sale at least once or twice and I just didn’t have the money or see the need at the time.
fm2176
Ten+ years ago…
I was a military Recruiter working in a mall, so my earlier foray into tool binging started at the Sears down the corridor. They were doing away with Milwaukee tools, so I got a corded Sawzall and a Magnum drill for very little. I think the Sawzall was about $40. A few months later I picked up a Craftsman reciprocating saw for about $30 on clearance which was subsequently given to my father-in-law, then to a friend after the FiL passed. I also found a Husqvarna chainsaw on clearance for $79, as well as my first LCD TV, a 46″ Sharp Aquos marked down from over $1000 to under $400.
The store manager stopped into the station one day to ask for t-shirt. We hooked him up and he told us to ask for him by name if we stopped into Sears. A few weeks later I found a 2008 Craftsman yard tractor marked down from $1865 to $1200 or so. I asked for John, expecting maybe another 10% off and he asked how $900 sounded. Out the door for $981, then in the coming months I found a $400 bagger for $100 and a $100 bumper for $5. That mower is long gone now, having been loaned to my brother when I deployed in 2013 and never gotten back, but it beat the heck out of the self-propelled mower I optimistically bought previously. An acre in South Louisiana is not conducive to anything requiring walking and a 21″ cut path. Now I have a Bad Boy 54″ ZTR, so it’s quick and easy.
Lowe’s had some nice Father’s Day promos one year, especially with BOGO Bostitch tools. I picked up a chalk box, torpedo level, and one or two other things. Also, a Kobalt “Hammer” tool box. That thing served well over the years, but the latches had a habit of coming off. When retirement rolled around and I had to leave some stuff, the latchless toolbox stayed at the house I was vacating. Go figure, I got down here and found both latches right away. IIRC, Kobalt was switching from US-made to Taiwanese-sourced hand tools around that time, so they had rock-bottom prices on old inventory. I also found a holdout from much earlier–a Kobalt wrench made by Williams. This was before I went out of my way to visit big boxes, so my visits to stores besides Sears were few and far between.
Ten years ago I was on FOB Shank, having been “relieved” of most of my property by a burglar a few weeks prior to deployment. The Milwaukee tools, Husqvarna saw, TV, SP Mower, and a generator were all taken. Besides the gun safe and the riding mower (sitting with a couple of flat tires and a dead battery), almost everything of value was gone. Well, with the exception of my Port Cable 18v Li-Ion tool kit, picked up on clearance in Savannah a year earlier. I think the drill/impact kit was about $60 and I soon added tools and batteries to it, unaware that 20v Max was completely replacing the system.
When I redeployed I went to Lowe’s and replaced some of my missing tools with corded PC ones. These were rarely, if ever, used and eventually sold to a coworker a few years ago. I was also still finding the occasional PC 18v or 12v deal, but around late 2015 jumped onboard the DeWalt 20v train and since then multiple other systems.
Anyway, the memories of those stores are nice, and we can all only hope that we are still around in 50 years to reminisce about what tools were being sold at what prices way back in 2023.
Matt
Man I miss Sears.
Jeremiah
Same here. It is a shame, and almost criminal that the new CEO intentionally tanked the company. I also liked K-Mart. We stopped going to Walmart many years ago for various reasons. There was a Kmart within walking distance from our house. Now it is being turned into something else after sitting vacant for too many years.
My first full sized/large mechanics tool set was a US Made Craftsman set and a sturdy chest.
fm2176
Yeah, Kmart and Sears each held special places in my heart. Sounds corny to put into words, but it’s true. Retailers really do capture moments in our personal histories. We spend our hard-earned money in their stores and often use their goods to make more money. Case in point: Craftsman and the much lesser-known Benchmade brand from Kmart. When I worked for the Cadillac dealership, I started at a whopping $6.50/hr. I had the requisite tool truck accounts, but Craftsman was my go-to, and when I found Benchmade tools with a similar warranty I started buying some extra wrenches and sockets.
I’d dare guess that a lot of my generation (late-GenX) got started with a gifted Craftsman blow-molded tool set in the ’90s, subsequently getting spoiled by the combination of cost, availability, and quality of US-made Craftsman hand tools going into the 2000s, and then watching from the sidelines as Sears became a ghost of its former glory.
Jeremiah
It appears that since there are 2 gates and 4 posts, someone removed the steel posts and chain link fencing, but didn’t have the muscle to remove the bricks. Unreasonably, they also left both gates attached.
Jamie Lee Davis
I still remember my first Ridgid 12 volt combination kit with matching brushed 12 volt single speed drills. The model number escapes me. That was 2009. The drills had 600 (maybe) RPM and non removable 3/8 inch chucks. Remodeled my house with that set….. Sturdy little drills!
Doug Fishacks
I still miss the Sears days when craftsman was USA made. Ever holiday season they would run new craftsman tool commercials with Bob Vila. Some products were good like the master speed lock drill set which I still own and the robo grip pliers. Both have there designated uses for certain stuff. If you watch the old craftsman commercials online some of there items were actually good ideas
Vards Uzvards
I just saw a Black+Decker Matrix tool set at our local ROSS store!
https://www.ipernity.com/doc/uzvards/52728948