The Rise and Fall of Craftsman, How Sears Quietly Destroyed America's Most Trusted Tool Brand

Craftsman ruled the American garage for nearly a century — backed by a lifetime warranty that needed no receipt and no time limit. Then Sears spent thirty years quietly breaking every promise the brand was built on. Four hundred million screwdrivers sold between 1965 and 1989 — forged in American plants by companies Sears hand-picked and co-owned. The man who bought the brand in 2017 described what he paid nine hundred million dollars for as being in sad shape. How did Arthur Barrows turn a $500 trademark into the most trusted tool brand in America? What happened when Sears stopped making the warranty mean something? And why did the factory built to bring Craftsman home shut down three years after it opened? We covered the company that now owns Craftsman in our DeWalt documentary. That video shows what proper brand stewardship looks like. This one shows the opposite. ABOUT FORGED TRADE Forged Trade tells the stories behind the companies that built the tools, machines, and equipment the world runs on. The founders who risked everything. The engineers who solved impossible problems. The ownership battles that determined who survived and who was sold for parts. New documentaries released regularly. Subscribe and turn on notifications. #Craftsman #Sears #CraftsmanTools #AmericanManufacturing #ForgedTrade #ToolHistory