As if on cue with respect to the recent rush of activity this week on Craftsman Tools coming to Costco, Ace Hardware Corp. announced that it is on track to dramatically increase the number of stores selling the Craftsman line of tools. This includes power tools, mechanics tools and lawn-and-garden equipment. The number of stores selling Craftsman tools currently sits around 1000, but it will ramp up to around 2500 by the end of 2013. The ramp up is set after the stores carrying the brand saw a double-digit increase in profits (on that line) from selling the Craftsman line.
Craftsman, as a brand, is doing well by infiltrating these new locations. This is largely because Sears, as a retailer, seems to be facing stiff competition from the likes of Home Depot and Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores (and that’s just in the tool category). All of this is decreasing the perception of Sears as being “the place” for tools. Ace Hardware has 4500 franchised stores in the US, to there could be an even greater level of growth down the road.
