My local Lowe’s is clearancing out most of if not all of their Kobalt tools.
Seems like Lowe’s has made a deal with Stanley Tools, who bought
the Craftsman tool line from Sears.
I walked in the other day and bought this kit for 30.00 and
it will fit nicely in the trunk... Only thing is it only goes to 17mm
on the wrenches....
Last price marked on this kit was 122.00, so 30 bucks isn’t a
bad deal..
No idea how fast they will sell out, but I’d bet every Lowe’s is
doing the same thing..

Click to view attachment

Yup. Bought a big chest of tools for $50. I think Lowes should have stuck with Kobalt. The craftsman brand got cheapened many years ago.

Wow good deal for backup tools but $149.00 in Santa Rosa Ca.

Yup, there are 200.00+ kits that were marked down to
57.00..
It is all in the timing.... You get there at the right time, you
get the deal..
I happened in a few months ago and grabbed this Craftsman Tool Box
That had been damaged in transit for about 75.00.
I didn’t even have to disassemble and bang out the dent for
the drawers to all work..

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Going to head to Lowe's now. See what I can buy at Harbor Freight prices.

I believe Craftsman tools are now made in China and Taiwan. The kobalt are also I believe China although for a backup not bad at that prices.

Pretty much all tools are made in China now... Even Snap On.
They get final polishing in the U.S.

Sheesh, thought I’d go see if I could find the set the OP posted pics of. Instead I walked out with this...

Headed to Lowe’s. Last Craftmans stuff I bought ar Ace was complete junk. Took it back. Comparatively Kobalt is pretty solid.

passed by Lowes this morning. Nope no sale at all!
Staff has no idea of any coming sale! hhhhmmmm

Only a select few items apparently. Just left my Lowe’s.
Manager there said it isn’t a total “national “event .
They’ll still be selling both brands according to him.
Just reducing a lot of “same” items. We will see.
At any rate picked this up for my son. He’s got a small collection of tools growing.
$26.00 pretty decent price.

@ndfrigi
Tell them to check out their own website and search for "kobalt tool set".
https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=kobalt+tool+set

Plenty of items are marked down as "clearance" as we speak ...

That might be the best deal. Get them to honor web price while store stock is still good.

I remember years ago when Lowes blew out their American made Kobalt wrenches and sockets to bring in their new line...

Nothing on clearance at the Canton, Ga Lowe’s. But thanks for posting. Certainly worth the trip over.

My friend who works in one of the US foundries would debate that statement.

Almost all of the hand tools (Ratchets/Sockets/wrenches/Screw drivers) that Snap-on sells are US manufactured.

When you get into some of the accessories and diagnostic tools those come from everywhere.

Spent $60 at Lowe's here in San Angelo. Bought some odds and end stuff. There is only select stuff on sale. Picked up a $44 socket set for $9.99, a 27mm Chrome wrench (rear shock bolts) for $6.87 instead of $23, Dewalt sawzall blades (5 pack) for $2.75 regularly $15. You have to go and up and down each isle. Not just the Kobalt stuff on sale.

When people ask me about my tool boxes I say: " I have more than I need but less than I want"

How many do you have that are NOT in the background of this picture?

That is pretty much all the tool boxes.
The large Kobalt box directly behind the Craftsman
box was a return that I happened across while at Lowe’s
last year... Made a low ball offer and the Dept Manager
asked if I could take it out of the store right then.
I said yes and told Me to get it out of there.

Yesterday they were taking all the display power tools down
off the wall and marking them down.
Apparently they are doing a complete Dept reset over the
next 2 weeks at that store.
Grabbed a few More things while there. The drill bits were 5.00
A kit, the driver set was 10.00 and the saws all blades were .50
Each..

.Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

@914Sixer
And Lowes gives veterans 10 percent off. May not apoly to clearance. I was tol that Snap-on makes Kobalt. I never had a problem with them.

Didn't see anything much for sale at my Lowes today.

I really like my Kobalt hand tools. Sadly, I went to the local Lowe's today and found nothing on clearance. I was really hoping to pick up a set of open end and maybe ratchet box wrenches at a bargain.

The three Lowe's in my area have all been changing and restocking their tool departments, going from a majority blue Kobalt theme to a lot more red Craftsman theme. I am not sure I like the change as I have come to like the Kobalt tools I have. I have checked the tool departments several times during this process, but haven't found any special deals. In the past Lowes always had decent deals on various Kobalt tools during holiday periods, which is when I acquired many of mine.

I used to shop for Craftsman tools at Sears, but over the past few years one could see a decline in stock. The Sears auto store/garage in our area closed a couple of years ago. So much for my DieHard battery warranties. Then the Sears store closed this year, which was inevitable considering Sears overall situation. So, what do you do regarding Craftsman tool warranties?

I went and found many tools on reduced price. Both Kobolt anf Irwin. Store employee said she did not know of any brand switch but a saw a ton of Craftsman ( RIP ) stuff. Cant call them tools anymore. Look for yellow tags.


Found a bunch of hex bits at great prices. Most reduced items were sold out

I did some googling on this a few months ago and am pretty sure I read they can be warrantied anyplace that sells Craftsman tools. In addition to Lowe's, our Ace is selling them. The problem I've found is that my tools are so old and the local selections I've found are so slim, that I couldn't find comparable tools to swap them for. Like others have said, the quality has really declined.

Not sure about lowes but the Ace store in Greeneville requires a receipt for the craftsman tools. The didnt want to replace tools that someone dug up out of the dirt and didnt buy from them.

Stopped by Lowe’s in long Beach ca and kobalt tools are not on clearance. I’ll try again in a few weeks.

Lowe's Dublin CA had nothing on clearance either.

Hey Gandolf,

I went to my local Lowes today..........all excited.
I searched and searched and searched.
Finally I found a Kobalt offset screwdriver set for $1.00! Marked down from $3.18.
Not wanting to go home empty handed I decided to buy it.
When got to the check-out I was about the fourth person in line......o.k. not too bad.
But then the cashier picked up the phone and called somebody to do something, so I waited......and waited.........and waited.
Finally I said F it and went over to the self-checkout.........of course those were all full.
Finally one opened up so I scanned my screwdriver set..........it scanned at $3.18 not $1.00.
After looking around desperately for assistance a lady showed up and started punching buttons, swiping cards and moved her hands around the touch screen like a millennial texting their best bud.
I finally got out of there and had to fight traffic all the way home.

Oh btw...........did I tell you I DRIVE A TUNDRA........THOSE DON"T EXACTLY SIP GAS YOU KNOW.

You owe me some gas money.

Hm....

Guess I should have said YMMV.... Steve, you have a bicycle, don't you.??
I would think a nice bike ride on a day like today would have worked.??

Seems different parts of the country are doing different things...

A few months ago, I was wandering through the store and came across
some Special Order Patio Doors that the customer backed out on buying..

Here they are.... I plan on installing them at my nieces house later this year..
Sometimes, right time, right place works.....

Click to view attachment

Great...........rub it in.

Shoulda drove the 914, would’ve saved you some gas money.

Well, it's still on jackstands. I'm waiting for Gandolf to come over and help me finish it up, but he nevers shows up when he says he will.

I never claimed to be terribly reliable..
John B. Is far more reliable than me....

Just got back from vacation and saw this thread. I retired 3 years ago, and didn't want to sit at home, so I went to work at Lowes. I'm the Tools/Hardware Department Manager, so this thread hits home.

So:

* Lowes is cutting about 90% of the Kobalt products for Craftsman. It's a rolling debut, so not all stores will have everything on clearance at the same time.
* We dropped the sponsorship of Jimmy Johnson for all but a couple of races, de-emphasizing the Kobalt brand ( it was costing nearly 25 million a year for this.)
* A little known fact is that Lowes will deal on clearance products, so don't be shy about offering a lower price ( if it's clearance ). They may say no, but in my store I'll deal just to clear the stuff out.
* As part of the deal, Stanley agreed to bring most of the production back to the US. They will mostly be made in the Stanley factories.
* A lot of the Craftsman power tools are the Dewalt line, painted red.
* Walmart wanted the line, but Stanley wanted a more tool-centric retailer, hence Lowes.
* Lastly, did you know that Stanley, Black and Decker, Porter Cable, Dewalt and Craftsman are all the same company ( same ownership)??

I'm upset I've been to lowes three times this week and they keep telling me Clarence isn't here

Ron, Thanks for posting this. The cutback in Kobalt tools is what I am most aware of. I am not sure I like it, but I guess someone in the Lowes chain of command decided the Craftsman name had more value than Kobalt.