Bloomberg reported that the Craftsman tools brand is being sold to Stanley Black & Decker Inc. Stanley Works was an American-made legend in its time, but Black & Decker might as well have changed its name to B&D Chinese Imports long ago, with the two merging in 2010. Sears is selling the famous brand because it has run out of cash.
Not surprisingly, Bloomberg barely mentioned the name of the person responsible for the steep decline of Sears: batshit crazy CEO Eddie Lampert who treats managers as if they are players in one of Ayn Rand's science fiction tomes. A few years ago, before Bloomberg bought-and-ruined Businessweek, the latter reported on not-so-fast Eddie's dalliances with the libertarian queen, noting even then that its stock had sunk 64%.
"They're going to continue to deteriorate," prophesized Mary Ross Gilbert, a managing director at investment bank Imperial Capital.
Less than one month ago, libertarian lackey Megan McArdle reported on the almost-dearly-departed Sears, but completely omitted any mention of the impact of her hero, Lampert.
Craftsman tools had always been American-made, but he outsourced their manufacture to China at least as early as 2013 as I wrote before. He killed the golden goose when he did so, because Chinese-made tools can be found anywhere.
It wouldn't be my preference, but the DieHard batteries brand would be valuable to a Chinese manufacturer looking to enter the U.S. market or to a libertarian looking to open a U.S. shell office and associated Chinese factory and cash in on the brand. There's no shortage of those people here in the republic of social Darwinism.
A Chinese manufacturer would have killed to obtain the Kenmore appliances trademark, as it could have declined to renew current contracts with U.S. suppliers and started the process of making Kenmore appliances a major supplier of Chinese products. Trump will not be nearly as cooperative as Obama has been. That Chinese ship has sailed.
Not surprisingly, Bloomberg barely mentioned the name of the person responsible for the steep decline of Sears: batshit crazy CEO Eddie Lampert who treats managers as if they are players in one of Ayn Rand's science fiction tomes. A few years ago, before Bloomberg bought-and-ruined Businessweek, the latter reported on not-so-fast Eddie's dalliances with the libertarian queen, noting even then that its stock had sunk 64%.
"They're going to continue to deteriorate," prophesized Mary Ross Gilbert, a managing director at investment bank Imperial Capital.
Less than one month ago, libertarian lackey Megan McArdle reported on the almost-dearly-departed Sears, but completely omitted any mention of the impact of her hero, Lampert.
Craftsman tools had always been American-made, but he outsourced their manufacture to China at least as early as 2013 as I wrote before. He killed the golden goose when he did so, because Chinese-made tools can be found anywhere.
It wouldn't be my preference, but the DieHard batteries brand would be valuable to a Chinese manufacturer looking to enter the U.S. market or to a libertarian looking to open a U.S. shell office and associated Chinese factory and cash in on the brand. There's no shortage of those people here in the republic of social Darwinism.
A Chinese manufacturer would have killed to obtain the Kenmore appliances trademark, as it could have declined to renew current contracts with U.S. suppliers and started the process of making Kenmore appliances a major supplier of Chinese products. Trump will not be nearly as cooperative as Obama has been. That Chinese ship has sailed.