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The Craftsman brand has a long and often convoluted history. Originating in 1927, it was exclusive to Sears for most of its existence, until the Craftsman name was sold to Stanley Black & Decker in 2017, around the same time as Sears brands like DieHard and Kenmore. Now carried in several retailers across the country, Craftsman has experienced a revitalization of sorts, establishing itself as a brand for homeowners, DIYers, and weekend warriors looking to take on a project, rather than professionals looking for precision tools that will last a lifetime.
My first job out of technical school was as a Sears automotive technician; my first tool storage cart was a Craftsman, and so was my first set of mechanic’s tools. I was with the company for 10 years before my store closed. In that time, I purchased and exchanged countless tools, taking advantage of the fact that I got a store discount, and that there was an entire tool store just outside of my auto shop. Today, online shopping is the norm, and Craftsman tools are available for home delivery or in-store pickup from a handful of different retailers. What follows is a list of six of the best places you can buy Craftsman tools online, as suggested by the brand itself and by me, a Craftsman owner and enthusiast.
Lowe’s is often considered the DIYer’s alternative to Home Depot’s professional warehouse store. The store doesn’t carry professional brands like Milwaukee, but makes up for it with lower prices on power tools than Home Depot and price match policies that include online retailers.
Lowe’s is more than just a place to buy Craftsman tools and outdoor power equipment — the home improvement retailer was a key factor in the brand’s revitalization after Sears sold it off after years of allowing the Craftsman name to tarnish its reputation. Today, Lowe’s treats Craftsman a lot like how Home Depot uses its own Husky brand — as a lower-end prosumer line that features a variety of solid products at a low price. The tools aren’t the first choice for professionals, but they aren’t meant to be. Instead, Craftsman is a brand found in garages of DIY mechanics and workshops of woodworking enthusiasts all across the nation.
Lowe’s offers shipping and in-store pickup for its online customers, and the store’s focus on Craftsman products is evident in its large displays in its stores, and its website, which features Craftsman in its power tool, outdoor power equipment, and hand tool sections. Lowe’s also honors the well-known Craftsman warranty on its hand tools, although you’ll have to stop into a brick and mortar store to take advantage of it.
Ace is unique among the big-name hardware retailers in that it’s not a franchise-driven enterprise. Rather, Ace Hardware is a group of small business owners, united under one name to offer up some brand familiarity, while still remaining flexible enough to serve the unique needs of their individual communities. That’s why you’ll often see that your local Ace Hardware has a unique name — for example, where I live in the Denver area, we’ve got Ace on the Fax and Jerry’s Ace Hardware at City Park.
This conglomeration of independent local hardware stores feels like a perfect fit for the old Craftsman brand. Many DIYers (myself included) will have grown up near an Ace, and remember running into the store to say hi to the owner before grabbing a socket and a ratchet to fix a bike pedal, or a pipe wrench for a leaky faucet. Currently, Ace’s Craftsman department sells over 1,000 products, including power tools, air compressors, outdoor power equipment, and tools for your home garage. Ace also features a free rewards program and online ordering for in-store pickup or home delivery, providing an easy alternative to those endless tool runs. Although, honestly, with Ace in particular, the tool runs are half the fun!
Founded in 1960, general-store style retailer Atwoods is based out of Enid, Oklahoma, with over 80 stores in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. The business now employs over 3,000 people in its stores and distribution centers, offering online ordering with in-store pickup options, and shipping for folks who don’t live near its locations.
If you’ve never experienced one, visiting a rural supply store like Atwoods is a fantastic way to spend an afternoon. The sheer variety of stuff to buy can be overwhelming, especially for a new homeowner or anyone just starting out in a trade. The tool aisles alone will make anyone’s credit cards move a little deeper into their wallet for fear of being maxed out, and that’s before we get into the massive country market area with candies straight out of your finest Halloween hauls. Atwoods even offers free popcorn to enjoy while you browse its massive retail locations.
The store provides everything you might need for a rural lifestyle, from beekeeping equipment to log splitters. Atwoods also carries plenty of Craftsman products, including outdoor power equipment and specialty tools for automotive, construction, and woodworking jobs. Those tools will come in handy on any homestead or ranch, but there’s nothing to keep even the most urban of gardeners from browsing and ordering online from Atwoods, either.
An eCommerce company supplying businesses with everything from TVs and paint to tools and auto parts, Zoro has grown from a 20-person business into a massive supplier that employs over 650 people — all in under 15 years. The company stocks more than a million unique products on its website, and as a digital-first business, Zoro constantly updates its online store to make searching for and ordering products fast, easy, and efficient.
Zoro says that most orders are delivered in one or two business days, and shipping is free for orders over $50 with a free account. And while Zoro markets itself as a business that sells products to other businesses, you can just as easily set up a personal account and shop Zoro’s massive selection of goods.
Zoro’s Craftsman product selection includes around 1,000 items, and that’s not just wrenches and sockets. Craftsman snow throwers, air compressors, and hot water heaters are listed alongside more expected items like tool boxes and cordless power tools. And since it’s primarily a business that exists to stock the shelves of other businesses, you can find a lot of specialty tools like mechanics tool sets, janitorial supplies, and landscaping equipment that will be just as comfortable in your garage as they would in a supply closet at work.
For the uninitiated, Blain’s Farm and Fleet is a ranch supply store that sells just about everything you’d need to live comfortably on a ranch, farm, or off-grid property. A popular destination for Midwestern residents, Blain’s Farm & Fleet has 45 stores across Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. The “modern general store” also offers drive thru order pickup, shipping (including same day local delivery) and services in line with an outdoor lifestyle like hunting licensing and live chick sales. And as a budget-friendly alternative to Northern Tool, the retailer offers reliably low prices on its wide array of tools and equipment from a number of manufacturers, both well-known and less so.
Blain’s Farm & Fleet manages a huge Craftsman lineup featuring hand tools, riding mowers, tools storage, and power equipment. That selection of tools shows up in-store on shelves and display racks, but also on the retailer’s website, where Blain’s manages an entire online storefront for Craftsman tools. With over a dozen categories including power tools, tow behind equipment, metal storage, and long handled tools, shoppers should be able to find whatever Craftsman products they’re looking for easily — or they can just spend hours browsing the available products and adding them to their online cart.
From AirPods to zip ties, odds are if you can think of a product, it’s available on Amazon. The online mega-retailer sells about 50 different versions of any item, from just about every brand, and Craftsman tools are no exception. However, while you can often find cheap tools that are actually worth buying on Amazon, sometimes it’s worth spending a little more for a brand name you trust.
Craftsman manages an Amazon storefront to help shoppers easily sift through the toolmaker’s products using categories like customer rating, tool category, or featured deals. Like the other places you can buy Craftsman tools online on this list, Amazon is an authorized Craftsman retailer, meaning the brand will honor warranties from online sales through Amazon. That may seem like a minor thing to mention, but it is not the case for all the tools you’ll find on Amazon. Many big-name professional grade tool brands are sold on Amazon via third parties, and it’s important to note that those aren’t always authorized dealers. Warranties may not be honored by the manufacturers if you don’t get exactly what you expected, or have an issue with a tool after purchase, so you should definitely think twice before buying Milwaukee power tools from Amazon, for instance.