Products sold under the Craftsman brand generated $196 million in retail sales in the year ended Dec. 29, and the brand remains on target for $1 billion in annual revenue by 2021, Stanley Black & Decker (SBD) executives said in releasing Q4 earnings. Sears bought the Craftsman brand from Sears in 2017.

The bulk of sales – storage products and hand tools – were SBD-manufactured products, but company expects to shift the business to about 40 licensees this year. The Craftsman rollout so far has been “well received” by retailers and consumers, CEO Jim Loree said. Twenty licensees introduced about 100 Craftsman products last year out of the more than 1,000 SKUs that were available.

Lowe’s, Ace Hardware dealers, and Blaine’s Farm & Fleet have been the main retailers of Craftsman products, with the former shifting emphasis to the brand as Home Depot gained an exclusive for Stanley and Stanley FatMax products. Lowe’s also will maintain some of SBD’s Porter Cable products.

Despite Sears’ well-publicized financial struggles, it has been “business as usual” for Craftsman, which SBD acquired from Sears in 2017.

Despite the Craftsman contribution, profit in SBD’s tools and storage business declined 1% in Q4 ended Dec. 29 to $382 million, despite a 4% revenue gain to $2.58 billion. SBD forecasts a 4%-6% increase in tools and storage revenue this year, with the company’s overall sales expected to rise 4%.

In Q4, SBD swung to a $65 million net loss from a $281 million profit a year earlier as it took $102 million in restructuring-related charges. Total revenue increased 5% to $3.63 billion.

Contact:

Stanley Black & Decker, Jeffrey Ansell, President Tools and Storage, 860-225-5111, Jeffrey.ansell@sbdinc.com