Looking for a hands-on tool experience? Craftsman has a store

Do-it-yourselfers will have their own experience store, just like techies have Apple.

Hoffman Estates-based Sears is debuting its Craftsman experience store on Thursday at 233 W. Huron St., Chicago, near its Kenmore experience store that opened last March.

Craftsman will offer demos and work stations on its brand of tools as well as lawn-and-garden equipment. Visitors also will see a Daytona 500 race car sponsored by Craftsman.

In addition, the store will launch an Internet radio station in September that will broadcast live programs and interact with consumers. Craftsman also will reach out further on the Internet via Facebook, said Kris Malkowski, Sears vice president and general manager of the Craftsman brand.

"As you walk in, your senses will be aroused by noise and visuals and by the touch of your hands," Malkowski said. "It will be a total immersion of everything possible that's Craftsman."

Sears, which has been seeking new ways to boost its sagging bottom line, hopes to reach more customers - and younger ones - by pushing its 80-year-old Craftsman brand through the experience store and via the Internet.

The store is expected to be permanent, although no other stores are planned at this time. It will be open from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Craftsman will provide a schedule of events that will be broadcast online.

The new concept could be appealing, especially for those who want to try out the tools first before buying, said retail analyst Neil Stern of Chicago-based McMillan/Doolittle LLP.

"This seems more like an attempt to elevate the brand and more like a marketing effort than a retail effort," said Stern.

But the new concept likely won't save Sears' sagging bottom line, nor fend off strong competition from other tool lines sold at Home Depot, Lowe's and other home improvement centers, said John Melaniphy, retail analyst and principal at Chicago-based Melaniphy & Associates.

"This is an attempt by Sears to see how this works for the Craftsman name and an attempt to take a large concentration of people in Chicago to try Craftsman again and learn more about the products," said Melaniphy. "If it's successful, they need to extend these stores throughout the country. They need to get them out to the malls."