As Stanley began rolling out its Craftsman products, selling them at retailers including Lowe’s and Ace Hardware, Sears defended its ties to the brand. A company blog post in August said Sears still had the largest Craftsman selection of any U.S. retailer. After Sears sought bankruptcy protection in October, in the run-up to the critical holiday shopping season, Sears referred to itself as the “original” or “real” home of Craftsman on social media.