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I don't think I've had a tool from Princess Auto last more than four minutes.

Mind you, Crappy Tire isn't much better, but at least you can take the broken thing back

You don't buy your primary tools at Princess Auto (a friend of mine broke a few fingers when his new socket handle fell apart under load) but it's a fantastic place to browse around and pick up all the *other* stuff.

I mean, if someone asked me to build a giant robot in a hurry my first stop would be at PA and that would probably cover 80% of what I needed.

You buy seldom used/one time use items from Princess Auto as they do seem to break easily. BTW, you can return their Power Fist branded hand tools when broken for replacement just like anywhere else. I still prefer Sears Craftsman hand tools to Mastercraft (Canadian Tire) although the Maximum line from Canadian tire is of good quality.

I saw Crappy Tire used a few posts back, for those South of the border this is the usual slang for Canadian Tire.

Princess Auto does sell mostly offshore, umm....crap, but occasionally have some very good surplus clearances on decent items. Craftsman, overall, I find to be similar if slightly better than Mastercraft, but not as good as Mastercraft Maximum. I've bought wrenches, for instance, from Sears and they are finished poorly on the ends and also have an uncomfortable grip which tends to cut into my hands on frozen/rusted bolts. I think they have different suppliers though, so maybe not all of their wrenches are like that. I also bought a 12" sliding mitre saw by Craftsman that I'd definately replace with a competitors saw in the future once it goes. My neighbour has the same saw, and the bearings get fouled up with dust and start binding. Mine has also become noisy after only a couple of years.

Power Tools are another matter, Dewalt, Makita, Milwakee, Bosch, Rigid etc. are all prefered over Craftsman/Mastercraft. Although B&D make Dewalt and most of the Craftsmen power tools.

Just did some quick research and it looks like Mastercraft and Sears are now getting their hand tools from Stanely Black and Decker Company, well from any one of their tool divisions, Matco, Facom, Proto etc.

http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/products-services/our-brands