I had a good wander round a middle sized branch in LA earlier in the year, shopping with my son for his first, small, DIY, home toolkit.
The "disposable" Chinese stuff was quite a bit cheaper than here, and their air tools were relatively cheap, but really "what it's worth" pricing (we're ripped off here, IMHO), not absolute bargains. I didn't see any high quality stuff (but it was suburbia).
Nice father-son moment, but I wouldn't go there for anything important to take home, and certainly wouldn't try to import anything from them - I trust Axminster's QC far more (other good British importers are available, probably).
Sears, OTOH, certainly used to have a reputation for good quality. I've got a few small things from them in the past, that I still have, such as a rachet screwdriver (I like their spanners too). But again, when you want to import, as opposed to bringing home "souvenirs", the economics swing against you.
