Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Thought the Dyson discussion board would be interested in reading a small article about the Tacony Museum. Also Carmine's old friend.....

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/hit-the-road-jack/hit-the-road-jack/2009/08/new-museum-opens-at-st-james-on-historic-route-66/

CarmineD wrote:
Your philosophy seems to go against much of what you say here.  The vacuums I sell between $50 and $150 are new and not rebuilt and they sell for the exact same price as the box stores. Why do you not think the independent vac store does not need your business when you're buying in this price range?  We do not make a great deal of margin on the original sale but you put 20 or 30 sales together and the amounts at the end of the month add up.  By skipping the independent all together you are taking that chunk of income away from them every month.  BTW, I have no problem with people coming into the store, pointing to a vacuum to buy, and selling it to them...just like the big boxes.  You should give it a try at your local vac store next time you buy a Hoover.  I'm sure they'd be happy to do business with you.

Dusty

Hello Dusty:

I frequent two indies here in North LAs Vegas for my vacuum purchases not counting the 2 ORECK stores I visit adn buy from.  Neither of the Indies sell the HOOVER TEMPO's and/or DD Kruz.  I bought the latter for my Wife who liked it when she saw on HSN.  The novelty wore off and my daughter inherited it.  She doesn't use it, but my 5 year old grand daughter does and enjoys vacuuming with it.  The HOOVER TEMPO's were bought with a specific purpose in mind.  To compare the MExican made HOOVER/Maytag with the China made TTI/HOOVER.  I posted the results here and then quickly gifted the TTI/China TEMPO to a local church.

My sense based on my own personal and professional vacuum experience, is that indies here in the USA shy away/avoid new vacuum brands and models in the $50-$100 range that compete head on with the big box stores.  They can't compete on the sales prices.  Maybe Canada is different? 

Carmine D.

BTW Dusty, if the HOOVER store was still in business at the time, I would have made the purchases from it.  As I did with the HOOVER WT Supreme which I paid $150, [about $30 higher than the big box stores were selling], HOOVER Ultra lightweight, and about one dozen HOOVER Sliders.  Sadly when I purchased the TEMPO's the HOOVER store had closed.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:
No wonder they closed.  You told the world that you bought 2 vacs from a bb store.  Remember Carmine, the world sees what you write and since you are a pro they do as you do.  

CarmineD wrote:
Hi Carmine,

Nope,  Canada is no different.  The difference is in attitude.  We have dealers here that won't touch low end machines because they don't make enough money on them and that's the only reason.  We don't usually have a problem matching most department store sales (occasionally someone sells below our cost, but that happens with high end too) , we may only make 20 or 30 dollars but we also pick up bag sales, service and of course a new customer.  Personally I think dealers that won't deal with low end because of margins are rather short sighted.  Getting a customer when they are young, and that means usually selling low profit product, means keeping a customer for life if you treat them right.

Dusty

dusty wrote:
I agree. In defense of those who don't... not everyone has snobbish reasons. In my case I can't afford to buy 10-20 vacs at a time, occupy sales floor space and hold the rest in storage to actually make the $20's. I realize in the SHORT TERM, Economically it makes sense to sell one HE vac to make the $400 dollars as it would to sell 20 cheapies. This economy is a learning process for all retailers, as we react to it, some dealers will survive who make the right choices and some will fail who don't and then there will be some that fate decides for them, some answers will be in our own hands others will just be destiny.

Lucky1 wrote:
Hi Lucky,

I agree, everyone has their own reasons.  When our store was small and we were just starting out we always went with a "one to show and one to go" setup.  We may not have had a lot of inventory but at least if someone came in we could show we had box store vacuums at box store prices.  Getting the customer doesn't always mean making a sale right away, sometimes it's just the fact you can leave them with the impression they can come back and know they are not paying to much because they are at a small store.  We also liked to find dealer only vacs that our supplier would sell...they may not have big brand names but usually you could offer more features than a big box vac for not much more money.  Never hurts to cover all the bases.

Dusty

Hello Dusty, Lucky1:

Space was always an issue for me and most indies I know.  Hence, indies pick and chose their selections carefully.  The choices you want to offer are brands/models in the same price range as the big box retialers but with a little something more to clinch the sale over the big box store models.   That's what's closes the new vacuum deal so you win the customer. 

I had particular reasons for buying a $75 TEMPO at BEST BUY and a $55 TEMPO at KOHL's [Average cost $65] and a $99 DD Kruz at BEST BUY [BTW about $25 more than its worth].  It wasn't for getting the best bang for my buck.  In that case I'd shop/buy at an Indie and do. 

Carmine D.

HARDSELL wrote:

As well they should and do HS!  So I adsk what's wrong with you?

Carmine D.

HS:

THe closing of the HOOVER stores which I liked to frequent was not only a huge loss for HOOVER but for all makes including your fave.  These stores wre staffed with skilled and trained repair people who serviced all makes and models and were grossly underpaid.

I mentioned that HOOVER blew it in the late 60's.  It takes years for these mistakes to have their full impact.  The closing of the HOOVER stores recently was probably the last in a series of ongoing adverse consequences of the management decisions made by HOOVER in the late 60's.

Carmine D.