Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

   Customers are coming in  asking  about bags, belts and filters for cleaners that Wal Mart sells. They were told they were discontinuing these products and want the customers to go online when they need these items. When you need a belt or anything else ,it is," I need it now", not days from now. These customers didn't like being told they had to go to another store if they had what they needed. In our area it is 20 miles in three directions for a store.

  Many small businesses have been driven out of business by this company as well as other big box stores.I feel there will be a ressurection of the Independent Vac Shops because people will find getting parts and service there is better than going online and waiting. Looking at a cleaner and seeing what it will do is better than buying online and hope it does what it is supposed to. Online sales will still be made but having the service after the sale is still important. 

You can say what you will about your favorite brand but when it gets down to buying a cleaner going to a Vac Shop is the best way.  At Wal Mart and the other big box stores they sell you what they want to sell you. At least with Vac shops you can find a wider variety of Vacuums.The Door to Door sales peolpe also have a variety. It is if the cleaner meets the needs of the consumer that they buy.

                                                                                                           Procare

Carmine,

I view the current  economic situation as the result of a very skewed set of values. The consumer culture as we know it is less than 100yrs old. The whole concept of creating needs that can never be fulfilled was deliberately crafted and foisted on the American public, We work to earn to spend, rather than  work to live, with spending as a necessity that is sometimes enjoyable. A healthy economy was a by-product rather that the raison d'etre.

We have reached a dead end. We already have too much stuff and can no longer afford to buy more, not even at reduced prices thanks to lower wages overseas and increasing trade deficits.  We in the US live in what is essential a gated community untouched by the troubles our consumptive lifestyle wreaks upon the rest of the world. Lives used up too soon to bring us the mall, where indulgence awaits the bearers of cash, check and above all else credit cards.

Natural capitalism views natural resources, including human capital as valuable, too valuable to be squandered or misappropriated or abused, but still recognizes the value of free markets and competition. It is a way out of the mess we find ourselves in without becoming a socialist country and ever increasing government intervention.

Trebor

Trebor wrote:
The UK isn't that far off. Thanks to the internet the consumer gets a better bargain than trade who mark up prices in a fight to survive. It works in some areas and in other areas, not.

Sadly, Americans are so "stuff" oriented that our propensity to have and want more has spawned a new American industry for storage centers nationwide.  Imagine, we are so tied to our possessions we pay to store them and never enjoy.  We've confused the desire to consume more and own more with happiness.  Albeit superficial as most learn with wisdom and age.

My daughter recently drove my old Ford Exp XLT and commented how old it was.  100,000 miles and almost 12 years old.  But, still going strong.  Every two weeks it doubles in value: I gas it up. 

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Hi Carmine,

Despite it being quite true that many Americans are suffering from too much of a good thing, obesity being an all too common ill these days, let's not forget that those nifty storages spaces are also being used by many displaced persons. They are trying, if nothing else, to hold onto some of what they have and what they feel they may not be able to soon buy again. 

I have seen much of it here in the city and its surrounds and speak of those persons who have suffered foreclosures, those who have lost rented spaces due to their loss of unemployment benefits and no likely possibilities of work in view.  There are those as well who are working but who have been forced to take smaller living spaces due to the unaffordability of more adequate but reasonable space because of low rates of pay or fixed income.

We shouldn't forget either that here we often advocate the ownership of more than one vacuum as opposed to suggesting just one that may prove good all around for the average person.

Again a possible answer to all this is for us over-consumers to learn to say, "Uh-uh, I don't need it."  But, that's a long way off I think. Let those that can thank the Lord for money and solid medical insurance to cover their excesses. Let those doing without thank Him anyhow.

Venson

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson:

Sad but true.  Not only using the storage spaces for clutter but some, illegal as it is, live in them for lack of a place. 
We can thank the US foreclosure mess to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Government Supported Enterprises promoted by the likes of Senators Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank.  Home ownership was the American dream.  Now it's an American nightmare.  40 percent of Americans owned homes in pre-WW11 America.  By mid 80's, 65 percent.  Right before the housing bubble burst in 2007, the percentage was 74, the highest its ever been.  It's gone down dramatically since then.  After one home, many bought another, and another.  Using the over inflated equity in one for the down payment on another.  Washington DC sold us a bill of goods.

Back to here.  With more and larger homes, came the need for more vacuums.  With home foreclosures and less new homes built, there's less of a need for more vacuums.  Consumers are saying "no" and getting more frugal with spending.  Buy, use, and reuse.  Like the good old days.  Hence, the reason for W*M and other BBR stores cutting back on number of products, sizes, brands, staff, etc to reduce costs and shore up the bottom line. 

The Almighty should always get paid first [we use to call it tithing.  10 percent says the Bible].  Like the old poor woman in the temple who gave her last 2 pennies in the money box [you can hear the miniscule sound they made] but gave more than the rich Pharisees who put in heavy coins making big loud noises for all to hear.

Where your treasure is, there will be your heart.  

Carmine D.    

CarmineD wrote:

All I'd like is to have is enough to lend to reasonable comfort.  I don't need a powder room or extra bath, a deluxe kitchen or closets overflowing with clothes.  I can manage quite well with what I already have for the time being.  All I want is the privilege to greet the first of the month and the bills that come without shaking in my shoes.  Unfortunately, that's a problem shared everywhere it seems. 

I don't see myself as unfulfilled merely because I don't own a house.  A nice thing, yes but home ownership is, has and will always be something that only some of us may realistically hope for and there's nothi,ng wrong with that.  As well home ownership is not always everyone's cup of tea.  You can raise kids on concrete just as well you can on a grassy front and back yard  It's been done many times.

Thinking in that same vein, I would also say you need just one decent machine that fits your needs to help you get along.  Unless you've bought Windsor Castle, you merely have to pace your cleaning so that you take care of a little each day as opposed to attempting to make the whole place spic and span all in one Saturday.  Two vacuums are really only nice when there's someone else to work with the other one and save you some time. 

Best,

Venson

Venson.

The problem with saying "I don't need it" is that our entire economy has shifted to one of indulging wants rather than fulfilling needs. We have been trained to spend our way out of recession, and as I stated in an earlier post we have hit a wall where we can no longer do that. It just doesn't work. anymore. What is needed is a fundamental shift in how we view life and work, one that values human capital over excessive profit, and can endure ups and downs in profit as long as the general trend is upward. The stockholders screaming for higher and faster returns on investments have fueled the shift to foreign labor and the falling value of the dollar. The absolute disgrace of 'golden parachutes' for CEO's who have led their corporations to bankruptcy has not helped either. The solution is local industries, local economies, local.businesses. The' Small is Beautiful concept by E F Schumacher. With the world wide web there can be a plethora of specialized niche manufacturers and retailers providing exactly what the customer desires without all the Madison Avenue hype and hoopla.  There are thriving locally based communities scattered throughout the country and the world that even issue their own local scrip for currency. We have been trained to look to big government and big business to solve our problems instead of looking at the pool of talents and skills that exist locally. We CAN do it. We just need to see that we can do it, and begin.

Peace

Trebor wrote:

Trebor,

You're talking to someone who makes his own mayonnaise.  The games of life AND business are and have always been played on several tiers simultaneously and 24/7 all the way through.  In tandem with that reality, as always, "them that's got"  usually get to have the most fun while the nickel a bet guys get their thrills as best they can. I have no time to worry over what someone else is getting since what's theirs is not mine in the first place.  The real issue is whether or not I'm going to get enough of what I need. 

If someone's able to run a game on a major coprorration and get a parachute clause off of what is perceived to be his or her super star potential, more power to 'em.  The heights they may reach can be dazzling but the downward spiral so often viewed is quick and landing on your butt can be oh so very painful.

We already know that we're being played by industry and government all for the sake of money.  To me common sense says if you don't want to be played with pull some of your money off the table and begin getting a little stingy.  If I decide I don't need the flavor-of-the-day vacuum -- I don't need it.  If I'm happy enough with an HD TV you're not going to show 3-D TV down my throat unless I feel I want it.  I am not a fan of Nancy Reagan but I like to "just say no."

You may be too young to remember the bus boycotts back in the day after Rosa Parks' arrest for deciding not to give up her seat on one.  But, people objected and then decided they weren't going for it and refused to use the local buses.  They sacrificed of course.  Some people walked to work daily, some carpooled.  At the end of the day the bus company knuckled under and people of color from then on could sit wherever they chose on a public bus. 

However, no hand from Heaven swung down and knocked anyone at the bus company off the proverbial mule nor were any other type epiphanies experienced.  They simply missed the money. Missing money changes the mind of lots of men as to how they conduct business.

I don't have to have something just because someone else says so.  I'm the guy who has to pay for it and if you can't give me what I want the way I want it and when I want -- you get to keep it.  Simple as that.  I go on and find the thing elsewhere at an establishment where I believe my money wll serve people that I mght be able to respect in sense, shape or form. 

I am not as fearful of what future lurch big business may leave in me as I am of folks who feel they have no control over money they themselves have to go out and sweat for.  Life needn't be all that complicated if we refuse to allow others -- especially those wanting our money -- to complicate it.  Follow 'ol Nancy's rule -- if you don't want it, don't need it, if you know it's not good for you . . . tell 'em heck no.

Venson

Venson,

I'm not 100% sure we are on the same wavelength.  I believe it is our acceptance of a hierarchical system that devalues human labor that has created the present  situation, based on a belief in scarcity.  I liked your example of Rosa Parks.  When we as consumers unite and stop supporting corporations that pay exorbitant bonuses to executives, then those will stop. What we need to do is pay attention, When companies realize that people are paying attention to what they do, and basing buying decisions on that data, things will really change.

I choose to support local restaurants and coffee shops rather than national chains.  I had a manager at a local cafe seat me in a section other than where my favorite waitress was working.  I asked to be moved, he refused. i got up and left.  When I returned a few days later, i was seated in Lori's section, and every time I patronize the establishment, i am seated where Lori is waiting tables. I always get great service, and I tip her well.   I support a local used book reseller, both selling and buying books there.  The more we can revive our local economies, the faster we can jump start the national economy.  Small really is beautiful.

Trebor wrote:

Hello Trebor/Venson:

I do/did the same.  To this very day.  It's not just about the food/meal, it's about the eating experience including socialization. 

With the very likely possibility that a double dip rececession is in the offing, based on the latest housing data, the Mom and Pop stores/businesses will make a comeback.  The pendulum is swinging the other way: Local businesses rather than BBR stores.  I luv it.

To those who follow closely, I mentioned this back in 2005 when local city and county ordinances in Prince William County VA put instituted space restrictions on BBR store space.  The incident in particular limited a new Wal*Mart's building space to less than half the normal size.  The Prince William County board advised W*M management if it didn't like the new restrictions it could take over one of the exisiting buildings/stores that had been shuttered.  W*M looked elsewhere.   

Carmine D.