The usual vacuum suspects for sale in the weekly news ads.  Just BEST BUY and CIRCUIT CITY making the vacuum ad news.  
 
BB has the dyson DC07 for $399, the HOOVER Elite Rewind bagless upright for $99, BISSELL Lift-off bagless for $179 and Eureka Maxima bagged for $39.  No discounts.  
 
CC has the dyson DC07 for $399, the DC07 Animal for $499, the HOOVER WT 2 Extra Reach for $259 (with 20 foot hose add on and 8 inch hard floor brush), and the BISSELL Clean View Power Trak for $99.  No interest for 90 days on floorcare over $99.  No deals here either.
 
Oreck opted out of vacuums this week in favor of Air Purifiers.  He does give away the 2 in one stick vac as a promotion.  Good advertising timing with the recent Ionic Breeze Air Purifier news and settlement.  
 
That's all folks.
 
Carmine D.

HAPPY SUPER BOWL XL1 SUNDAY
 
Slow Sunday sales advertisements for vacuums this week.  Undoubtedly due to the "big game."  But there are a few of note.  
 
BEST BUY has a nice line up:  BISSELL HEALTHY HOME with a new price drop of $50 bringing the sale price to $249.  No doubt taking the lead from Wal*Mart which recently did the same.  And the old reliable Eureka BOSS Smart Vac (bagged) for $149 with a bonus: The power paw.  This unit is one of BEST BUY's best sellers.  And a Consumer Reports best buy for many years running.  
 
And dyson's two latest and greatest vacuums: The DC17 Absolute Animal for $549 and the DC16 Hand Held for $149.  MSRP for both.  Sorry, no dyson deals here.
 
Two of HOOVER's Murderer's Row: The All Terrain Steam Vac for $299 and the WT 2 Surface Command for $265.  
 
Vacuums are conspicuously absent this week from CIRCUIT CITY.  But, if all you got to sell are leftover 4 year old/new vacuums, why bother?  Right?  Save the advertising bucks for "NEW" stuff that sells.  
 
TARGET makes the showcase.  The dyson DC07 Animal for $499 BEFORE a $50 GiftCard.  My advice: Wait for another sale, maybe next month for President's Day.  And hope for at least a $100 Giftcard.  
 
BISSELL's ProHeat DirtLifter for $169 BEFORE a $20 Giftcard.  
 
And the often maligned vacuum brand Dirt Devil with the Reaction Dual Cyclonic for $144.  And if you prefer to really go on the cheap, cheap: The Dirt Devil Vibe bagless for $39.  That's a price drop.
 
TARGET's last in the roundup: The Eureka Altima with the Spinduster for $75: Another price drop.
 
Looks like Eureka makes the lineup all around.  Maybe due to Consumer Reports?  But....it doesn't get the win for this week.  NO.........................the winner is.......................
 
ORECK.  Yes indeed.  Mr. Dave, standing tall in between his XL Classic for $299, with the "free" Compact canister at his feet, and the "free" Electrikbroom at his side.  Giving ONE thumbs up and wearing a star studded Red, White and Blue tie.  Mr. America of the vacuums!  But there's more: A $100 Referral Reward for ORECK Parties.  You go Dave!
 
And now for the biggest football game of the season: The winner IS.................the best team: Either Da Chicago BEARS or the Indy Colts (by way of Baltimore in 1985).  Defense versus Offense.  And despite all the last minute football cliches: "You need to establish the run; It's all about momentum; Penalties make the all the difference"; the only one that counts on game day is: DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS.  Its been that way in 86 percent of the Supers.  The team that allowed the least number of points during the regular season won the big game 86 percent of the time.  That would be the NFC BEARS with 255.   The AFC Colts allowed a whopping 360.  
 
So the favored team should be the BEARS not the Colts.  If the Colts win, as expected (by 7 points) by every TV radio news media sports announcer, commentator, and writer (except Mike Ditka), they will actually be pulling off one of Super Bowl history's biggest upsets.  And this according to sports writer Allen St. James who writes the Column: By The Numbers.  What do you expect?  He writes for the Wall Street Journal.
 
Enjoy the game.
 
Carmine D.

Hello Tiger21:
 
Congrats on the win.  Straight up AND with the spread!  Allen St. James forgot the other football truism:  GOOD OFFENSE BEATS GOOD DEFENSE. I noticed Mike Ditka was conspicuously absent from all the post game shows.  He is loyal to his team.
 
Thanks for the correction on the year.  Memory isn't what it use to be and never was that good to begin with.  I recall the Baltimore Colts left in the middle of the night.
 
I hope you "cleaned up" with the COLTS win!
 
Here's the good news for winners and losers.  Legend has it that the most beloved and accurate Wall Street stock market predictor is based on the team that wins the Super Bowl.  This year in an unusual twist Wall Street believers KNEW the market was destined higher.  Why?  Based on the legend, a win for one of the 16  "original" NFL teams or a National Football Conference expansion team signals a market gain for the year (Bullish indicator).  While a win for one of the 10 AFL teams or an American expansion team predicts a decline (Bearish indicator).  Since both the BEARS and the COLTS were in the National Football League prior to its 1970 merger with the American Football League stocks are headed up.
 
This is the Wall Street equivalent of relying on Punxsutawney Phil (or another groundhog) to predict how long wintry weather will last.
 
It has been accurate in 32 of 40 games.  Giving it an accuracy rate of 80 percent.  There have been seven other years when two original NFL teams faced off in the Super Bowl.  Six times, the market as tracked by Dow Jones Industrial Average, went up.  Giving it an accuracy rate of almost 86 percent.  Excellent betting odds.  Predictor or simple coincidence?   
 
So, Super Bowl winners and losers still have another chance to "clean up."
 
Carmine D.

Several retailers are getting a head start to the President's Day sales.  
 
HOME DEPOT, SEARS, and Kohl's have sales in effect starting today and through Tuesday.  Vacuums featured for sale by HOME DEPOT include the HOOVER Legacy line and the BISSELL HEALTHY HOME.  Joining the ranks of Wal*Mart and BEST BUY, HOME DEPOT has reduced the BISSELL HH bagless is $249.
 
SEARS is offering its usual array of bagged canisters and uprights at 20% off and the top of the line dyson DC17 Absolute Animal at $549.  But SEARS says the dyson price is before "in-store savings."
 
Kohl's takes a similar tact with dyson vacuums:  Advertising a dyson "MAP friendly price" but saying "see the final price" if purchased.  Take a look.
 
http://www.kohls.com/main/bonus_buy_specialty_category.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=431439089&cmID=C432577647L62784U11944718X536174381
 
Carmine D.

HSN had a full day and night of dyson sales: The DC07 Low Reach with play dyson Animal ($40 retail) for $409; the DC14 (model made exclusively for BEST BUY) with rug care kit and stiff round brush (retail for both is $68) for $399; DC16 Hand Held $149.
 
Dave Simkus (sp?), Suzanne Runyan, and Shannon Smith.  They did a good job but Dave, the dyson sales expert, messed up big time a few times.  Although these demos are scripted, the spontaneity does lead to on air surprises from time to time.  If you are quick and savvy enough to eye them.  (Note the dust cloud when the dyson is dumped and the lady trying to hide the dirty pre-motor filter during the wash).
 
Using the DC14, Dave overfilled the dirt bin with cat litter and coffee grinds.  The mixture covered and blocked the air holes on the shroud.  With all the stuff still in the bin, Dave went to carpet cleaning mode to remove the cat pet hair.  About 50 swatches he placed on the rug's surface (not ground in).  The dyson DC14 struggled to pick up the hair with several back and forth passes.  And it never got all the hair up after some time (shades of CR and Which?).
 
Lesson learned.  When Dave demoed the DC07 several hours later, he reminded the audience (really himself) that in the previous demo with the dyson and cat hair, "there was no room left in the dirt bin to pick up the cat hair!"  (Nice try Dave to recover.)   Before the pet hair pick up, Dave smartly removed the dyson dirt bin after the cat litter and coffee grinds were inside, dumped half out to the fill line, and then did the cat hair demo.  Better than before but still not the best.  Can't compensate for a weak brush roll.
 
Obviously dyson is unloading its 1st and 2nd generations of vacuums on HSN and offering better deals than the big box retailers for the same/similar models.  If you use the HSN credit card (which you can apply for with the TV purchase) you have no interest and payments for 9 months from purchase.
 
With the HSN dyson extras (i.e., the carpet care kit with the DC14 consists of dyzolv (for stains), zorb (for rug cleaning) the stiff round brush (used in the car care kit) and the zorb application tool) the MSRP on these dysons would generally cost at least $100 more.  So $399 for a DC14 and $409 for the DC07 Low Reach and the play dyson beats most current retailers' dyson prices.  Save the 20 percent off by Bed Bath and Beyond and Linens N Things, especially on the DC17 Absolute Animal for $440.
 
Of course, no HSN sales pitch would be complete without the usual TV testimonials.  And true to form there were a number of dyson users who called to praise their purchases.  Sorry I can't include me.
 
Also sold was the HOOVER Floormate for $134.  It sells itself.  The HSN and HOOVER sellers were just along to style and profile.  I am a huge fan of the HOOVER Floormate.  Especially for $134.  But no HSN telephone testimonials for the HOOVER Floormate.  I would have called.  And maybe sneaked in some dyson comments too!
 
Much discussion was made about the high prices for the dyson vacuums.  Both by the HSN promoters and their testimonial callers.  To down play the high prices, the TV sellers talked up the HSN flex plan payment option, the interest and payment free 9 months AND the 5 YEAR DYSON WARRANTY.  That last option/statement was repeated more times by Dave than the famous dyson "NEVER LOSES SUCTION" claim.
 
Which reminds me: How is Wal*Mart doing with sales of the dyson DC07 Original for $378 with a 2 year warranty?  
 
Carmine D.