Hi all,
 
I am having a heck of a time.  My computer threw a fit on me the other day and is in the shop.  I can't for the life me remember what my password is.  So I've temporarily registered as "guess who" until we get my computer off the bricks in a few days and I can start retrieving data to pass on to the "new baby".
 
That said . . .  I was in my Best Buy just yesterday and actuially found a plug -- an electrical strip all the way at the back of a low shelf.  (Carmine, our Best Buy just does not want to make it easy to test stuff there.  Are they telling us something?)
 
Anyway I turned on the purple Vax model and was very impressed by its suction at the hose end but really had no way of telling how well its wussy brush roll did on the low-pile store carpet.  It of course did pick up loose stuff on top of the rug but that's not much of a test for the ability to deep clean.  Also, noted that what appeared to be a switch for the brush roll was frozen in the "on" position and the cord reel would not lock once the cord was extracted.  Not a confidence builder for a prospective buyer.
 
In any event, my other observation is that when I see people shopping for vacuums at Best Buy -- I'm there quite often as the store is just a few blocks from my place -- I generally notice people looking to buy the cheapest cleaner they can.  Though the young whipper-snappers on the floor do try to steer them to the higher-priced models a good deal of shoppers pass.
 
A couple yesterday settled on Hoover's EmPower.  I didn't notice the price but saw it again today at Costco for $99.00.
 
Three-hundred-dollar-and-above vacuums do not seem to be fast movers here.  I am assuming that's due to economic concerns.  Rentwise, just paying to have a floor to vacuum is a pretty expensive deal.
 
Nonetheless, I am a bit surprised that I haven't witnessed a better number of shoppers taking a chance on more than buck-fifty Hoovers as Best Buy aggressively is and always selling "insurance" at check-out.  Customers are religiously asked by cashiers if they want to purchase a service contract that allows "no-questions-asked" return of goods, replacement of the item or a store credit.
 
Venson

Hi Venson,  
 
yoy are right on the about big box department stores, if a customer is looking for high end or semi high end vacuums, lets say over the 300.00 mark. they want to make sure that they some type of protection against repair issues, just had a customer bring into our shop a hoover dual V quad brush system with a blown gear drive box [its usually the center gear of the 3]. He knew it was a warranty job but did not want to go thru the hassle of finding a warranty dealer over 125 miles away. Any ways it was a 249.00 hoover , next time he's looking for a cleaner he will think of us now. What i'm trying to say is that the big box stores are eventually only going to cater to the consumers that only care about price only. If price is sacrificed something else has to be also, and its usually service. B.T.W. this is the busiest we have been in a very long time, both in sales and service.
 
 
regards, old-timer

Thank you Venson, should Carmine and I start charging for lessons, Thank you for considering us vacuum professors. I dont mind helping out any one thats interested in this business, its not a very glamourous occupation but it pays the bills and then some, This can be done for a whole lifetime, remember V enson he who has the knowledge has the power,  
 
Good vibrations forever, old-timer

If I remember right, retail stores often follow a practice called "churning", where, for seemingly no reason, they will rearrange huge chunks of the floorplan so that when you go to buy whatever on asile 6 in the front, it will now be in asile 29 in the back, etc.
   
I assume store management is trying to make customers "see" more of the store and possibly buy stuff they would have otherwise not considered?
 
COSTCO does this frequently (good trick considering how much stuff they have to move around!).  Our Best Buys do it too.

VAX gets the special sale feature this weekend in BEST BUY.  $299.99  
 
Dyson DC14 Low Reach with play vacuum for $459.99.  I would like to know how many get sold with Sears advertsing the DC14 All Floors after 10 percent mail in rebate for $387. That's $173 lower price.
 
Carmine D.