ironman
Member
Apparently Warren Buffet wasn’t interested in keeping Kirby any longer. It appears as The Kirby Company was purchased by Right Lane Industries in Chicago. They focus on distressed and trouble US manufacturing businesses.
Kirby Company sold to Right Lane Industries
- Thread starter ironman
- Start date
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dysonman1
Well-known member
A quick google search does not show any hit for kirby being sold to right lane industries. Where did you get your information?
ironman
Member
Got info from a former Kirby dealer who still stays in contact with current dealers. If you know a Kirby dealer give them a call or better yet call Kirby HQ.
juju93
Well-known member
They probably sold it because they knew they couldn't come up with noting new in terms of design and any stuff associated with the system, meaning accessories and parts. The sentria design has been out for 15 years, reguardless if its a sentria or avalir, time to change something up on it. But the overall platform has been out for over 30 years. I mean i get the saying "if it aint broke don't fix it" but there are numerous ways kirby can improve its design. Idk about y'all but I'm tired of avalir 2 being the "new" model. I mean if they came out with avalir 3, which wouldn't suprise me if they would it needs to be a completely different color with a completely different pattern scheme. Thats just my opinion.
ironman
Member
I doubt there is any new Kirby coming. Kirby had access to one of the wealthiest men in recent history and he was not willing to invest in new products for Kirby. This looks like a typical scenario where the mother corporation milked an old company for every penny it was worth and after it had multiple bad years they decided it was better to dump it than keep it. New owners appear to focus on manufacturing only so its likely the same old kirby product will be moved into one of their other facilities. New owners don't seem to have any sales and marketing expertise and are rather new and have no long history of being successful at reviving old companies that are in bad shape. Time will tell, but these types of things are more often symbolic of the end than a new beginning.
vacuumman
Well-known member
ironman
Member
In these types of corporate sales the building/HQ are not part of the deal. Often the old owners will lease the building back for a set period of time so the new owners have time to relocate. The old Kirby building could have been sold with it but that is not usually the case.
IRONMAN
I still hope the Kirby will be made in America so, wishing the best of luck to these guys! And I am certain that if RLI wants to shut Kirby down instead, a group of dedicated Kirby employees and fans will try to do whatever it takes to bring the company back to its former glory.
I too agree with the debate of whether Kirby should do something totally new or continue with what it was best known for (the tried-and-true) and that is why I am not fond of whatever new design is in the pipeline, especially if it strays too far from their tried-and-true design architecture going back to 1928's Scott & Fetzer Sanitation System.
~Ben
I still hope the Kirby will be made in America so, wishing the best of luck to these guys! And I am certain that if RLI wants to shut Kirby down instead, a group of dedicated Kirby employees and fans will try to do whatever it takes to bring the company back to its former glory.
I too agree with the debate of whether Kirby should do something totally new or continue with what it was best known for (the tried-and-true) and that is why I am not fond of whatever new design is in the pipeline, especially if it strays too far from their tried-and-true design architecture going back to 1928's Scott & Fetzer Sanitation System.
~Ben
ironman
Member
RLI will need to recoup their investment. Possibly they have plans to combine operations with another one of their industrial businesses. They also have no loyalty toward direct sales and could eventually decide to sell directly on Amazon & their own website. I would not expect to see these changes immediately but the new owners will do what’s best for themselves and their investors and that might be going a different direction in the retailing of the Kirby brand.
juju93
Well-known member
The main thing I want kirby to address, besides its weight, is it loud unbareble sound. Using a kirby growing up I felt like I had to warn the whole neighborhood because of how loud and unbareable it was. If kirby addresses those two concerns along with a few others, I will give kirby another chance. Don't get me wrong, they're well built and do a fantasic job at cleaning, but for some people like me, the weight and sound outweigh the benefits, at lease now and days when most people have hardly any carpet and mostly bare floors. I don't think a loud kirby is reasonble to use on hard floors. Granted I hope someone in that company reads these post and takes notes and past it to the design and research department.
juju93
But then again, the Kirbys I have always had that loud, overbearing atmosphere you speak of (especially models Tradition 3CB and earlier with the metal fan), plus the weight issue. It did wear down on me as a child, but I came out of that after 20 years, and as to its weight I was able to handle them more comfortably by picking them up from the bottom of their handle forks.
~Ben
But then again, the Kirbys I have always had that loud, overbearing atmosphere you speak of (especially models Tradition 3CB and earlier with the metal fan), plus the weight issue. It did wear down on me as a child, but I came out of that after 20 years, and as to its weight I was able to handle them more comfortably by picking them up from the bottom of their handle forks.
~Ben
huskyvacs
Well-known member
According to their website;
-------------------------
Right Lane Capital LLC is a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable middle and lower middle market businesses. Because Right Lane is not structured as a typical private equity firm, we have unusual flexibility in our investment structuring, holding period, and target industries. Our affiliate Right Lane Industries LLC is an industrial holding company offering a permanent home to lower middle market industrial businesses that have been orphaned inside larger companies, or whose retiring shareholders want to ensure that the businesses they spent their careers building end up in the hands of investors who share their values. Our transactions provide liquidity for owners, capital for growth and acquisitions, and attractive equity upside for continuing management teams – all while navigating the cultural, family, and business issues faced by small company owners and managers.
http://www.rightlanecapital.com/
-----------------------------------------
What it looks like is Kirby is in the hole and they put the business up as leverage on a equity loan. Doesn't look like they sold it, but it's being managed by a broker now.
I predict that.....
#1 - they will likely start cutting out franchisees and under-performing service centers to recoup some collateral cost.
#2 - They might make the refurbishment program stricter, or restrict it to only newer models.
#3 - Redo their sales methods, cut out door to door sales, and possibly start selling them on online markets.
-------------------------
Right Lane Capital LLC is a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable middle and lower middle market businesses. Because Right Lane is not structured as a typical private equity firm, we have unusual flexibility in our investment structuring, holding period, and target industries. Our affiliate Right Lane Industries LLC is an industrial holding company offering a permanent home to lower middle market industrial businesses that have been orphaned inside larger companies, or whose retiring shareholders want to ensure that the businesses they spent their careers building end up in the hands of investors who share their values. Our transactions provide liquidity for owners, capital for growth and acquisitions, and attractive equity upside for continuing management teams – all while navigating the cultural, family, and business issues faced by small company owners and managers.
http://www.rightlanecapital.com/
-----------------------------------------
What it looks like is Kirby is in the hole and they put the business up as leverage on a equity loan. Doesn't look like they sold it, but it's being managed by a broker now.
I predict that.....
#1 - they will likely start cutting out franchisees and under-performing service centers to recoup some collateral cost.
#2 - They might make the refurbishment program stricter, or restrict it to only newer models.
#3 - Redo their sales methods, cut out door to door sales, and possibly start selling them on online markets.
huskyvacs
Whichever way it pans out, I would prefer to remember Kirby for the way it was in its first century (from 1914 to 2014), for all the good things they ever built. I have never been interested in their rebuild program after they stopped selling the original black, gray and red trim pieces for their alphanumeric and 500 series machines in the mid-'70s.
I would guess I'd better stock up on all the belts and brush rolls for their older machines (models Legend II and earlier) while I can--just a thought.
~Ben
Whichever way it pans out, I would prefer to remember Kirby for the way it was in its first century (from 1914 to 2014), for all the good things they ever built. I have never been interested in their rebuild program after they stopped selling the original black, gray and red trim pieces for their alphanumeric and 500 series machines in the mid-'70s.
I would guess I'd better stock up on all the belts and brush rolls for their older machines (models Legend II and earlier) while I can--just a thought.
~Ben
oreck_xl
Well-known member
31 years is LONG ENOUGH!!!
I will be tarred and feathered by the Kirby purists who say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and maybe I would feel different had I not seen those prototype designs of what the new 2014 Avalir was supposed to look like, but for all intents and purposes, the current Avalir 2 is nothing more than a warmed-over Generation 3. Now granted, there have been tweaks to the design throughout the years, like a lighter base pan, LED headlights and improved mini-emtors, but the basic platform is still a Generation series machine. The Classic platform ran for 20 years, the 500 series for 25 years, it's time for an ALL-NEW more modern design. Otherwise, the demise of Kirby, well they did it to themselves resting too long on their laurels. Just my 2 cents.
I will be tarred and feathered by the Kirby purists who say "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and maybe I would feel different had I not seen those prototype designs of what the new 2014 Avalir was supposed to look like, but for all intents and purposes, the current Avalir 2 is nothing more than a warmed-over Generation 3. Now granted, there have been tweaks to the design throughout the years, like a lighter base pan, LED headlights and improved mini-emtors, but the basic platform is still a Generation series machine. The Classic platform ran for 20 years, the 500 series for 25 years, it's time for an ALL-NEW more modern design. Otherwise, the demise of Kirby, well they did it to themselves resting too long on their laurels. Just my 2 cents.
ironman
Member
The fact is that Kirby Co. was so broken that even Warren Buffets money couldn’t fix it.
dysonman1
Well-known member
The fact that Warren Buffet didn't want to put any more money into it is very telling.
I started to really think about some things that should have been red flags recently. In my area, we are very rural but my small town of 19,000 has an engineering college. We recently have had an influx of Kirby dealers from another state come to town, and target mostly older people. Because my vac shop is the only one for 100 miles, I get to see the new Kirby customers fairly soon after the purchase. There are only 2 bags that come with the machine.
I guess the fact that the salesmen have to come from Iowa to a small rural town in the Missouri Ozarks should be telling enough about how few they are selling. Every one of the customers who have bought a new Kirby during and after the pandemic have stated that the sprayer was used to spray disinfectant spray as part of the demonstration - implying that the machine could be used to disinfect.
Then again, how many people are willing to let a door to door high pressure salesman (a stranger) into their home during the pandemic?
I started to really think about some things that should have been red flags recently. In my area, we are very rural but my small town of 19,000 has an engineering college. We recently have had an influx of Kirby dealers from another state come to town, and target mostly older people. Because my vac shop is the only one for 100 miles, I get to see the new Kirby customers fairly soon after the purchase. There are only 2 bags that come with the machine.
I guess the fact that the salesmen have to come from Iowa to a small rural town in the Missouri Ozarks should be telling enough about how few they are selling. Every one of the customers who have bought a new Kirby during and after the pandemic have stated that the sprayer was used to spray disinfectant spray as part of the demonstration - implying that the machine could be used to disinfect.
Then again, how many people are willing to let a door to door high pressure salesman (a stranger) into their home during the pandemic?
