Electrolux at Service Merchandise

[ryan1994jeep]

Does anyone remember Service Mechandise selling Electrolux? I remember going with my aunt back in 1993 when she purchased her Hoover Powermax canister. Definitely dont remember seeing Electrolux there. The picture is from 91/92 SM catalog.

 

[justjunque]

Huh. Interesting! I don't remember that. And I used to like Service Merchandise.
I do love the color combination on that SE canister!

Barry

 

[compactelectra]

There was a thread

About this before.

https://www.vacuumland.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?30816

 

[ctvacman]

Always found it funny they had the vinyl hose for that model while the dealer ones still had the woven type, I have a brochure for these and it even touts the lightweight vinyl hose

 

[vacman1961]

Macy's used to sell the Regency series also. It was light grey with light blue trim. Costco used to sell the TriVac electric broom and then they started to sell the L E.

 

[jo]

I remember

I remember definitely seeing the canister at Macy’s. Thought it was odd they were selling Electrolux at the time and the display even had one of those commercial carpets on the floor in about a 4 x6 size with the Electrolux name logo on it.

QVC also sold Electrolux canisters for a while. My partners Aunt got hers off qvc as I saw the vac out in a corner on a visit and I said “Oh you have an Electrolux” and she said “yeah...I got it off qvc.” She’s was a qvc junkie for a while.

 

[frkirby560]

I remember it very well. During college back in the early 1970's I had worked as a salesman for Electrolux. We sold the 1205 and L at the time. So years later I remember walking into Serv. Merch. one day and shocked to find a brand new Lux being sold in a retail store! How things change!!

 

[paul]

One of the outcomes of the Electrolux executives' buyout from Sara Lee in October 1987 was the creation of different sales lines besides the customary direct sales (door-to-door). I am aware of the Warehouse Club Line, the Department Store Line, the Catalog line, and the Trade Show line. Some were also sold through QVC such as the 80th anniversary Ultralux C152E tank.

This is not to say that model names were exclusively sold through certain lines; as some were sold directly and indirectly.

The cleaners featured in the SM catalog photo above are the Special Edition series Model 1623 non-automatic tank with Model 7B power nozzle and the Model 1572E upright. The Special Edition series was also sold via the Trade Show line (e.g. state fairs). Manufacturing took place from c.1988 to c.1992. Other Special Edition cleaners were the Model 2100 automatic tank & the Model 2101A shampooer/polisher.

When Sara Lee bought back Electrolux in 1990 it continued the indirect sales lines— much to the chagrin of the direct sales force, who had to sometimes attempt to awkwardly explain to upset customers why Electrolux cleaners in stores were priced much lower than what they had paid; and who lost commission. Aerus Concepts seems to have discontinued the indirect lines.

Other indirect model names have been: Regency Series (two successive automatic tanks, one non-automatic tank, an upright, and a shampooer/polisher), AmbassadorSeries (non-automatic tank & upright), Lux5500 tank, Prolux 'Commercial' upright, Prolux 2000 upright, 2100 tank, Lux 2000 tank, Ultralux 2000 tank, Xtreme upright & Xtreme Plus upright (with attached hose).

Other stores that carried Electrolux Corporation/LLC cleaners were: Best Products, Montgomery Ward, & Sam's Club.

 

[human]

I worked briefly for a small regional competitor to Service Merchandise called Brendle's. It was a holiday gig after I graduated from college in 1986. I don't remember what vacuums they sold as I was working in a different part of the store. I was up front with luggage jewelry and fine china, while the vacuums would have been in the back part of the store with household appliances and electronics. Brendle's was an early dot com casualty and was out of business by 1997.

 

[kirbyklekter]

Back in the mid-late 80's

I was shopping at Costco and I remember seeing a stack of Electrolux's on a skid along the back wall between a stack of Maxell VHS 6-packs and #10 sized cans of tomato sauce! Never thought I'd see Luxe's sold in a big box store. I was kind of put off by the way they were displayed with just the end of three boxes folded open so you could see the front of the cleaner. They were two-tone blue, looked smaller than what I was used to seeing and kind of stripped down. The price was around 485.00 I didn't look any further, I was put off by what I'd seen. I was told later that these were not made by Electrolux, that they had been made by another company that paid to use the name for a certain time or for a limited production of these for sale to big box stores. I'm sure that's not accurate but that's the story I got. Also heard that Electrolux regretted allowing this to ever happen as the cleaners were total junk. This is at a time when you would find knock-off's of big name products being sold like shampoo that had only ever been sold at beauty supply stores and salons. So you would then see warnings from the original company that if their product had been sold elsewhere that they wouldn't stand behind said product. So with many of these instances happening in big box stores, I believed this story, sadly. I'm sure someone here knows the real story on who manufactured these for sale at Costco.

 

[rodknock95]

Sams Club

My Grandparents replaced their Olympia one with a 2100, they bought from Sams Club in 1991

 

[gregvacs28]

I remember seeing the canister at Sams in the late 90s. Can't remember the price. It seems like it was around $400

 

[oreck_xl]

It's really not all that surprising, and I doubt there was much (if any at all) difference in quality compared to the ones sold door-to-door. Oreck did the same thing, first by offering it through strictly mail order, then offering it only through vacuum stores and then in 1997, telling said vacuum stores either go exclusively Oreck or you can't sell the product. Then, a few years later started mass-marketing Orecks on QVC and places like Costco and forcing the dealers to do free tune-ups REGARDLESS of where the vacuum was purchased. Wasn't there also a time where Kirby was sold in stores? Wasn't that how the elusive "R" series was sold?

 

[justinajax]

I remember my parents buying a 2100 from Sam's Club in the early 90's but it didn't last long in the house. My mom complained that it seemed "cheap" compared to the older Electrolux my grandmother had, I suppose because of the plastic body. 

 

[rodknock95]

sams club

Greg, your right, they were like 399-425 or something to that effect