cheesewonton
Well-known member
I e-mailed Aerus to ask about the March 2003 plant closure article in that newspaper article. When / if I hear back I'll report whatever they tell me. I also asked about their current production.
Electrolux vacuums to become extinct?
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vacerator
Well-known member
I found the Eureka Europa model number is #6998. It's the Electrolux Excellio. JC Penney sold the Excalibur canister by Volta I remember in the catalogue. The side bumper rose up on an angle front to back.
cheesewonton
Well-known member
I have one of those Excalibur Megas in dark green. Weirdly made but interesting and nice to use vacuum. I can use it with the longer Swedish Electrolux hose from something like my D795 and use it with a Ze3 power nozzle, which is very quiet. Much nicer to use it that way than with that noisy old Eureka power nozzle. In Europe I think you could buy them with an EBK280 power nozzle.
cheesewonton
Well-known member
Paul, I have not heard back from Aerus yet and wouldn't expect anything till later next week at least but I did find an article that I think came from the Bristol newspaper by a, cough cough, journalist named Lewis Loflin who wrote:
"By 2003 Electrolux was shuttering its Bristol plant claiming a lack of qualified workers. At one time they employed between 500 to 1000 workers depending who one asks. The Swedish owned company was sending the jobs to Mexico and about the same time shipped 2700 jobs from Greenville, Mich. to Mexico as well. But that wasn't the end of this dirty dealing in Tennessee."
I will post a link to the article but I think you can see the guy is confusing American owned Electrolux LLC with Electrolux AB of Sweden. He does that throughout the article while making wild claims about both. I have my doubts about the veracity of what he wrote.
And this does not surprise me. I spent a good long career after my active duty time as a Naval Aviator working in the weapons world on weapons programs you certainly have heard of like Sidewinder, Maverick and Tomahawk, and some most have never heard of like LRASM ( had the pleasure of working with DARPA on that one ) and JAGM with the Army, along with some really interesting aircraft procurement / modification and depot capitalization projects. But often we would read things written by the notionally professional journalists in the defense press in on-line journals like Defense News, Defense Industry Daily, Naval News, Naval Institute Press and the like and end up scratching our heads wondering where the author of the article got their information from because the article was full of nonsense? The articles had us doing stuff that just wasn't happening, or they had claims about contracts that didn't exist. So I am not inclined to believe everything this guys claims until I hear something back from Aerus. It is clear he has the two Electroluxes mixed up.
https://www.sullivan-county.com/z/electrolux.htm
"By 2003 Electrolux was shuttering its Bristol plant claiming a lack of qualified workers. At one time they employed between 500 to 1000 workers depending who one asks. The Swedish owned company was sending the jobs to Mexico and about the same time shipped 2700 jobs from Greenville, Mich. to Mexico as well. But that wasn't the end of this dirty dealing in Tennessee."
I will post a link to the article but I think you can see the guy is confusing American owned Electrolux LLC with Electrolux AB of Sweden. He does that throughout the article while making wild claims about both. I have my doubts about the veracity of what he wrote.
And this does not surprise me. I spent a good long career after my active duty time as a Naval Aviator working in the weapons world on weapons programs you certainly have heard of like Sidewinder, Maverick and Tomahawk, and some most have never heard of like LRASM ( had the pleasure of working with DARPA on that one ) and JAGM with the Army, along with some really interesting aircraft procurement / modification and depot capitalization projects. But often we would read things written by the notionally professional journalists in the defense press in on-line journals like Defense News, Defense Industry Daily, Naval News, Naval Institute Press and the like and end up scratching our heads wondering where the author of the article got their information from because the article was full of nonsense? The articles had us doing stuff that just wasn't happening, or they had claims about contracts that didn't exist. So I am not inclined to believe everything this guys claims until I hear something back from Aerus. It is clear he has the two Electroluxes mixed up.
https://www.sullivan-county.com/z/electrolux.htm
The American Electrolux/Aerus company may be fading into history. However, it is important to remember that the original Swedish Electrolux company (which gave birth to the American Electrolux company) is still in operation and sells vacuum cleaners under the Electrolux and AEG brandnames all over the world, including Europe, the UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Only the North American branches of Electrolux AB have been closed. Here is an example of one of the newest Electrolux canister vacuums available in Europe: https://renowoutlet.com/products/el...9HZiZsntht_3CrTa0dv87Ro-Jo0bDwpCqsx42iDQqjBOj
vacerator
Well-known member
That looks like an Ultra One! Where is the current Aerus assembly plant? Bristol Virginia? Wasn't it in Texas? I thought all the former posts were referencing it, bit it was Bristol Ct. which was the old original plant, in Old Greenwich.
eluxfan71
Well-known member
eluxfan71
Well-known member
cheesewonton
Well-known member
The original factory in Greenwich CT was closed in the late 1980s or maybe very early 1990s. The debate on this thread is over where the Legacy and Classic are made today. Some here maintain, and a crazy newspaper article seems to back the claim that Aerus closed the Bristol VA plant in 2003 and subcontracted vacuum production to Eureka at their plant in Juarez Mexico. Yet I have an Aerus dealer who claims he was in the Bristol VA plant in August 2024 (just a year ago) and saw new Classic and Legacy models being assembled there with plastic parts molded in West Virginia, hoses from South Carolina ( which makes sense as that would be the home of Flexible Technologies ) and attachments produced in the Bristol plant.
Hard to say what the truth is though I have no reason to doubt my friend Trent. I sent an e-mail to Aerus asking about this but have low hopes. A few years ago I called them and asked a question about the Tristars they sell in Japan. I wanted to know what motor they use and about what appears to be a big suppressor inside. I have a half dozen Japan market 100 volt Tristars of different vintages. The people at Aerus told me they didn't make Tristar vacuums for Japan ! 40% of Tristar production went to Japan and they are different than US models but the knuckleheads answering the phones at Aerus didn't even know they were making them for Japan. So I have low expectations for an answer from Aerus.
Considering Electrolux Group of Sweden sold Eureka in 2018 and sold Sanitaire, which was still making a couple of their vacuums in Mexico, in 2019 I suspect that former Eureka plant in Mexico is no more. Newer examples of the Sanitare models I know of that were being made in Mexico like the Mighty Mite now say Made in Vietnam. It could be that Aerus shipped the tooling from Mexico back to Bristol and resumed making them there.
vacerator
Well-known member
First, I thank you for your military service to our country. I'm also grateful for the link to the news article that corroborates the information in the article I posted.
I'm sure you could write a book about all your experiences - sounds fascinating!
How unfortunate that Fake News misrepresented your work. I also see why you compared that to the Electrolux article, which is confusing at best, but at this point seems not to have falsified the facts as much as flip-flopping between Electrolux Group and Electrolux LLC/Aerus Lux.
I do have doubts that Aerus Lux will respond to your email with a direct answer, but maybe it will.
Thank you for your military service to our country. How unfortunate that Fake News misrepresented your work. You have had some fascinating experiences that would make for a good book.
I'm also grateful for the Sullivan County news article by Lewis Loflin and understand your reaction to it. Even though it confuses Electrolux Group and Electrolux LLC/Aerus Lux, it at least corroborates the Bristol plant closing.
It seems unlikely that ActivePure Technologies, LLC will respond with a direct answer, but we can hope so.
cheesewonton
Well-known member
I would not yet want to hang my hat on the Bristol plant closing. I'd like to know a little more. 2003 was about the time Electrolux LLC became Aerus LLC which may have added a level of confusion. The journalist doesn't seem to understand Aerus LLC and Electrolux AB are two completely different companies and we know that at least last August Aerus was assembling two canister vacuum models in Bristol.
Journals like Defense News, Defense Industry Daily, etc, are not just reporting news and events but also are mouthpieces for particular constituencies trying to influence the members of Congress and decision makers in the E-Ring of the Pentagon who make the decisions on what we buy. They have an editorial axe to grind. By the same token Mr. Loflin seems to be editorializing for a particular constituency. Not sure I want to believe everything he wrote quite yet.
I certainly had a fun career. Way better than anything you could show on the Discovery Channel or the Military Channel because I had a front row seat to the discussions that are not in the, um, public realm as we like to say. Plus where I worked we were blowing stuff up all the time O_O Fun place to work.
Journals like Defense News, Defense Industry Daily, etc, are not just reporting news and events but also are mouthpieces for particular constituencies trying to influence the members of Congress and decision makers in the E-Ring of the Pentagon who make the decisions on what we buy. They have an editorial axe to grind. By the same token Mr. Loflin seems to be editorializing for a particular constituency. Not sure I want to believe everything he wrote quite yet.
I certainly had a fun career. Way better than anything you could show on the Discovery Channel or the Military Channel because I had a front row seat to the discussions that are not in the, um, public realm as we like to say. Plus where I worked we were blowing stuff up all the time O_O Fun place to work.
You just may have a place for your hat after all as it’s been a week after you reached out to ActivePure, yet you have had no response. Such a simple question could be answered in one sentence. It's not like you asked for production specifics that would be time-consuming to answer or something that could be considered confidential company information.
That being said, I did some partial research and discovered that the phrase "Manufactured By" was included in the technical data of the Marquise 1521 tank vacuum and PN6A power nozzle but removed from that of the Grand Marquise, pn models 6B & 7B and various later models on spot check. Instead, the company name and North American locations were listed with "Made in USA". I also saw the bag door information of a taupe L-E and an Ambassador 1623 sans "Manufactured By". I think that some of the Floor Pros still retained the wording, but I only briefly looked into that; my research also excluded uprights and commercial canisters. So it may very well be that manufacturing outsourcing, at least in part, began around the time of the banks and upper management leveraged buyout from Sara Lee. What other reason would said text be removed … and never brought back? (see attached photos)
I'll eat some humble pie if you or Trent can prove my theory wrong about Electrolux/ActivePure manufacturing over the last 30 or so years, including an email response to the contrary by ActivePure. I'm not "in it to win it" but just to get the record straight. My contention is that the old Electrolux Corporation/Electrolux Canada Ltd. is history, and its successor operates quite differently even though it has retained some of the old Electrolux products in its product line-up. I therefore agree with those who predict that the discontinuation of those items is around the corner just as Lux International has phased out its conventional cleaners.
__________________
Changing subjects, please ask Trent sometime if he can can do some checking/networking to locate pre-1980s shipping lists that include serial numbers; I’ve been told that the company’s computer database goes back to the early 1980s. Others have posted them on this site for Hoover and Eureka, so production times can be determined for specific models; it would be great if we could do the same with our Electroluxes. Rugsucker mentioned that the lists were periodically sent out to branch managers for stock rotation back in the day. Some of us have asked Corporate about the lists over the years but have been told that they are not in their files; likely being discarded during headquarter relocations. However, I’m thinking that some franchises may have them in obscure places in their buildings or even in salespersons’ records at homes.
Also, I’ve been working on compiling categorical tables of model numbers and corresponding model names along with their main features to post on VL as a reference guide and would like it to be as accurate as possible. I would appreciate it if you would ask Trent if he can easily obtain a list of the models/model names, their production years, and sales lines (e.g. Warehouse Club, Trade Show) from his computer database beginning with the Special Edition and Regency Series lines. The company posters I have seen are either incomplete and/or inaccurate in terms of production years, based on ephemera. If obtaining such a list is not easy for him to produce, then I’d like the model names and production years for the only two model numbers that I’ve been unable to locate online photos of: U155B (Lux Legacy?) and U147D (Lux 3000?); both model numbers are listed on the Aerus store website (see attachment), but it may be that they are rebadged cleaners or that they were just produced for very short periods as promotions. Anyway, my document is nearly ready to post even though many of the production spans are based on online discussions, ephemera and personal inference; although there’s no immediate need for any information Trent could provide.
Attachments
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Electrolux Marquise 1521 technical data.png -
Electrolux Grand Marquise:Legacy 1521 technical data.png -
Electrolux Ambassador Model 1623 Marietta & Willowdale - ratings.png -
Electrolux L-E in taupe - Stamford - PN6A ratings.png -
6B_Name Stamp.jpg -
7B Name Stamp.jpg -
Aerus Store PN Belts with compatible model numbers.png
cheesewonton
Well-known member
Engles Urso Capital Corp, the parent company of Aerus LLC, is headquartered in Dallas Texas. The production facility was in Bristol VA. Engles Urso Capital Corp bought Interstate Engineering in 1996, two years before they bought Electrolux Inc, in a bankruptcy sale. At some point Engles Urso Capital Corp renamed Interstate Engineering to Tristar LLC and move production of new Tristars from Anaheim CA to Bristol VA.
cheesewonton
Well-known member
Now that is interesting.. Marietta Georgia. Was that the Electrolux company headquarters before Engles Urso Capital Corp bought them or was there a manufacturing facility there too?
cheesewonton
Well-known member
Here is a new German Lux International website that shows the S115 Intelligence. It hasn't gone away at all.
https://allclean.de/produkt-kategorie/saugen-staubsauger-wischsauger/
Also dig they sell a version of the Riccar Supralite they call the Easymove and a Lux branded Sebo Felix ( ! ) they call the Handyclean.
https://pricee.com/eureka-forbes-euroclean-xtreme-dry-vacuum-cleaner-price-in-india-54017
You missed my earlier post about the Richter S115.
From AI: "Pure Life (Purelifehome) is a separate company that acquired former subsidiaries of Lux International AG in Poland, Austria, Hungary, and Germany at the end of 2023.
" ... Pure Life Group will market and sell its products under the new Richter brand and still offer accessories and parts for existing Lux products."
I do speculate whether Purelife is actually manufacturing the S115 or if it's just selling off the remaining stock; again, I read nothing in the translated description about where it was manufactured. I would hope that if manufacturing is still taking place, even by outsourcing, that quality is, as well.
You missed my earlier post about the Richter S115.
I speculate whether Lux Germany or Purelife is actually manufacturing the S115 or is selling the remaining stock; considering the competition and that the 15-year-old design; again, I read nothing in the translated description about where it was manufactured; incidentally, "Lux" is also omitted from the name of the cleaner. I would hope that if manufacturing is, in fact, still taking place, even if by outsourcing, that quality is, as well.
If memory serves, the corporate offices had been in Stamford, CT until the senior executive/banks leveraged buyout of Sara Lee Corporation in late 1987 when they were moved to Marietta. Engles Urso Capital relocated them to Dallas around 1998 when it bought Electrolux Corporation and changed the designation to Electrolux LLC. I have no knowledge of there ever being an Electrolux factory in Marietta.
