(Hypothetically) How does oneself open a vacuum shop?

[huskyvacs]

It's sop strange seeing a Whirlpool vacuum, and this is coming from someone with Sunbeam vacuums. Just not a brand you see at all amongst the community.

 

[centralsweeper63]

They were mostly sold as Kenmore, I presume.

 

[cheesewonton]

They were mostly sold as Kenmore, I presume.

Whirlpool made most of the Kenmore brand canister vacuums but not all. Singer, Eureka and Douglas also made canister vacuums for the Kenmore brand at one time or another during the period of time that Whirlpool was their primary source. Later on after Panasonic took over Whirlpool's Kenmore vacuum business Sanyo, LG and Electrolux Group made some lower priced canister models for the Kenmore brand.

The Whirlpool Power Clean brand models were completely different from what they made for Kenmore. Hoses and wands are different and cannot be swapped. The vacuums themselves are very different. Unlike Kennys the Whirlpools used multi pin connectors between the upper and lower body halves more like a modern Miele instead of twisting the wires together with wire nuts like they did on their Kenmore brand products. There were also a couple of direct air uprights with Whirlpool branding. The Whirlpool brand vacuums were sold in department stores like Kohls.

 

[centralsweeper63]

So I presume the whirlpool was better?

 

[cheesewonton]

So I presume the whirlpool was better?

Wow. Tough call. The Whirlpools are a lot more sophisticated but they don't seem to be as durable as same year Kenmore vacuums they made along side them. I have four Power Clean models and three of them have cracks in the body I have had to make patches for or will in the case of the third that I haven't worked on yet. None of the original hoses survived. I even have a NIB hose for the top of the line Power Clean 9000 ( FC9000 ) and it is shot full of holes. Only the FC9000 body is crack free. The Kennys seem a lot more durable and while their original hoses disintegrated like the Whirlpool brand hoses, Panasonic came along and made replacement hoses out of much better material and a better design for Kenmore. I have one good hose for my Whirlpools and it is a replacement made with a better material so someone at some time made replacements but they are ultra rare. The one I have is the only one I've ever seen. I use same year and older Kennys without a thought to their durability but I don't think the old Whirlpools are up to daily use now. A shame because they are neat vacuums.

 

[centralsweeper63]

I see. Features or durability, I think I know which one to choose.