Target consumer?
I suppose that would be the Kirby/Aerus/Rainbow demographic; people who see value in well-built machines, and wouldn't mind shelling out upwards of $2,000 for a quality, hand-built product.
We'd never capture the current Dyson/Hoover/plastivac demographic, because those people are just too focused on NOT paying more than a couple hundred bucks. It is impossible to viably market a quality, well-built machine at such a low price point, so there's no point in even trying to woo those low-end customers.
I had an eye-opening conversation with an Aerus dealer on Manhattan's Upper East Side about the closing of the Aerus dealership on West 23rd Street in Chelsea. To briefly explain Manhattan demographics, Chelsea these days is loaded with new high-rise luxury apartment buildings, mostly studios, one- and two-bedrooms either renting in the $3K-8K per month range, or selling in the $600K (for one bedrooms) range, up into the eight figures for the premier properties. It's mostly rich, young, single professionals (household incomes over $150K). And since most of the apartments are rentals, they are incredibly mobile. It seems the Chelsea dealership, while having been there for decades, couldn't sustain enough business to stay open in that location. So they're moving to the Upper West Side, which has an equally "rich" (if not richer) demographic, but with two big differences: 1) the apartments, like on the Upper East Side, are bigger and more often filled with families, rather than singles or "power couples", and 2) more of the housing stock is condos and co-ops rather than rentals, so the residents there are much more permanent.
It was the ultimate "aha!" moment; just being affluent doesn't preclude cheapness; $300K/year professionals who don't appreciate quality and workmanship can be just as critical of the price tag of a $2,000 vacuum as those scraping by on $26,000. And if they're single and mobile, chances are they don't have the space (or the rugs or carpeting) to worry about the long-term cleanliness of an apartment they'll be moving out of within a year anyway.
So further fleshing out our target demographic: Home owners (or LONG-TERM renters) with substantial amounts of carpeting.
As well as the super-health conscious among us who worry about toxins in dust.