Kirby Company sold to Right Lane Industries

[kloveland]

Warren Buffet may not have anything to do with Kirby being sold. He has so many companies and financial analysts working for him. All of this is speculation.

Kirby is a successful company and probably will continue to be. Remember not all of their revenue comes from a Kirby sale. They also sell supplies such as shampoo.

I visited Filter Queen in 2014 and they had a small operation compared to Kirby. I don't even think Rainbow is as big as Kirby. As far as I know Kirby is the largest seller of home care systems in door to door sales. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[dysonman1]

The Kirby is sold on emotion. The emotion of seeing all this dirt you didn't know you had. With all the dire warnings about Covid, are you really going to let some unmasked person whom you do not know, into your home? Most people are cleaning and sanitizing far more than they ever did. Who would want a stranger spreading germs, bacteria, and viruses all over their house? You have to be in a certain frame of mind to even listen to a vacuum cleaner demonstration even before Covid. Their business model is so outdated - Covid just slammed the door on the Kirby Company's coffin. The way they sell them HAS to change. But without the emotion of seeing dirt come from your 'clean' rugs - who would buy one?

 

[kloveland]

Wouldn't Rainbow be sold on emotion as well? It's almost the same thing seeing dirt in the water. It seems like all door to door vac salesmen do similar things. Showing the customer the dirt.

It seems like Kirby gets picked on the most on here than any other D2D sales. I'm guessing because Kirby is the largest. I'm not trying to start anything or be rude to anyone. It seems to me lots of sales are made on emotion and all D2D vac salesmen do similar things. When I think of emotional sales I think of buying a new or used car LOL[this post was last edited: 7/1/2021-11:21]

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I agree, Kenny, on all of that.

D to D sales all strike emotional chords. When we (VCCC) went to Texas, we saw The Rainbow Company do their demo (remember the tank)? The only thing that bothered me was when they'd 'rupture' the other brand's bag, to ensure dust everywhere. but..............
I'm very careful with whom I allow in my home, more now than ever..... and COVID 19 has very little to do with it. I've had former friends do their demos in my home, practice for them, entertainment for the rest of us.
I truly hope Kirby continues. I'm sure there will be changes, but, all of these buyouts realize there is SOMETHING appealing/valuable to them in the first place.

 

[juju93]

Me personally wouldn't let D2D type people in my home regardless of what they're selling and no matter at what price point. Me personally would like to keep my home life and private life, well private, and inviting outsiders in just to sell me something is well uncalled for and also an invasion of privacy, espescially when they wanna go through the house just to clean something. When I got my Rainbow SRX a year and half ago I went to the distributor themselves instead of having people come to my home, which is small and have dogs, that way these type of people don't know anything about my personal and home life. The point I'm trying to make is this, if you want a high end cleaning product like a kirby or rainbow then reach out to a sales distributors office and have them show it to you in a office setting that way they can't really pressure you into getting it. Its up to you to want it if you go to them, instead of them pressuring you to get it if they come to you.

 

[human]

Home invasion sales tactics...

I totally agree. I love Kirbys but I hate the thought of a D2D salesperson invading my home and refusing to leave until I've signed a sales contract and thus would never allow one to cross my threshold. I seem to remember reading on here several years ago about someone who had to finally usher the salesman out the door with a .38 in his hand. A little extreme to be sure, but I understand the sentiment. Kirby may claim not to tolerate such tactics, but despite creating a certain degree of plausible deniability, they do tacitly condone it by not putting an absolute stop to it with a complete cessation of D2D sales.

Now, in all fairness, the salesman who did the in-home demo I witnessed as a child in our living room in about 1973 could not have been more polite and did take 'no' for an answer when my mom declined to purchase. But that was a different era and society was much more polite as a whole back then, at least it was where I grew up.

 

[dysonman1]

With water vacuums (and to this extent, the Filter Queen) are sold because a friend who buys a machine calls another friend to ask if they will allow a demo with a salesman who is usually a family member new to selling water vacs. The water vacs have a shampooer attachment that is used to secure these demos because it isn't sold with the machine. The new owner 'earns' this desirable attachment from setting up demos.

Also, water vacs are sold as 'air cleaners or air washers' with disinfectant in the water. The F.Q. has the Defender air purifier in addition to the vacuum. So unlike the Kirby, they are presented as being able to do more than vacuum. With the water vacs, the ability to put them away as clean as your dishes comes into play.

The poor old Kirby has the bag of dirt in it when you put it away and really can't be sold to 'clean the air and disinfect it'. No matter if the water vacs can or cannot do this is immaterial. They are perceived to do this. While water vacs are sold 'in the home' it's a completely different experience from answering the door to find one (or more) salesmen standing on your porch who want in your house right now.

 

[kirbyg6]

I might be wrong here but I think Kirby should start selling them in stores because a lot more people would be able to experience them I actually had a dream that I went to the factory I was very excited to go into the testing laboratory because I thought they must be testing something new but knowing Kirby they won’t just the same old avalir 2 I was very disappointed

 

[air-waycharlie]

Kirby is a very old name---beloved by some and loathed by others. Since their inception, they have served their purpose of getting dirt off your floor(s) and other surfaces into some kind of bag.

Their whole business/sales model may be outdated but people are still going to buy them. As a collector, I have 8 but never bought one new in the box. I work in an arena of mostly women aged 23 and up to in their late 70's. Nearly all have heard of Kirby for one reason or another. The more mature ladies have either owned one, currently own one or their mothers did. The younger ones are aware because their mothers owned one or currently own one.

To attract younger buyers Kirby has seriously got to rethink the vacuum and their approach to the vacuum. I was in a friend's vac shop today and he was showing me with great pride the Miele Triflex hx-1 as compared to the same type made by Hoover and Dyson. That is the kind of vacuum the young folk.........the current and future buyers of vacuums are going to get if they want to spend $400+ for a foreign-made vacuum, IMHO.

Tania, (of Tania fame via the VCCC newsletter), and I were discussing the cleaning methods of younger folks last month when I was visiting with her. We as the older crowd and vac people love our different models of vacs and utilizing them for the different things they can do when cleaning. No one I talk to below probably below the age of 40, ever uses a dusting brush or crevice tool let alone an upholstery tool! We learned from our mothers and grandmothers how to clean ie: be it an upright or canister we knew how to dust using a dusting brush, how to clean woodwork, ceiling fans, crown molding, baseboards, bookcases, credenzas, etc. using the various attachments available.

Those days are gone as are the door-to-door salesman. Say adios to Willy Loman, ("Death Of A Salesman"), hello Amazon, and online buying with battery-operated plastic vacs.

I'm just grateful that I came from the era that I described! I enjoy using all my vacs and Kirbys. I do hope that Kirby remains for the long run. I'm glad we are a group that appreciates vacs from the past. It is nice to see the passion for Kirby. I have to admit I was so concerned that they might be dumbed down that I did buy a NIB Avalir II. (My first Kirby NIB and a great deal!)

Let's hope for all good things for the future of Kirby.

 

[huskyvacs]

Maybe Kirby making a canister vac with a powerhead? A-la the Tristar and similar tat. Make it have the same styling cues as the uprights and metal build quality but as a small canister. Powerhead having the Kirby nozzle shape. That's an idea too.

 

[lesinutah]

The

Power head would need to be different. Having that big of power nozzle would be way to big.
If they laid the nozzle flat and suction from the bottom with other things contoured it would be nice.

 

[blackheart]

I think

Kirby should add an independent brush motor. Where? If they were to increase the gap between the nozzle and the housing a brushroll motor could be part of the nozzle attached to the back of it I figured since the nozzle attaches via hinge adding an electrical port to the machine probably integrating it into the switch shouldn't be too big a deal. Using this configuration it should be possible to have an electrified hose attach to that same point to power a mini electric tool perhaps a low profile power nozzle for hard to reach areas or other various tools.

With this they could also move to a grooved (serpentine like) belt for more user convenience.

 

[juju93]

Other than the machine itself, what else would everyone like to see changed with the kirby system rather it be the machine or attachments/accessories. Heres some I would like to see changed

Machine:
-Reduce the weight
-Reduce the noise level (Mostly wanted)
-Reduce the footprint size
-Keep the long cord or even make it longer
-Keep the multi function powerplant.... and by that I mean keep it where you can take the nozzle, hose and accessories off. The same can be said about the exhaust port and also keep it where you can take the upright handle off and add a portable one.

Attachments/Accessories
-Make the hose be electrical
-Redo the portable shampooer,cause the foam method is eh not all that effective
-Make the zippbrush motor driven and also be able to actually suck up the dirt, that way consumers aren't having to clean the brush itself.
-Make a electrical nozzle and wand for those who want to use the system as a true canister to deep clean carpets and under hard to reach areas.
-Redo the MS3 and by that I mean its to wide and bulky to get into hard to reach areas. Its a gimmick as a mop because of its large size and not being able to get into hard to reach areas.
-Add more features to the turbo accessory or dich it completely
-Add some new accessories
-Keep the attachment bag method to store attachments. It actually makes it easier for consumers to take attachments along when usuing the system as a canister.


Also please bring back the videos owners manual for those who rather watch the videos instead of reading the printed manuals. Yes they have to basic short how to videos but those are usless when consumers want to see how the system and accessories performs and functions in a home setting, kind of like what they did in the older videos owners manuals. So those are some if not all the things I'd like to see kirby address in future models or design changes.

 

[kirbyg6]

Yeah the video owners manuals are just so cool and interesting to watch I would just love it if they just totally modernize it

 

[ralph123]

My understanding is that Warren Buffett buys companies so that they can make him money. Warren Buffett doesn't generally buy companies that require cash infusions. He looks to maximize his income and minimize his risk. It's nothing personal, if he can make more money with a different investment he will. It doesn't even mean that Kirby is no longer profitable. I would assume that with COVID, Kirby has likely been experiencing declining sales.