Kirby Company sold to Right Lane Industries

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You have some good points huskyvacs and agree where your coming from. A lighter move manoeuvrable machine would be the perfect fit for today’s market of lighter and more convenient machines the public are wanting to have and use! I lighter Kirby doesn’t mean compromising on materials used or robustness if the right investment and R&D are done.

Across the globe the way the general public clean their homes these days has changed! Gone for most are weekly full cleans as people prefer to spot clean or clean in small regular cleans around the home. Plus want to clean in a faster more convenient way. I know some don’t like this change and prefer the weekly full house clean but times have changed and maybe the cordless vacuum has contributed to this change! A technology some of us may not like but I’m sure is here to stay and only grow over the next decade as battery technology improves and changed!

In a competitive market vacuum cleaner manufacturers need to adapt to the changing needs of the general public or adapt the way they sell their machines! People are wanting lighter, compact machines that are convenient and quick to use around the home. Even Vorwerk has started to open its open Retail stores selling their products on the high street and even a few years ago started to sell their products on their websites in different countries as they realised I’m sure that in home demonstrations are not the only way to sell their products.

Just my thoughts.
 
As great as the Kirby vacuums truly are, I see mainly two problems with them.

1) unfortunate high pressure and sometimes shady sales practices of distributors, especially targeting the elderly (this has often gotten them negative media attention).

2) the machines, although certainly versatile and different than anything else on the market, I think are just too fussy and complex for the average user. Having to take the head off to put the hose on for the normal person that just wants to do a quick vacuum is very inconvenient. Also all of the accessories, while novel, just never get used, and sometimes lost.

How many times do we see Kirby vacuums for sale or at the thrift stores, and the attachments and accessories are all just in a jumble and clearly never used? Or the seller has no idea what any of it does, nor do they care. The owner likely never bothered to figure out what is what or how to use any of it.

I just think Kirby really doesn't fit in today's market. The older generation saw the beauty in, and cherished things like Sunbeam Mixmasters and all that they could do.

Today's generation is too busy with electronics, work, and other sort of things to have any interest in all that the Kirby can do.

The older generation has largely passed away. Tools on board uprights, and bagless vacs have been on the market for nearly 30 years now, and that's what people are used to. The market for Kirby vacuums is fading away and I don't see younger people as a whole being interested in them. The only ones I could see would be people like stay at home homesteading moms that have time to figure it out and lots of cleaning to do.

I'm not even sure the Kirby vacuums of the past were even bought because people actually WANTED them. I think it was high pressure sales tactics as well as claims of all that the vacuum could do, and maybe a person who just happened to be in need of a new vac when the salesman happened to knock on the door.

But quickly, the owner found out it was too heavy and too confusing for what they wanted, so the vacuum never got used, or if so only in floor mode.
 
It's the sales model that's killing Kirby. No one that I know wakes up in the morning and says "I'm going to buy a two thousand dollar vacuum today". It's the end of an era for the direct salesperson. After covid, good luck getting into houses. That's probably what Warren Buffet and crew were thinking. It will only get harder, not easier, to enter people's homes for a high pressure sale.
 
It's odd how at one time (pre-World War II) Kirby offered an "R" series to be sold in stores, and a "C" series to be sold through in-home demonstration. If they were to adopt that practice again, they MIGHT be able survive for awhile. But a new platform (still all-aluminum of course), lighter weight, more user friendly is a MUST at this point. The Tech-drive makes the whole thing too bulky to carry around. Even Hoover has finally gotten away from Self-Propelled uprights. I think Kirby is the last of the Mohicans.
 
With Scott & Fetzer selling Kirby it will be interesting how United Finance treats Kirby dealers now that they’re no longer required to be used as a method to help prop up one of the former sister corps under the Scott & Fetzer umbrella. Also Kirby was one of Northland biggest motor customers and now that they no longer part of the same corporate family the new Kirby owners might source motors from someone else.
 
Another thing thats bulky with kirby is its shampoo system setup. Granted the new MS3 allows you to mop and scrub your floors but its to big and bulky to fit into tight hard to reach areas like behind the bathroom toilets or under the bed, assuming your bedroom has flooring instead of carpets, thus still needing a mop to clean floors. If kirby does still keep the G-series platform, which I hope they change it, make the machine less noisy and less bulky, especially with the MS3.
 
What I would like to see is a scrubbing brush attachment for when using the portable shampooer they could make a separate brush for the zip brush to do something like that that’s just one of my ideas
 
This is going to sound random but kirby is going to have to remove the scott Fetzer name off the side of the shampoo box and turbo accessory box and off the bottom of the big kirby box. Hopefully this new company will listen to consumers wants and needs for this brand.
 
It happens when vacuum manufacturers no longer want to fit in with the times. It happened to Air Way 20 years ago, and frankly I can't figure out how Filter Queen is still holding on. They're DATED designs and as Tom already pointed out the customers who appreciate the tried and true are passing away.
 
@y Kirbyg6

I can't see kirby doing a scrubbing brush type attachment for the portable shampooer, especially since its in the blower mode type format. I do hope rexair does a scrubbing spinbrush for its portable shampooer. At lease with rexair thats a good possibility and a potential one too.


If kirby doesn't change something within the next few years or within the next few models, I can see them sadly going out of buisness. I say that simply because they don't wanna address consumers and current owners concerns and issues with the system. I mean if they wanna keep the G-series then change something on it, besides the handle and pattern design. The belt lifter design is long overdue to be changed and the same can be said about the headlight area, hence it not looking like a sentria/avalir anymore. Now Ive addressed my concerns and wants in various threads and I'm sure yall have see them so yeah, those concerns I think a lot of us can agree on and I think someone in Kirby should read these threads and take notes and pass it on.
 
Absolutely the modern customers are fueling all this. Everything is about convenience and fast results now. There could still be hope for these vacuums if they do what is necessary to make themselves known and relevant to the modern consumer. Kirby needs to make some design changes. Like others have pointed out, it needs to be lighter and easier to use. They don't have to give up the direct air system, but some engineering muscle could give it modern features too.

For example, they could re-imagine the Kirby with a flatter head design while keeping the direct air design, similar to the Tandem Air head of the Tacony models, only much stronger of course since it would be the main suction fan. Reconfigure the belt so that it operates with independent gears. Include an ability to turn off the brushroll with a foot pedal. Perhaps do away with the cloth bag entirely (but keeping a mini-emptor). Attach a built-in hose that is sealed with rubber gaskets and operates by rotating the hose to the ABOVE FLOOR setting (shutting off the suction to the floor).

I don't think these things are impossible, but they might be if Kirby doesn't have the R&D money to do it with.

If these companies don't get busy our only choices will be Shark and Bissell...

Bluuuuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeggggggkkkkkkkk :(
 
The problem is if Warren Buffets money wasn’t enough how is RLI going to do it when they are seriously under capitalized in comparison to Berkshire Hathaway’s big bucks. I just don’t think RLI is going to pump money and resources into a new Kirby as much as they are likely to just remove items, cut cost, remove complexity, remove dealers, and sell directly to their huge Kirby data base of customers directly and target new customers on amazon with a much lower MSRP. Just an opinion and time will tell.
 
Kirby design change---Change to WHAT?Wonder if RLI wanted a home cleaning products in their fleet of companies.Looked at the websites of the other companies RLI has and they cater to industrial-commercial customers.When some on here say Kirby is "outdated" what about 'Lux,Rainbow,TriStar,Vortech Force,and other premium DTD vacuums?With things opening up now DTD sales are resuming.The Kirby man I know is going DTD again.-and doing well!
 
I wonder if the new owners have the right to terminate existing contracts with their current dealers. I assume their was likely a clause hidden in there just in case something like this occurred.
 
Yes the Kirby is outdated

All of those vacuums mentioned above are easier to use, quieter, and less clunky than a Kirby will ever be. While the Rainbow is somewhat cumbersome to use, it's still far ahead of a Kirby in the modernity arena.

And yes, some of those are outdated also. The Lux vacuums are regularly criticized on this forum for using outdated designs. They are not sealed, they look "old", and they lack some features. The Platinum is the only modern machine (some might would say TOO modern with all the electronics).

The world moves on. We don't use outhouses and we don't drive Model T's. Change requires working out bugs from time to time but we don't just cease.
 
Also rainbow's have changed through the years. If we look over the past 30 years we had the D series and then when they updated that to the E series we got a lot of improvements, primarily a new shape and new connection parts and hepa filtration. Then while in the E series we got the direct connect functions where we didn't have to connect the electrical cord through anything, and we also got several different updates to the aquamate during the E series. Then recently with the SRX series, which is what I have, we no longer have to latch the basin onto the machine as well as a larger hepa filter. Idk about yall but that was a huge key point in me getting the SRX over the E2 Black. Also going back to the D series we had 1 speed, and then the same with the E series and then we got two speed and now 4 with the SRX. So rexair had made drastic improvments over the past 30 years. Also rexair has improve the sound quality through the years, whereas kirby can't and hasn't address the loudness of its machines, which Im sure its something we all want addressed at some point. What has Kirby done in 30+ besides, name, color, belt lifter shape and headlight shape? Not much if you ask me.
 
I’ll tell you exactly what they will do (if they are smart)

They will ride the wave of the “Kirby” name for the next 15-25 years. They will begin private labeling various models and create a retail big box line. They will consolidate dealers into protected territories for the “flagship” model (it won’t change). They will probably have Tacony label the lightweight corded and cordless and retail those as a non-protected line. The Kirby name on a Chinese piece in Best Buy or WM will appeal to those who have grandparents with the machines, and the $299 price will make it an unbelievable steal, because they never remember how well the Kirby cleans, they just remember the price.

This can work, but only for a little bit. Just ask Joe Urso ;-)
 
@ Scvacuumguy

I really hope that aint the case with Kirby. If they start appearing in retail stores in retail like packaging with different models out at the same time then it wouldn't even feel like a kirby anymore. What kirby really needs to do is keep one model out at a time and not appear in retail store in retail packaging with all types of graphics and stuff on it. What I can say about the packing of kirby is that its clean and simple. It gives enough information to grab the customers attention. It typically got the name of the company, the model type,the color and pattern scheme and depending on the model the MSRP for the machine and accessories on the side of the box. Kirby doesn't need to do all that graphics and information like what you see in the big box stores. This also doesn't take into how they will sell the optional accessories like the MS3, turbo accessory or the floor kits.
 
Hmm

Bissell would have a heyday. They would make a green Avalor call it a big green clean machine. The could do a upright with hose built in and tools on board. The shampooer could be a cross between a crosswave and Kirby in shampoo mode.
They could just stop selling them a together and dominate the market oh wait can you dominate something that an industry as a whole fell off a cliff and is abysmal.
I'm sure changes are coming. Changes camo for Hoover America's top selling vacuum for along time. Electrolux made amazing canister vacuums that never die. Royal was a poor man's Kirby but a great vacuum. Eureka/sanitaire made quality machines and was a top commercial vacuum company. They all have a common theme.
Bought sold bought sold bought liquidated and disbanded.
If there is a future for Kirby it's not good.
 
Lol

That would be funny. Sharks Dyson's have no bag. It will probably sale for $89.99 but you can't trade your old Kirby in for a new bag less.
Your probably right. The Kirby ninja duo clean with power find.
 
Berkshire Hathaway stock reached an all time high this year (2021) so the sale of Kirby was not done in some desperate need to raise cash, but rather a method to purge an outdated company that no longer fits in with the corporate family.

Berkshire had all the money in the world to invest into Kirby and the decided not to.
 
Berkshire

Hathaway basically made a blueprint to retire using the stock market with vanguard accounts. They innovated the entire investment game and basically how america will prosper. They are pioneers in changing hundreds of millions life.
Kirby innovated the vacuum market with a good design. They added a transmission and made a $2200 vacuum that's $400 value.
Kirby will change sadly there not a big enough apple for buffets company to bother with.
 
Heres a hypothetical idea

What if Kirby fiinally comes out with that design that was suppose to be the real avalir? Remember several years ago that there were design pattens for what was suppose to be a newly design kirby? Well what if this new company that bought kirby decides to invest in that design and then launch it as the new kirby whenever that maybe.
 

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