Kirby Company sold to Right Lane Industries

[oliveoiltinfoil]

I mean, I’ve said the same about Sebo but somehow that’s wrong of me

Kind of goes to show that reputation and oldy worldy nostalgic design isn’t enough to survive in the current market. No is suggesting Kirby makes cordless vacuums in China for £150, but it Vorwerk can sell vacuums at Kirby prices and still remain profitable and relevant then something is clearly wrong with customer relations, or lack there of.

 

[blackheart]

Thinking about this

It's hard to say at this point what this sale means for the future of the company.
We can speculate but we'll all have to wait and see what happens.

Even if, worst case scenario, this does result in the end of Kirby as we know them I'd think parts should be around for a good number of years to come so we can at least keep our machines running.

 

[kirbyg6]

It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Kirby i just don’t want them to go bust

 

[dysonman1]

From the horses mouth.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Ironman,

Although I'm not a "Kirby' owner, I was through the factory in Cleveland a few yrs ago. They were very nice to us. (The VCCC). I hope that they do not go through what Hoover went through. selling the buildings, firing, etc.
It would be awful.
It's a wonder TTi didn't 'scoop it up'. Then, we might have seen the Kirby name slapped on Royals, Orecks, etc.
2000+ employees were gotten rid of.
Time will tell. Still, nobody really knows what might happen.

 

[huskyvacs]

Yeah that's what I figured, same scenario as Dirt Devil. They got bought by a moneyman who will supply them the cash as long as they continue putting out the product to pay back the equity.

"re-establish a pattern of continued growth" is just legalese for they're gonna be trying a bunch of wacky things and seeing what sales model sticks to run with. In any case, hopefully we get a new Kirby out of this. I suspect with this much money they would likely try and develop a rechargeable Kirby at some point. It would fit right into the handle cutout of the Avalir 2.

 

[vacuumman]

If what this letter says is true, the main takeaway is that Right Lane currently intends to keep Kirby production in the United States.

 

[kirbyg6]

Huskyvacss
That sounds exciting let’s hope they can do something different and interesting

 

[ironman]

RLI previously seemed focused on behind the scenes industrial companies. Kirby looks to be their first step into consumer products. As they try to ‘re-establish’ things they will likely find it to be more complicated than they thought. Its the same reason Rexair/Rainbow was sold 4 times within a 15 year period, and each time for less money. Making and selling products to consumers is no easy task.

 

[rowdy141]

The market still appears to be distracted by day-glow green, fluorescent yellow, V9, V10, V11, Bagless, Stick, and Cordless... Function, efficiency, and durability don't appeal anymore.

Perhaps Kirby can attract consumers wanting the latest fashion by offering plastic clip-on panels and interchangeable trim, with bags in a variety of colours?

I wonder if they'll change their outdated 1930's Sales Model now, to allow customers to simply buy a new Kirby vacuum - without the three hour intensive home-demonstration pitch?

 

[juju93]

As a dyson v11 outsize owner and the owner of the Rainbow SRX, kirby is gonna have to do a major overhall to when me back in there interest. They can simply do so by addressing the issues and concerns with its current design and change it from there. That also goes for the attachments and accessories too. Thats just my point of view.

 

[kloveland]

People can speculate all they want. Time will tell. The letter from Kirby is positive! I can't see Kirby having the same fate as Hoover or Dirt Devil. Since Kirby is a multipurpose cleaning system and sold differently than an average department store vac.

 

[vacuumkid47]

My take

All of my life I have grown up with the Kirby sytem (with my grandparents owning the Gsix 2000 LE and the Avalir, my mother owning the Gsix, UG DE, and Sentria II). I have grown to love the Kirby brand and it is a very unique system and the fact that it is a QUALITY USA made machine is what is appealing to Kirby owners, and the fact that it still uses the same basic design from over 100 years ago! Kirby being sold to RLI was definitely a surprise to me, as I knew Scott and Fetzer wasn't actively planning on selling the company outright as far as I know. The sales tactics especially by dealers and door to door salesman is something I do not agree with, and it is a dying market altogether. The only worrying thing about Kirby being sold is what is inevitable with many vacuum brands today: quality assurance. Many brands I feel just crap out a new model within a few months with little to no improvement in design and performance, just with a new color and a few new parts here and there. Kirby is different. Kirby is METICULUSLY tested with many stress tests and it is a durable machine. I cannot count how many vacuums I have seen just thrown away because of a simple little thing like a broken belt and/or clog. But I digress....

 

[panasonicvac]

I personally agree with the last two comments. Kirby is nothing like alot of the vacuums out there. They're complete home care systems. While it's not my most my most favorite vacuum out there, it is however a vacuum that I would take almost any vacuum that is sold in department stores today. The only real change that I would suggest to Kirby is to bring back the Vacuette hand vacs, that's my biggest criticism with Kirby overall is using it as a handheld. But as long as there are review videos like these that would recommend people to get a Kirby, I think they will still continue to be successful.

 

[human]

Good video...

I think that video pretty well sums things up. The most important point the reviewer makes is that Kirbys do have a small learning curve but once you get past that, they really are great machines. That said, I have never been able to change the machine from upright to canister mode anywhere near as fast as the salesman did during an in-home demo of a Classic Omega I watched back in the early '70s. I was about nine years old at the time and was mightily impressed. We didn't buy one but from that point on, I had in the back of my head that some day, I'd like to have a Kirby until I finally found my first Gsix beside a dumpster some 40 years later. Best dumpster find ever.

 

[tolivac]

I liked a Kirby STORE demo of a Kirby Classic where the salesman used the jigsaw and its table attachment to cut parts for a birdhouse and then used the Kirby with its hose adn bag to clean up the remaining mess-With the scrollsaw attachment you left the bag on and most of the sawdust was collected while the parts being sawn.The Salesman says-"Iam going to present to you the ONLY vacuum cleaner that can be a TOTAL homecare system and also help out in your shop!"He gave a VERY impressive and interesting demo-At the time Kirbys were shown in a Kirby store and not DTD.Also Electrolux did this,too-just down the street from Kirby was an Electrolux store.And there was a HUGE Electrolux store in NW downtown DC-near Embassy Row.

 

[ironman]

My guess is if Kirby continues with the same sales tactics they will have to raise both their wholesale and retail price significantly ASAP! They lost a significant amount of cost savings when they were detached from Berkshire’s money and the direct connection to Scott & Fetzer’s Northland and United Finance. That previous corporate family relationship was likely utilized to the max.

 

[juju93]

The way I see them raising the price for a kirby system is if they come out with a complete new design. I say that because no one in their right mind is going to pay over 2k for a G-series kirby especially when you can get them dirt cheap on ebay and more specifically a pawn shop. Now if they come out with a new design platform. then maybe people can justify paying over 2k for a kirby. If your paying over 2k and even 3k for a G-series kirby, then you are sadly gettting robbed my friends. I think when my mother bought her diamond model in '03 it cost like a little over 1300 for the machine and attachments and then maybe 200 for the shampooer and maybe 50 for the zipbrush. Then add taxes so it was probably like close to 1800. Granted that was from a kirby service center, which isn't around here anymore, and not from a door to door sales person. I feel like you can get a guenine kirby deal from a service center rather than a door to door and not have to pay the crazy price that their selling them for.

 

[human]

Kirby's biggest competitor...

I know I've run this point into the ground in other threads but it bears repeating. Kirby's biggest competition these days is itself in the form of a glutted second hand market. As Juju93 correctly pointed out, it's not at all hard to find a used Kirby in decent shape for a relative pittance. Back in the spring, I picked up two Kirbys at different thrift stores within a couple of weeks of one another—an Ultimate G Diamond Edition and a first generation Sentria—for $50 each with full accessory kits including shampooers. In all fairness, the Diamond G did need a couple of minor parts, about $12 worth, but the Sentria just needs some polishing, which I haven't done yet. Still, you can't even buy a plastic craptastic disposable bagless vac at Wally World for $50. This creates an interesting dynamic where used Kirbys represent as much of an incredible value for the money as much as brand new ones are ridiculously expensive. That's a tough conundrum for Kirby to overcome, regardless who owns the company.

 

[ironman]

There must be a missing factor we are all missing here on why Warren Buffet and all his billions of dollars did not feel Kirby was worthy of an infusion of money to truly modernize their product line in all the right ways. Instead he milked it for all it was worth and sold it after it had multiple years of significant underperformance.