People in America don't wake up one day and say "I'm going to buy a Kirby". All Kirby vacuums are sold to people who are not in the market for a vacuum. Remember, the second job of a Kirby salesman is to make a customer unhappy with their present vacuum.
I got the Miele Salsa upright from a very good friend, who is also a vacuum collector. My friend didn't like it (really, really didn't like it) because it was very heavy. My fiancee loves the Miele, which is why I bought it from my friend. Dan likes it because it IS heavy. He thinks a heavy vacuum cleans better because there's weight to the nozzle (head) of the machine.
I've let him use Dysons, Kirbys, Hoovers, Electrolux, Rainbow, Filter Queen, Simplicity - he always comes back to the Miele. He is not a vacuum collector and used to own a Dirt Devil Featherlite Bagless when I met him. So he's no expert. But he IS a typical person who looks at a vacuum cleaner as "something you use to clean the house with - like a mop or broom".
He's exactly the type of consumer that today's vacuum manufacturers are looking at. While collectors will always argue which brand or model is better, it's because we have a number of them to choose from, and we have experience running lots of them. The typical person who uses a vacuum, uses the same one its' entire life.
Here's the rub: Dan won't turn the brush roller off when he cleans the bare floor. He actually said "it's too much trouble to do it". Really? The button is right at your fingertips, but he believes you shouldn't have to do anything when going from the rug to the floor. And that's exactly what the average person thinks too.
Out of 100 women, not one (I'll bet) would want to go through the trouble of actually using a Kirby as their only vacuum. It's really just too much trouble. But remember - to the average person, as long as the carpet looks clean, as long as the nap stands up and the dog hair is gone, the vacuum has done its job. They don't want to go back to the closet for attachments. They don't want to stop. They want a very long cord. And they don't want to have to go somewhere special for vacuum bags. They just don't.
While the average vacuum owner is nothing like us collectors, we collectors cannot keep a company in business. The Hoover Constellation was obsoleted last year because they couldn't sell enough to justify the cost. Same thing would happen if they brought back the Hoover Convertible. After the 100 or so collectors bought them, they'd sit forever on store shelves - as they aren't want the average vacuum customer wants.
