Potential New Kirby Vacuum Model Discussion

[juju93]

I can say that the last actual change that was made to the machine’s themselves that was, or at lease in my opinions a “major change” was when they launched the original sentria back in 06. I say that because it gave it a more modern appearance with the led lights and more curves on the handle as well as the chrome belt lifter. Which I don’t know why Kirby stop making it that way for the avalir 2 let alone for the shampoo systems on sentria 1&2 back in the day…… I can also say this, we are now in February, which means we’re another month closer to this “new model” get launched. Yeah the sentria, as I can think of it, was the last real model change in terms of cosmetics and appearance on the outside. I don’t count the accessories as major improvements because technically they can be used with any of the G series so yeah.

 

[rugsucker]

"--sales method--"

Some former Kirby salesmen turned out OK.Willie Nelson for example.

 

[luxlife]

So True!

Duane Chapman (Dog the Bounty Hunter) is another one.

 

[bisonian]

Not Just Kirby

Dog the Bounty Hunter sold Bisons as well.

 

[KirbyCollector01]

Well

It’d be very cool to see Kirby make a change regarding their sales method. I think maybe they should have vacuum shops, and janitorial suppliers sell them. As well as have them available on their page. That would be a cool thing to see.

Back to new models. This is very unlikely to happen, but it would be very cool if they resurrected an older Kirby design and sell it as the budget/economy model. Then have the G series, or this new model if it really happens, as the higher end premium model. Just an idea worth mentioning.

 

[gvox]

Having more direct manufacturing dealers would be the best change to the sales model. As I understand it, it's an MLM with a few layers, all wanting to make money.  


 


Give a dealer an area, give them factory pricing, and market the vacuum in their area.  


 


I don't know how many layers they have in their MLM, but I get the impression it's at least three. 


 


Factory direct dealers who sell at a markup, their come-and-go dealers who recruit and train sales reps, and then the sales reps who have to try to make some commission on top of that. 


 


Of course, I could be wrong; I'm just spitballing. The secondary market price for Kirby vacuum cleaners is closer to the price they should be sold at than what the door-to-door sales reps have to try to sell the units for. That's not good for the sales reps or the customers.  


 


It's a great vacuum, but it's not worth what some people pay for them.  


 


It's not worth $1,200. I've heard of people sold on them at $1,800-$3,000, which is just wrong. 


 


If you sell them at that price to someone smart enough to be wealthy, whatever, it's a free market.  


 


But if you sell at that price to a little old lady on a fixed income, or someone living in a trailer, by offering them easy credit payments, you're scum.   


 


As far as changes, I like the more subdued colors of the Aviler and Aviler II; I'm not a fan of a lot of graphics. I almost wish they just came with a solid color bag. I want a more solid, substantial handle, and I'd like the belt release to be polished aluminum. In fact, I'd like the entire housing to be aluminum. Call me old fashion ---I hate plastic, the more metal, the better.  ...but that's just me.  


 


 

[this post was last edited: 2/2/2022-18:18]

 

[juju93]

Heres my suggestion. If anyone wants a brand new kirby but doesn't want sales people coming into their home, just go purchase one through your local service center. I mean I'm sure they sell them brand new with the actual MSRP and not what door to door people try to sell them for. Thats what my mother and grandmother did back in the days instead of having someone come into their homes they went out to a local service center and purchased them that way. It saved them both time and money in the long run, not having random strangers come to your home and spending unnecessary amount of time demonstrating stuff you already know about the kirby. But most importantly your not paying those higher end door to door prices. Thats what I also did when I purchased my SRX a few years ago. I sought out a reputable dealer in my area with good reviews and pair pricing on the things I want with it, got in contact with them and bamn, I had purchased an SRX cleaning system in less than 20 minutes and figured out everything on my own, which was really easy.

 

[gvox]

The problem with going to the Kirby Service Center, at least in my area, is they do not sell direct to the public.  They are the level 1 dealer in the MLM.  They get their units at factory pricing.  In my area their building is not open to the public.  I imagine they have a warehouse because there are a couple of loading docks, service area, and some offices and conference or meeting rooms.  It's a sizeable building.  


 


If you go to their website, all you'll get is a pop-up about a "free room cleaning." If you call them, and say you want to buy a vacuum cleaner, they'll send your contact information to their downstream level 2 dealers, who are their most successful door-to-door sales reps who are now recruiting sales reps under them.  You'll get one of their door-to-door salesmen at your door.  


 


The door-to-door sales reps are in a miserable position.  They are trying to make a commission while working for a "level 2" dealer, who are trying to make money off their level 2 pricing from the level 1 "Service Center" owner.  


 


I actually feel sorry for the door-to-door reps.  These guys are trying to sell a good product that has multiple layers of distribution costs that they have to sell over to make a commision.  It's a bad sales model.  


 


Which is why you get some reps who are actually desperate enough to try to sell an overpriced unit on a crazy finance plan to people who shouldn't be spending a huge amount of money on a vacuum cleaner.  


 


 


 


 

[this post was last edited: 2/2/2022-19:38]

 

[panasonicvac]

Reply #43

I'd also love to have Kirby reintroduce some of their older models as well. Preferably the ComVac line. I think there is still a market left for commercial vacuums since more buildings are having carpets than more homes that do. It's like when Hoover quit making the Guardsman line for residential use but still made them for commercial use. And now that Royal's metal uprights are gone, Kirby could fill in the spot and not have competition anymore.

 

[panasonicvac]

Yeah I really would like to see this line again.

 

[kansasking]

If Kirby wants to survive, cords have to go.

The only way Kirby gets traction and sales in the coming years is with a cordless vacuum. The current Kirbys only pull around 600 -700 watts. There is no reason they couldn’t design a slightly more efficient direct air machine that operates cordlessly. Heck, give the option of running with a cord as well but most importantly, it has to be able to run off a battery and the carpet agitation must still be intense. The whole removable head design also has to go as that kind of design is archaic.

This may sound sacrilegious but the metal body also has to go. Including a battery is going to already add weight and plastic can be extremely durable with the right design and materials.

If Kirby can modernize the vacuum into a top performing cordless carpet cleaner, then they may have a winner. The design doesn’t necessarily need to be a jack of all trades design. However, I would like the machine to be a little lower profile and maybe be able to go under some furniture. It just needs to be less clunky.

I like my current Kirbys but they only get pulled out when necessary. They are heavy, cumbersome, and don’t really maneuver well as the heads don’t articulate. They do one thing great though and that is shake the bejesus out of my carpets. I also like the tech drive mechanism but whatever Kirby does, it needs to be modern.

The other thing Kirby needs to address are their sales methods. From everything I’ve read, the salesmen don’t get paid diddly for what they do. Kirby needs to try selling through more traditional channels and I think they can but they have to do one thing first, make a modern vacuum that competes with other higher priced machines. They will have to compete with the Sebos and Mieles of the world.

 

[juju93]

Look, all I got to say is, June needs to hurry up already.

 

[kirbyg6]

Yeah me too June could be very exciting

 

[luxlife]

Could y’all PLEASE just pump the brakes a little…..

And try not to obsess about the next Kirby on a daily basis. Doesn’t ANYONE appreciate the element of surprise anymore??? We got a few of the same individuals here that were involved in the Rainbow SRX thread a few years back. Some of you simply ruined it for yourselves and I have to wonder if you’re the type to snoop around your house in late November to see what you’re getting for Christmas. When the SRX was finally released, a few of you had very little good things to say about it because you’d been preoccupied with every little tidbit of information that you could get before it was officially available. So when it officially hit the market, some of you were criticizing everything that YOU BELIEVED TO BE wrong with it- in YOUR OPINION. Isn’t it a pity that vacuum manufacturers don’t have enough to keep vacuum enthusiasts satisfied, but if the enthusiast/collector community had more buying power, then who knows what could happen….

 

[panasonicvac]

Reply #49

Actually Kirby already developed a cordless vacuum, it's called the Split Second hand vac. It originally came out to compete against Hoover Concept Two's Help Mate hand vac but they've sold that cordless machine for many years. I wouldn't mind if Kirby developed a cordless stick vacuum. But if they wanted to replace their main vacuum with a cordless, to me that's risky. I've been into homes before where they took more than two hours to clean and my first concern would be not finishing a whole big house with a cordless Kirby. My second concern would be performance. I know Kirby won't release a new model until it is proven to be better than their predecessor. And I know I've used many cordless vacuums that are not as good or even better than their corded versions. My last concern would be marketing. Could they pull it off? Maybe. But I know there are many consumers out there that would still prefer to use cords over cordless, myself included. Especially in situations where I would have to use a corded machine over cordless. Example, I would pull my camping trailer out of storage and first thing I would notice is how dirty it is inside. I'm also in a hurry to clean it out so it's something where I have to vacuum like right away with a corded machine versus waiting several minutes or even hours to charge a vacuum battery because I wouldn't have electricity running through my trailer when I would have it sit in storage. If Kirby could pull it off, then great! But at least though I wouldn't discontinue the corded one, I'd sell both to give each consumer an option like you said to go for either corded or cordless like the ProTeam FreeFlex for example.

Also for removing the nozzle to be eliminated, well how else could I change the belt or use the other accessories for it? I would've may as well just buy a metal Royal upright instead.

I wouldn't mind if Kirby develops a machine that uses plastic all over the body. Electrolux was able to pull it off on their canister machines and if they could do it, so could Kirby. I didn't mind that their Kirby Vacuette hand vacs were all plastic. But I still like the idea of having metal on a Kirby, they even look pretty anyways.

Lastly but not least, I think eventually Kirby would change the way that they do on sales, at least have like what Filter Queen is doing nowadays. I'd rather buy a Filter Queen or a Kirby online than have a salesperson come to my house.

Anyways that's just in my opinion.

 

[rainbowd4c]

A lot of people are saying the same thing about the Kirby. That it's a dated design. But at the same time I get why it hasn't been changed. I bought a Avalir 2 back in May 2021 and to be honest. I actually really like it. Yes it's a pain in the *** to attach the hose and attachments. But in all honesty the way they have it set up is how you are going to get the best suction. And lets face it nothing has suction like a Kirby except maybe a shop vac or Central Vacuum System. I also got mine at a dirt cheap price. I only paid $844.82 for it and I didn't trade anything for it. I just completely controlled the sale. I only bought the day to day attachments and nothing else. And I made it extremely clear to the sales man that if he wanted the sale that he was going to follow my direction or it was over and he left empty handed. Yes it's heavy and loud. But that what they are known for and maybe why they clean so well.

 

[dysonman1]

What if you were a consumer who didn't know anything about Kirby? No one would pick it up out of a line-up of current vacuums, especially for even half the MSRP of $1997.00

Which is why it makes absolutely no difference if the machine is updated, lighter, vintage looking, etc. Also, do any of you seriously think that the salesmen (who work a week or two) are going to learn about a second, cheaper model we well as the more expensive one? And carry both of them in their car? No. Not gonna happen. They have enough problems selling one model.

I sold Kirbys door to door. I know that it made no difference what kind of vacuum the consumer had, the Kirby only had to beat that one. The secondary market of used Kirbys is immaterial to the salesman in the home. They are either going to buy the new one or not.

Think of the consumer who actually (in a pandemic) opens their door to a salesman?
Who does that? And lets a stranger (or strangers) into your home? The salesmen have enough trouble getting into the home. The Kirby never has to change models ever again, and they'll still sell. The average is one in three people buy - you just have to get inside the house.

 

[kirbyg6]

I think Kirby will go bust if they just keep making colour changes the industry has moved on since the G3 was launched I feel they are stuck and can’t make a totally new machine I think the G series is an absolute beast but they need to move on and make something that’s up to date

 

[gvox]

If you use an inflation calculator and adjust to 2022 dollars, it looks like most top of the line vacuum cleaners sold throughout the years were in the $800 - $1200 range (in 2022 dollars).  I would say that maybe a new Kirby is worth something in that range. 


 


I've no idea what innovations would make it more competitive without turning it into just another plastic craptastical vacuum cleaner.  Which I think might actually destroy the brand.  It's kind of a niche appliance. The Harley Davidson motorcycle of the vacuum world.  The aluminum body is probably overkill but right or wrong screams durability, it's motor and nozzle produce good airflow for an upright.  Consumer reports says 5-7 years is a Dysons average life.  People typically don't service them, they use them until the plastic gets scratched up and nasty looking, and or something cracks or breaks, and then they throw them away.  So on top of the MADE IN USA, there is an environmental pitch with long-lasting Kirby's as well.  "Save the planet and buy a USA made product that will last a lifetime!"


 


If they want to increase sales, they should get rid of the MLM door-to-door sales structure they are using and just go to a franchise dealerships model, or better yet sell them direct to the consumer through big box retailers. 


 


They could probably drop the retail price to around what a new Dyson upright cost ($700 retail) slap a MADE IN USA sticker on it and ask a little more.  Promote it's longevity, durability, reliability, and serviceability, and call it a day.  A new Dyson upright weighs just north of 19 lbs and is promoted as "lightweight" and has no self-propelled function The Kirby with light comes in at just north of 23 lbs, and at least has an aluminum upper shell.  It's much easier to change a bag out then take apart and clean a Dyson vacuum tank parts, and a lot less nasty.   


 


Your average Millennial probably doesn't even know the brand exists, unless their parents or grandparents had one.  Relying on financially desperate strangers knocking on doors to be your brand ambassadors trying to sell it for stupid amounts of money significantly reduces their market penetration in the younger demographics who is turned off by that approach.  ...they probably won't even open the door.  


 


Selling them to poor people and little old ladies with the pitch of getting a "free room cleaning," is a little scammy too.  Trying to corner an unsuspecting potential customer into a multi-hour hard sales pitch with what usually ends in an overpriced offer with predatory lending isn't a good look.  And probably turns off more customers than it wins.  


 


The one improvement Kirby could make would be to change their marketing strategy and sales practices.  Bring them into the 21st century.   


 


It's a good upright with ok attachments.  But the company needs to focus on their strengths and forget the rest.  

 

[huskyvacs]

1. change the styling to something innovative and sleek. More than just retooling the shape of two parts. Even making a canister model as a partner to the upright would be a huge help.

2. Drop the weight down a few lbs. If Kirby would tweak the design to be more similar to the Bison (which was already futuristic for its time) and make it even more streamlined and flatten it a bit more it would be really cool I think as well as shedding some weight.

3. Quick connect easy tool changing from hose to brushroll (magnetic attach/detachment?). while at it, make a more easy to understand nozzle height adjustment and have onboard tool storage for most commonly used tools.

4. Make it possible to come in other colors or bag patterns.

5. sell it retail and online, ditch the door to door garbanzo.

6. make it battery powered, or both corded and cordless at the same time, in a way similar to a laptop. automatic switching to battery power when the machine is unplugged, or running off battery entirely and plug in to recharge

7. have a hard floor nozzle that is padded or with soft brushes that can sweep the floor and suck up debris

Those are some fast ideas that I think will help the company get out of the bleachers and back onto the court.

The price being around $1 grand is not a big deal if the quality and reliability is there. Same for being bagged. People will drop that much cash for a Miele or Sebo and they do not even have spare parts available for most of their vacuums. They will use it for a couple years then when it gets clogged or someone says they can't fix it, it gets trashed and they buy another and have no hesitation about the cost.