Trouble finding bags at Sears

[fan-of-fans]

Once in a while I stop at Sears to look at vacuums for fun. I noticed when I went a while back and they were out of a lot of bags. Then I went back last week and I found the same thing to be the case. They are out of just about every bag type except E/5033. In the past they have always been well stocked, so this is odd to me. Could it have something to do with DVC shutting down a while back? I believe they supply the Kenmore bags and UltraCare brand items. They have all of the new Elite vacuums in, but no bags.

 

[tase]

At my local Sears, it took me over 10 minutes to find the HEPA bags for my Kenmore PowerMate canister. When I found them, I could only purchase one pack since they were so out. 


 


I noticed that there are very few bags too. Kind of a shame.

 

[tolivac]

Since Sears is getting ready to go under-can see why this is happening.They are having trouble keeping their stores stocked.Remember the idiots in mangement that own and run Sears now!They want them to fail!!Stock up on what Sears bags you find!

 

[fan-of-fans]

It's really too bad. Sears is one of the last big box stores to push bagged vacuums as well as CANISTER vacuums. As much as we complain about the quality decrease they were at least still selling a decent product with the Panasonic made vacs. They usually sell the better models of other brands too. And a decent parts inventory.

If they go under, all the world will ever know is buy a Bissell, Hoover or Shark bagless upright at Wal-Mart. No variety at all anymore!

 

[daknx1994]

Sears can be very good at selection. As far as Sears going under...It is only a matter of time. I work with the Sears company and honestly do get scared at times. I just heard today that one Sears in my area will be closing soon. Really what the problem is is not the company, but the big idiot on top (I use this term very losely), Eddie Lampert. If it wasn't for him, Sears would still be a mecca in department stores.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Hmmm, our Sears, an outlet store since our community is too small to host a full size Sears, has every bag BUT the E/5033. I order them off the internet reliably. Several good choices but nothing in a Hepa bag.

Which model Kenmore do you have?

Btw, you wouldn't have a spare bag clip for those E bags would you or know where I could find one? I have two old Kenmores that use E bags. Until two weeks ago I didn't even know there was such a thing. I was asking the tech guy at Sweetsweep why no bag I buy fits my vacuums properly or would pop off in use. He is the one who cued me in regarding the red bag clip. They are apparently very hard to find and I will grovel shamelessly to find them. Don't ask what I was doing to make bags fit, or not, as the case may be. I do have some shame.

 

[MikePdx]

When I bought my Kenmore canister, they were well stocked here. I wonder how long it will be before we are seeing the same thing. Thank goodness for Amazon.

There is also a small glimmer of hope; as long as we have Riccar, Simplicity, and Kirby, we will still have real vacuum cleaners left.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Get to know Sweetsweep.com. They carry the torch for old out of production vacuums and have lots of repair/replacement parts for Kenmores and a lot of other brands.

"Riccar, Simplicity, and Kirby"

No mention of Winsor, Sebo, Miele or Fakir. Wow, no love for the Germans.

If I can maintain a small supply of bag clips ( if ! ) I can keep hot-rodding old Kenmores with big high efficiency Ametek Lamb motors that will suck the bag right out of your Kirby ^_^ . I laugh when I go to company selling home central vacuum systems and their hoses and powermates plug right into my old Kenmore bombers. I have even rebuilt a 1980's vintage Kenmore Powermate with modern production parts intended for a Hayden Superpack. Everything except the decorative outside upper shell is part for part interchangeable. The color of the plastic might be a smidge different but who cares? I like that a lot.

 

[Gr8DaneDad]

No love for Aerus or Rexair/Rainbow either??

 

[MikePdx]

Not a lack of love at all...

I just prefer American bagged vacuums with reasonably priced parts. I also love Aerus but the lack of distributors in my area has the alarm bells going off. I hope they stay in business.

 

[DesertTortoise]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I am committed to my old Kenmores, but I just bought a Windsor (brand new Sensor S12 for $256 on eBay, that is practically a curb find) on the strength of seeing them at work daily in my office and I have to say I am impressed with the precision of it's construction and the way it cleans. It looks like it will outlive me, which is more than I can say about the crappy old Hoover upright "U-Boat" it is replacing (though something weird in me pushes me to restore even this old pile of cheap plastic). The hose attachment is just horrible. The Hoover bills itself as cleaning 99 point something or the other allergens but I dunno .........

At any rate, old Kenmores own my affections. The eldest of my Kenmores has a big Ametek Lamb motor in it, and I kind of over did it. If it pulls suction hard it sucks the lid in pretty dramatically and it finally broke the hinge on the back of the lid. I don't think I can find a replacement for that part (maybe a piano hinge???) but I have a slightly later Kenmore canister that came with motors that powerful and it has a sick sounding motor, so I see a motor swap in the near future, heh, heh, heh.