Kirby has been in buisness for 100 years now and they sell thousands of Kirbys every year so they must be doing something right.

The Kirby is still built to a high quality. Now as it has always been (Believe me I know). Also there are still lots of consumers who want a top performing,high quality,versatile machine when offered a choice. Kirby being what it is helps set it apart from the clones on the market today. So yes "Variety is the spice of life."

May Kirby continue doing well as it is doing now and in the past.

James

Well, Tom, the first KIRBY went on sell in 1935! 

I also agree that a small Kirby would be grand. They had it right with the DS80! As much as I love Kirby, their newer models are clunky, and can be an issue in smaller spaces (Think furniture). Why not bring onto the market a machine equal to the DS80, but with HEPA bags and your choice of a '13 or '16 Nozzle? I know i would if i owned Kirby! Then again, if i owned Kirby we would still have the Handi-Butler! 

There is 3 ways to sell a Kirby,

• March up to somebody's house with the latest model in tow, and say, "Hi! I would love to show you just how great this vacuum is!"
• March up to somebody's house with the latest model in tow, and say, "Hi! your old vacuum cleaner is terrible, but look at this cool thing!"
• Have somebody who appreciates Quality, Reliability and Performance pop into your shop one day and say, "Hello! I would like to purchase a Kirby! here's some cash, See you when i need bags!"

Kirby has cared, and hopefully still does. In 1969, when people bought shag, Kirby introduced the Shag Rake. In 1979, when people wanted Disposable Bags, Kirby introduced the Style 1 Set-Up for the new Tradition. in 1990, for whatever reason somebody at Kirby decided that the G series should weigh 30 pounds, they added Tech-Drive to make the Kirby actually usable. another issue is if the distributor cares, As in "Here's your bags, Mrs.McAllister, have a nice day!" or, "Oh that one is $1,700, buy it or get out"! 

Oh and Dan, you and I are counting down the hours!! 

I think most of us are interested to see what is coming....

Can't wait....

James

Isn't the DS80 just a DS50 in another color with a different handle?

You bet it is! 

You can, March down to the distributor, throw some cash at the owner, and walk out with your shiny new Kirby! 

That was an unnecessarily snippy reply, kirbyloverdan. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and you don't need to attack someone who is expressing theirs. I don't care for the G Series whatsoever, I find them over-complicated, loud, and heavy as hell. I would take a Heritage II-Legend over a G series any day. 

Whirlpolf - You are full of BS!!

NYCWriter - You hit the nail on the head!

As far as Kirby goes - They will continue to produce the Rolls Royce of vacuums that are best suited for the larger homes in the US and Canada! Kirby has always been a very profitable company because they know their demographics very well.

Man114, I'm a Kirby lover by ANY and ALL Stretches! 

Kenkart, You and me both! To the Drive-In!!!! 

A new D-80 would be the master of home-care! whoever said it above, you're right, Kirby never needed Self-Propelled if they didn't decide to design a 25 pound vacuum! the weight has been a constant turn-down for many years, Kirby needs to see the light. lighter machines = more sales, combined with a form of on-board attachments and you have a winner! Why not put attachment-holders on the bag? The hose could clip behind the handle. I should join Kirby's design team at this point! 

oh, and whoever said big cars were a bad thing? There's nothing like power-steering a land-barge down the highway! until Kirby adds power-steering, it won't be the same with the Generation series! 

only fools pay $2000 for a Kirby, the smart walks up to the distributor, says they want a (Current Model), and they will be paying in cash. watch what price they give you, and use your negotiating skills! 

wow, Kirby sales must be poor across the pond. shame! 

You fool! Now the security at the meeting while be even tighter thanks to that comment! They'll likely have to leave their phones at the front desk, Kirby keeps their eyes on us, you know! (But you've gotta love them!) 

I'd love to try to sneak my Polaroid in their, but no! Not going to happen! Have your check books filled out in advance, the line at the Kirby distributor starts next to me! I'm the first one here, too!! 

Oh and P.S-they can search me all they want for a phone, it's at home on the kitchen wall! Somebody call 00Sanitronic7, we need a top-notch spy to get us our Kirby fix!! 

THE SENTRIA III! Featuring tech-drive, and the NEW boat-anchor mode! 

Kirby vs. Dyson, the American and English culture clash...very interesting! It's almost like rooting for your favorite sports team. The only question now is: Who will ultimately win?

Hi Benny, Just so you know there are other door to door vacuum cleaner brands in the UK.

Rainbow,Tristar,Filter Queen and Vorwerk. There was also a few other less well know companies.

Kirby are just the most successful. Kirby are still big in the UK. There's still around 20 UK distributors. Compared to Rainbow that have around 3 distributors for example.

Distributors I know and use to work for sold across the board. Whether the was on low wages or high and anything in between. Their are people who do go out and buy new Kirby's not that you would be able to run a business on that lol.

James

But the Kirby will last longer and is more versatile...cough,cough,cough

James

There's nothing wrong with high price. Hoover pre war was OVER £1000 in today's market. They also had a salesmen. Even the Hoover 652 in 1959 would be just under £750 in today's money. Once their sales people went the price started to go down but so did the quality.

There quite easy to use once shown how to use it correctly. Weight is subjective. I had a lady in today who thought the SEBO was heavy and bulky, same as the DC25 and DC33 I shown her.

There was the optional smaller nozzle for the Heritage to the Legend II but they did not sell in large numbers of them hence one of the reasons they didn't carry them on.

James

I see nothing wrong with higher price depending on what you get in return.

People say the same thing with SEBO or Dyson. I have customers say to me WHY should I spend £279 on a SEBO or £400 on a Dyson when I can spend £79 on a Vax,Panasonic etc.... You then have to explain to them the benefits which they will either believe or disagree with...

One of the reasons us small retailers are dying off is there can be very little money in new vacuums.

Unless I was selling them in high numbers which of course is very unlikely.

James

Whilst I agree to some extent that weight is subjective, obviously depending on the person, I don't think there is any argument in the world that, in relation to all other cleaners available, the Kirby would ever be considered lightweight. The tech drive may make it easier to use in operation, but to move from room to room without the techdrive engaged and to lift up and down stairs, not a chance. The thing is damn heavy! Nothing wrong with high price? Well, in the same way you believe weight to be subjective, so is price. What one person deems to be reasonable/affordable will not apply to everyone. But, in the grand scheme of the current vacuum market, the Kirby is over-priced. These days, people don't have thousands of pounds to spend on a vacuum. A new Kirby with the full kit would actually cost more than my monthly salary. No matter how good a machine is, I don't think that anybody can really justify spending over 65% MORE than the current TOL cleaner on offer (basing this on the Dyson DC41mk2 retailing at £400 on average, and the Kirby retailing at £1200 on average).

"I have customers say to me WHY should I spend £279 on a SEBO or £400 on a Dyson when I can spend £79 on a Vax,Panasonic etc.... You then have to explain to them the benefits which they will either believe or disagree with..."

But you're talking about spending well over £1000 for a vacuum. It's one thing to spend £279 on a vacuum - that amount of money is far more justified and easier to spend and indeed easier to get hold of. I wouldn't say it's uncommon for someone with an average wage to be able to spend that amount on a new vacuum, if they had to. But the Kirby could quite easilly swallow someone's whole monthly wage in 1 purchase.

We're not IN America, Marcus. We've already had the conversation about wages generally being higher for comparitive jobs in the US than they are here and the cost of living being generally lower (regional dependant, of course), hence it would be far more justified to spend a larger amount on something like a vacuum in the US. Plus, vacuums have always been more expensive on the other side of the atlantic compared with the UK/Europe.

Sorry Marcus, I missunderstood what you meant.

Hi, The weight of the Sentria II isn't that bad actually. Wheeling around the house in neutral is easy enough.

As I said paying over a £1000 for a vac that will last 30 years and  preform better than most esp when you consider the amount people invest in their homes is fine. I get people coming in who are on the 3rd Dyson in 14 years.

So someone who paid £700 for a Kirby in 1988 has got their money out of it.

I also disagree that Miele last as long as they use too. I see quite a few coming in with burnt out motors and PCBs. Once they go there not worth repairing.They wanted to charge me £138+vat for the motor (The Miele in the pic)

I had two Sebo Felix pets in last week. One with a burnt out suction motor which hasn't been repaired and the 2nd just need the cord rewiring. My suppliers has had quite a few DC41s and DC50s come in with burnt out motors and other issues.

When you can still get spare parts for a Kirbys 30/40/50 years old adds to their value when compared to Vax for example who can make parts for some of their machines obsolete within a few years.

I had a lady who came in a good 6 months ago who wanted a hose for her £95 Samsung she had which was only just out of guarantee. The hose for that was £44.95. They know she won't get the hose and just pop off to buy the next machine they've shipped over.

James

P.S We never used the van system over here. We used the appointment system.

And yes we have had people pop in to buy a new Kirbys. Not in big numbers but it did happen.

Also there are customers who choose to have another Kirby after owning another.

Does not use the door to door method. They use the appointment system and it works very well. I know this because my Daughter in law used to be the appointment setter. She would make calls to people in affluent neighborhoods and ask them if they would like a free carpet shampoo, then she would make the appointment for a demo. A sale is made for approximatley one in every 4 to 5 appointments she would set. This system works better because the potential buyer is expecting someone to come to their home at a convienient time for a demo.

"This system works better because the potential buyer is expecting someone to come to their home at a convienient time for a demo."

No. The CUSTOMER is expecting someone to come to their home at a convenient time for a FREE CARPET SHAMPOO, not an intense sales push. That's exactly how my parents AND in laws ended up with a Kirby salesman in their house who wouldn't leave.

Incidentally, my in laws already have a Kirby and were contacted because they had a "loyality reward" of a free carpet clean. When the guy arrived to do it, he had the Sentria 2 with him and went through the usual sales push after cleaning HALF of 1 room and refusing to do anymore until my MIL bought a new one. Needless to say, the salesman got the boot.

said you get a free complementary carpet shampoo (1 room) all we ask for is you take a look at what the machine can do so when your ready for a new vacuum you can keep us in mind also if your impressed with what we show you pass us on to family and friends. Getting referrals was a important part so even if that customer didn't buy their friends etc might. Also it helps keep the sales people friendlier as your more likely to pass on more referrals if their nice. Demos was suppose to last between 1 and a half and 2 hours depending on what questions you got asked and how well you knew the demo. You didn't want to be there much longer as you normally had another demo booked after and you would have to travel to that.

Same goes for sales. People buy from people they like. Their are some A*******s in Kirby as there are in any sales force be it Rainbow,Tristar,Filter queen or even window,fascia board, or car sales people. But you can't tar everyone with the same brush. Also bad news travels faster than good.

I was told at my job at Tesco when I went to college. If your bad to one customer they tell 10 people how horrible you are. If your nice to them they might tell one or two people if you lucky.

James

Benny, I take your point but yes a Kirby will quite often see a 20 to 30 years.

If you look on Ebay for Kirby Legend IIs(1989-1992 in the UK) there are about 14 compared to lets say Hoover Turbopowers from the same kind of time there are 1. Or the Electrolux dolphins...again none. Well except one new in box.

Again this isn't definitive but does show what is tending to survive/last. And when you take in to account they sold more of these vacuums than the Kirby's you would of expected more of the Hoover TP1s etc to be around than there is..

Also take in to account that allot of manufacturers tend not to supply body parts for allot older machines.

Some only after few years old. Dyson don't supply any spares for their DC01/02.(Well except belts because later models share them.)Better than some manufacturers granted. But still you see where I'm going.

James

I see what your saying. But it's unlikely your going to need to replace anything major in the 1st 20 years.

You could also argue the same for the older Hoovers that cost big money at the time like the 160,612 and even the 652....

James

VintageRepairer, those heads and handles ad up! Every month you may need a new bag every 2, every 6 months you may need a new belt. every 3-5 years you may need a new brush. every 50 years you may need a new pair of carbon brushes. All machines require maintenance, only Kirby requires very little, and for little amounts of $$$$. belts are $2 or so each, so $4 a year in belts, $25 a year in bags. These little expenses keep your vacuum in great shape, much like oil and filters keep your car in great shape. as said above, pay now or later!  Drop some $$$$ on this metal war-horse that'll last you until the end of time, or drop less $$$$ on a plastic thing that'll last you a year or two.

Just think, If people could cut back on their smokes and redeye/rotgut, WHY, they could save a couple hundred a month...And that's some serious scratch I might add! They would be happier and healthier and it would be all due to their nice, brand new Kirby.....or they could just about buy anything else for that matter, because of all that freed up money they have now to spend. Before they were just burning it, and POOF....up in smoke it went! Hey, that has a lot in common with a Dyson! Don't get me wrong, I really don't hate Dyson, it's just its cheap plastic culture I can't STAND! If you ask me a lot of plastic vacs are a few Shakis short of being a full Kundalini, but that's just my humble opinion from many, many years of experience.

if it didn't have techdrive, it wouldn't need techdrive. All the machines before the G3, though heavy to lift, were still quite easy to push around (especially the pre-Classic machines) and a lot lighter to lift than the G series. Having the techdrive makes the whole machine larger and heavier. Take away that additional size and weight, and it wouldn't need it.

I guess some houses need push mowers, some need riding mowers, and some need tractors! 

My poor kidneys are sore from all that Pissing around.

No, really, I do own 4 different Kirbys and I love all of them. Each excells in it's own way.

The D50 works great at vacuuming the bathroom rug and sucking up the loose kitty litter.

The Heriatage II Legend worls great in the bedrooms and is easy to manuver around the beds etc.

The G3 and Sentria take turns in the fairly large living room and dining room.

no we don't, Mark! just turn to the side while you're on the riding mower! 

The Kirby Avalir is here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!