Hoover Domestic Appliances
More than just vacuum cleaners and they are not British!
Hoover, despite perceptions, was never a British company, it was in fact an American company which has never been under British ownership.
The Hoover story begins in 1907 when Murray Spangler, an inventor who worked nights as a janitor, was cleaning rugs in an Ohio department store. Legend has it that all the dust raised from his broom aggravated his asthma, and he set about finding a solution to the problem.
Spangler gathered a tin soap box, a fan, a sateen pillow case and a broom handle, then assembled an odd-looking, cumbersome contraption that managed to pull the dust away from the air he breathed. He quickly realized that this "suction sweeper," as he called it, had enormous sales potential, and he began seeking financial backing.
Spangler's family friend, Susan Hoover, agreed to try the machine in her home. Before long, she was singing its praises to her husband, W.H. "Boss" Hoover, owner of a leather goods manufacturing shop. Hoover bought the patent from Spangler in 1908, retained him as a partner, and soon had six employees assembling six units a day in a corner of the leather goods shop
To educate the public about the product, Hoover placed a small ad in the Saturday Evening Post offering 10 days' free use of a Hoover suction sweeper to anyone who wrote and requested it. But instead of sending the cleaner directly to the potential customer, he chose a reputable store in each city from which requests arrived and sent the product to that store. He sent a letter requesting that the store manager deliver the machine and keep the commission from any resulting sale, then offered the store the opportunity to become a dealer for the Company. This laid the groundwork for a national dealer network which continues today as the main channel of distribution for Hoover products.
"Boss" placed trained Hoover sales representatives in dealer showrooms to demonstrate the products and also had them travel door-to-door conducting home demonstrations.
Meanwhile, engineers were designing new and improved methods of cleaning carpet in keeping with the mission of the Hoover engineering and design development program, which had been established in 1909. One of their most noteworthy innovations was the beater bar, introduced in 1926, which was the basis for one of the most memorable advertising slogans in history: "It beats as it sweeps as it cleans."
And other "firsts" have been developed by Hoover engineers over the years as well. These include the disposable paper bag, the vacuum cleaner headlight, the self-propelled feature and the side-mounted attached hose feature, for which Hoover received a patent in 1936.
The Company was owned by the Hoover family until the 1940s, when it became publicly owned. The Company's stock was first traded on Aug. 6, 1943. In 1985, Hoover was acquired by Chicago Pacific Corp., and in 1989, Maytag acquired Chicago Pacific. As a result, Hoover belongs to a family of companies with some of the most prestigious names in home appliances, including Jenn-Air, Blodgett and Magic Chef.
Today, Maytag's diversified business portfolio is organized into four groups: Home Appliance Solutions Group, of which Hoover is a major division; Commercial Solutions Group, which includes commercial cooking, laundry and floor-care products, and vending machines; Global Solutions Group, which develops business opportunities worldwide; and Emerging Business Solutions Group, which exploits opportunities in electronic commerce and business systems.
Advertising Disaster
Of course Hoover in the UK is famed for one of the most disastrous advertising campaigns of all time, the Hoover Free Flights Fiasco.
In 1992, the British division of Hoover announced the Hoover free flights promotion, the demand for which rose far beyond the company's expectations, resulting in major costs and public relations problems for the British division and Maytag, which eventually led to its sale to the Italian manufacturer Candy. In 1993, Sandy Jack became the first person in the United Kingdom to take Hoover to court over the Hoover free flights promotion. Upon the decision in Hoover v. Sandy Jack at Sheriff Court in Kirkcaldy, Fife, a precedent is set. Hoover Holiday Pressure Group furthered court action against Hoover at St. Helens in Merseyside.
Retail Prices
Hoover was always a sort of mid-range priced appliance but it has occasionally dipped into the cheaper range.
Ovens, hoods and hobs that are currently on sale are Candy with a different fascia on them, there’s a massive crossover in components and design. These are seemingly being pitched as more upmarket than the Candy name.
Refrigeration, especially fridge freezers, are all Candy made machines. Again these products are seen to be more prestigious than the Candy name despite being essentially the same.
All the new washing machines and washer dryers are Candy designed using many of the components found in other Candy owned brands.
Like Hotpoint what was once seen as a fantastic British brand name (even though it never was one) is no longer even truly made in Britain.
Spares Pricing And Aftersales Service
Spares pricing was very good on Hoover machines but now this seems to have fallen in to line with general Candy pricing policies.
Aftersales used to be very good but in recent years the service force employed by Candy in the UK has come in for some criticism on service levels and knowledge as well as very much on pricing.
The only saving grace is that many independents will repair Hoover products with little trouble although some of the more recent service information can be hard to obtain. Hoover used to produce a book almost every year with considerable product detail in it, since Hoover UK was bought by Candy this has not been done.
Or call us on our direct spares hotline: 0845 172 8002 (lo call)
Find spares in our online store
Kenneth Watt Copyright © by UK Whitegoods All Right Reserved. Published on: 2006-09-26 (4525 reads) [ Go Back ] |
