Hoover Vacuums-A Household Name

Almost everyone knows the Hoover name, it's right up there with the big dogs of the vacuum industry like Eureka, Dyson, and Oreck Vacuum Cleaners.  Hoover vacuums have been around for many years, and the companyis based in North Canton, Ohio.  In the early and mid-1900s it was the dominant company when it came to floor care products in North America.  Its influence spread throughout other parts of the world as well, and the name of Hoover became a synonym for vacuum cleaner in Ireland and the UK as well.  In the United States, the Hoover Company belonged to the Whirlpool Corporation for many years, but in 2006 it was sold to Techtronic for over $107 million.

  In 1993, Hoover UK had split from the main Hoover company and was owned and operated by another company.  The original Hoover vacuum cleaner was created by a department store janitor named James Murray Spangler.  He had asthma, and was concerned that the carpet cleaner that he was using was the cause of those attacks because of the dust and dirt that it sent into the air, so he decided to build a better one.  He used a broom handle, an electric motor, a soap box, and a pillow case.  Spangler gave one of the vacuums that he had constructed to a friend of his, whose husband was a manufacturer of leather goods.  His name was W.H. Hoover, and he purchased the patent from Spangler in 1908.  Spangler, however, was retained was retained as a partner in the vacuum cleaner business that Hoover started. 

Hoover ran an advertisement in the newspaper offering to allow anyone that wanted to try his vacuum the chance to use it for 10 days free.  He used retailers all across the United States to help out with his offer and because of that his business grew very rapidly.  It soon spread overseas, and the term “hoover” in British English became a synonym for the vacuuming of a floor.  It is still often used that way today, making “hoover” a ‘genericized trademark.’  The Hoover Company has diversified into other product lines, but it still remains known mostly for its vacuum cleaners.  The company itself has changed, though, in that it became a publicly traded company in the 1940s instead of simply remaining owned by the Hoover family.  Despite the changes that the company has gone through, the Hoover vacuum cleaner remains one of the best, most reliable, and most popular on the market today.

Most customers that purchase a Hoover vacuum cleaner are very pleased with what they have received for the money, but Hoover is still dealing with the same problem that is being faced by other manufacturers of high-end vacuums - customers want to see lower prices.  While a Hoover vacuum cleaner can be purchased at a lower price than some of the other top-of-the-line vacuum cleaners, the Hoover vacuum cleaner is still much more expensive than what can be purchased at a standard retail store.  Despite this, Hoover has sold well for many, many years and it appears that it will continue to do so.  The reliability that the Hoover vacuum cleaners have as well as the warranty that they offer and the strong brand-name presence all add up to make the Hoover brand a household name that will continue for years to come.