Kenmore 400 Series Canister

“I personally don’t have a Sebo, and my daily for most of this year has been a $150 Kenmore 400 canister from Target. I do have Miele C1 Cat and Dog and a U1, but those are used less frequently than the others on the collection. I think a lot of it has to do with the quality, it’s an artisanal vacuum that can be repaired which is unfortunately unusual in this world. I know many folks here do run shops, so it’s also a product they’ve invested in and truly believe in. I think we also saw a wave of consolidation in the vacuum world, especially by Chinese makers, Hoover of the 80-90s was incredible, but now it’s owned by Chinese conglomerate TTI which also bought Dirt Devil, Oreck, and Ryobi. Their business model was about moving as many units as possible, not quality, and it became a price war to the bottom. Privately owned ones like Bissell followed their playbook to stay in business. And Dyson blew up the bagless market in the early 2000s, and privately owned Shark Ninja emerged as a copycat. But all these makers are interested in repurchases, so their products aren’t durable on purpose. It’s a business strategy. Their lifetimes were slashed from 15-20 years to 2-8. That’s why those models don’t get a ton of love here. And an FYI, Bissell bought Sanitare in 2018 from Electrolux, who sold their namesake vac brand to Midea, another Chinese conglomerate who cranks out cheaper vacuums. So they’re just not really standout models.… but I do recognize the love of brands. But they’re just not what they used to be unfortunately.”