Recently, my crusty Chinese-made Bissell bagless vacuum self-destructed. It was about 5 years old and pieces had been falling off of it for a while. I bought it in the time before I was obsessed with buying American (so please don’t beat me!). Anyway, it was clear that the major vacuum brands – Hoover, Eureka, Bissell, were all made in China or similar so I steered clear of those right away. Searching for “made in USA vacuum” on Google brought up a few names: Riccar and Simplicity. They seem to be made by the same company. The Simplicity website advertises their vacuum cleaners as “made in USA” so I considered them. They look nice. The problem is that they have no online store and no way to check prices online. Another listing that came up was the Carpet Pro. This was listed on several sites, such as Vacorama.com as being made in USA and cost about $200 shipped on Amazon.com. This thing looked like it was built to clean hotels all day and could be used to fight off zombies with. The bottom plate is even made of steel.
So I ordred the Carpet Pro. To my chagrin, it arrived with a big “made in China” inscription on the box. I was pissed! It said clearly “made in USA” on various sites. So I sent it back to Amazon for a refund with a disgruntled message. I then checked Oreck.com. They didn’t come up on page 1 of Google, so I called them up. A very nice lady with a sweet Southern accent informed that they are indeed made right here in Tennessee! Their prices were $200 for the entry level XL way on up to much more for professional grade vacuums. Since I only have a couple of rugs and mats, the XL was plenty for me. It worked right out of the box and looked spiffy in its green and black colors. It is not a bagless cleaner, but I honestly think that vacuums with bags clean better. And how often do you really have to change those bags anyway? (By the way, the included bags are made in China!)
I’ll post an update on my purchase in the coming months, but I like what I see so far.
I would love to know how you like. I am hunting for a vacuum that is great on hardwood and thick dense carpet. Which seems like a tall order these days. Looking forward to hearing more, Suzie F.
I really like it! It’s been working great.
Riccar and Simplicity are GREAT vacuums. Right now you can only by them through independent retailers which also helps support local businesses. If you call their number they can tell you where the nearest retailer is.
I too have been searching for American made. Just for your in formation : I called Sears and found that Kenmore is manufactured in Mexico.
Here is a quote from wikipedia “Oreck machines are either assembled in the United States with parts manufactured in China or imported fully assembled. The company employs more than 1,500 at its retail stores, corporate headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee, and assembly center in Cookeville, Tennessee,”
Finding any electronics device both assembled and with parts made domestically is almost unheard of today. If I can find a product at least assembled in the US, I am happy with that if most similar products are imported. It is important for those making purchasing decisions to try to buy American at every level. If you’re the guy at an electronics company and you’re buying LED’s or wires, etc., just look and compare to made in USA parts and see if it’s worth buying domestic. If you never look, you’ll never know.