Stopped into a Sears today...found out that WHIRLPOOL is being dropped there!

Sears has had over the years, several suppliers for it's vacuum cleaners. This is a fairly comprehensive history I have pieced together, from both the internet, and the stories spun around the vacuum hummings of yore.

From the very first electric vacuum offered by Sears, Roebuck and Company; all of their floor care machines until 1957 were supplied by Birtman Electric Company out of Chicago Illinois. BIrtman had it's own house brand which went by the trade name "Bee-Vac". Birtman also supplied most of their mixers, blenders and the like, as they were quite a major producer of smalls. The factory was located at 4150 W. Fullerton Avenue. Just west of the Metra tracks. Their complex went north to Diversey Avenue, both east and west of the metra. Again this was a very large concern.

So Birtman made both Kenmore's Upright and tank style cleaners, as well as hand vacuums and a polisher or two, this ran unabated for several decades.

In 1956, Sears approached Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation, (nee' RCA Whirlpool, and later Whirlpool Corporation); about purchasing the Birtman Company, and running it as a division of it's core business, which was major white goods. Sears wanted to get Birtman's quality, productivity and their labor force in line, and felt that Whirlpool had the chutzpah to do it, plus Sears (off the record), was giving Whirlpool ultimatums both verbal and financial to bend to it's will, and just DO IT, aside from the fact that Whirlpool really wanted nothing to do with vacuum cleaners, or small appliances. This feeling was continued on in the early 2000'nds, when they sold off Maytag Corporations, Hoover Company Division, to the Techtronic Industries Company, or TTI.

At any rate, Sears felt that Whirlpool should be it's main supplier of most everything, but again wasn't happy with the way Birtman Electric was being ran, liked how Whirlpool WAS being executed. So,Whirlpool made inroads of a merger, but Birtman's board of directors refused.

Sears ramped up the pressure on Whirlpool to do whatever it had to to overtake Birtman's management, and assume leadership of the company. This was completed by 1958. This takeover was considered "hostile" by some, and it certainly was NOT done with a cup of tea in one hand, and a cigar in another. It was most definitely NOT in Whirlpools master plan to undertake, and there were hard feelings all over. But it was done.

Whirlpool definitely took over, and began a process of phasing out Birtman's other lines (the smalls e.g); and at the same time, poured money (probably coming from Sears somehow) into the vacuum cleaner line. They did NOT, as some have indicated "run off a few years of parts and shut down the whole thing". That would have been both ludicrous, and ill serving to the Sears part of the venture. The parts for older machines probably WERE put on allocation, but they did not just lock up the plant and shut off the lights.

WHY?

Well, it was during all this, that Kenmore and Whirlpool-Seeger, thru their newly acquired vacuum line began production on the Kenmore Power-Mate series (Whirlpool Imperial), which helped to popularize the upright/canister concept. The uprights (Birtman Designed) remained relatively unchanged thru 1963, aside from look etc.. Sears became a MAJOR canister producer thru this 1958-1963 period, and WAY beyond. They really cracked out and HARDCORE focused on the Power-Mate type of cleaner as well as the other "straight suction" canister styles. They went mainly after Electrolux, with this might and well won the rounds most years. So, with this new infusion of Sears and Whirlpool capital, the development and production of Kenmore vacuum cleaners continued, and for a time, were produced in Chicago, right in Birtmans old factory.

(Unless anyone has information that Whirlpool moved the vacuum division to another facility prior to Cottage Grove being opened sometime between 1960, and 1968, One must assume that Birtman's Chicago facility remained on-stream. Unless documentation can be procured otherwise to dispute my finding..

Whirlpool also shoved out a few good, or at least interesting designs of uprights, such as the Lightweight CVR upright Concept, and a Hoover Dialamatic clone, coming on steam very shortly after that Hoover product was introduced in 1963; this new bag first, clean air upright was named, the Duo-Power. For a few years Sears only had a few Duo Power Upright Models available, especially after the Birtman Uprights disappeared in 1963-64. Whirlpool, in 1963, according to acceptable references, sold off it's lightweight upright design, that was developed in the late 1950's as the Whirlpool CVR, and Sears Bambi. This discard, was the product which ultimately became the first Oreck brand vacuum cleaner, The Oreck CRV Lightweight upright. The details of this partnership are foggy even to deep internet searches, but suffice to say for a time at least, until MacDonald Electric started producing the Oreck 1000 upright in the mid 1960's (I've read 1968 in certain sources), Whirlpool continued to produce that unit too.

After this sell off, Whirlpool did not LEAVE the vacuum business, but instead, began to downplay the Whirlpool nameplate. This was done mostly under contract with the Oreck concern, to NOt produce a competing design- (although later Oreck SUED Whirlpool for breach of contract as they continued to produce a version for Sears). Whirlpool only featured, under their nameplate a canister/ upright "power-team" that roughly followed the strides continually being made by and for the Kenmore brand.

Sears rather still had might with RCA Whirlpool at this point, and kinda suggested to them along the way, that they may just want to "Make our brand", and kinda drop your own, to quiet, unaccountable levels. Whirlpool's own version of Power-Mate lasted until 1970 or so, then was dropped until the 1980's when a resurgent line of product named Whirlpool reappeared as a premium brand, along with the same, like models built for Sears. Ain't the vacuum business fun??

In 1963-64, Sears struck a manufacturing deal with a secondary producer for a more traditional upright design, by selecting The Singer Manufacturing Company of Eleizabethport New Jersey, to produce the new cleaner for them. Singers then current factory area, at: 198 Trumbull Street, Elizabethport NJ, was better known for it's production of their world famous Sewing Machines, but had been producing vacuum cleaners, branded Singer since the late 1920's. This NEW Kenmore upright design was an updated version of Singers evolutionary "Twin Fan" design. This new cleaner built for Sears, would begat a whole host of models for Sears, being the nucleus for their upright stable, until the mid 1990's. Singer produced these units for Sears at a combination of their Elezabethport facility, and later at a facility built new by Singer for their own production, as wellas for the new Kenmore contract(s) about to ramp up; at a wholly new production at 1428 Pearman Dairy Rd, Anderson South Carolina.

(Notice today, if you do a Google Maps search, that factory is owned by TTI, who bought up Oreck, Hoover and others)

In the early 1980's Singer decided to do a massive reorganization of it's affairs, and began a process of selling off under-performing, or redundant arms of it's ventures. Ryobi Motor Products, bought/purchased Singers vacuum division, out of this corporate restructuring, and later still sold off this vacuum division, and the Singer vacuum brand to Bissell, out of Grand Rapids Michigan. It was during this last stages of the companies life, that the Singer built cleaners, were phased out at Sears, in favor of Panasonic built uprights. Is this Confusing enough for you?

Cause WAIT, there is more.

But before all of this happened with Singer, as early as 1960, but definitely not later than 1968 which was my first traceable online dig about this being a manufacturing plant for Whirlpool/Sears, another new facility was brought on tap for it's canister, and upright models that Singer did NOT produce. This plant was located in Cottage Grove Wisconsin. The address is/was: 1600 Landmark Dr, Cottage Grove, WI 53527.

I have never ascertained an actual date that he facility opened, but for that matter, it could have happened earlier than 1960, although the design of the building leaves a idea of time-frame pretty hopeless too. It is in my estimation VERY highly unlikely it was before 1960, although it would fit into another historians "story" that Birtman was shut down immediately, parts ran off, and were "the workers" told to go home all in 1958. Possible, but unlikely. At any rate, it was a brand new, state of the art plant that was part and parcel of every Kenmore Canister vacuum, until the early 1980's when Whirlpool said enough of it's unionized, high priced workers, and moved, or rather bidded out it's production to a southern plant, which joined forces with none other than Matsushita Electric , or more commonly known, Panasonic.

In the early part of the 1980's, Sears and Whirlpool approached Matsushita-Panasonic, to begin building ( a joint effort) canister cleaner design in a rather murky (not much is out there on this) joint venture with Whirlpool, Kenmore and Panasonic, starting sometime around 1984-1985, if we were to go on catalog proof. The Cottage Grove facility after this new venture was completed may have been discontinued, however there is online information in the depth of the inter-webs that this facility was closed at some point, possibly 1994 when Whirlpool sold it's vacuum line to Panasonic. Whirlpools last affiliation with the plant seemed to be around 1988 or 89 tho. So anyone's guess is good here.

Production of the vacuums moved to a facility down south again. The city and area escapes me at this time. Really at this junction my interest in Sears and their vacuum history dies out.

That said, a few final notes...

In the late 1980's an early 90's tho, with Sears kicking off their NEW Brand Central Concept, Kenmore brand began to be downplayed to a degree, and more so, as time went on thier house brand. Around 1988, Sears introduced a line of cleaners made for them by Hoover with varying results. The Kenmore name was even stamped right on it, on one model. Same for a few models made for them by Eureka. In the early 90's their interaction with Iona Manufacturing brought them the Kenmore Destiny Plus, a badge copy of the new and VERY popular Fantom Thunder, which brought James Dyson's bagless technology over to the USA. Introducing still another competitor to the game. This one tho, especially the bagless type, changed the whole game forever.

And of course in 2016, Panasonic decided after it's long history with vacuums to sell off it's whole schbang to another overseas firm, I think called Claret or some such thing. Again, after about 1990, my interest in companies and their vacuums die out.

Hope this coffee table book helps...

Chad

Sears revives its classic Wish Book

Retailer hoping nostalgia connects with consumer


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Post# 963762 10/21/2017 at 23:52 (2,376 days old) by superocd (PNW)
Checkrate/Likes 2 Found this out while I went in there for a couple of Torx bits. While I was chatting with a clerk, I was told that Sears will no longer carry Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air or Amana, but Whirlpool will still manufacture Kenmore appliances for right now. Surely this is related to their troubles. Nobody just "drops" Whirlpool just because. They're #1 and have been for some time. I guess GE, Frigidaire (Electrolux), LG, et. al. are still going to be sold there. I'm in shock. No more WHIRLPOOL at Sears??? No way! Whirlpool got a kick start by partnering with Sears way back in the day, didn't they? Wasn't the first fully automatic washer they built branded a Kenmore before their own namesake? Hell has frozen over.

Post# 963765 , Reply# 1 10/22/2017 at 00:10 (2,376 days old) by johnrk (BP TX)
Checkrate/Likes 4 *Sears* Our local mall Sears closed down several months ago. Nobody missed it, including me. They're irrelevant today and they're way, way past needing to shut down. Amazon is the new (and better) Sears, Amazon's website is the new Sears catalogue. Does anybody here remember the Spiegel catalogue? My parents never bought anything from them but an aunt did and I used to like to look through the catalogues when we went to visit.

Post# 963838 , Reply# 2 10/22/2017 at 09:43 (2,376 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)
Checkrate/Likes *Yes, and Spiegel* had a retail and catalogue order store at 7 Mile and Livernois in Detroit back in the 1980's still.

Post# 963846 , Reply# 3 10/22/2017 at 10:15 (2,376 days old) by kenwashesmonday (Carlstadt, NJ)
Checkrate/Likes 5 I believe that when Sears began selling all brands of appliances, rather than just their own, it greatly contributed to their demise.

Post# 963849 , Reply# 4 10/22/2017 at 10:38 (2,376 days old) by cornutt (Huntsville, AL USA)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I don't recall that I've ever looked in a Spiegel catalog; if I did, it was decades ago. However, I recall that they used to be big-time advertisers on game shows.

Post# 963856 , Reply# 5 10/22/2017 at 11:32 (2,376 days old) by joeypete (Concord, NH)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Well honestly* That makes sense. Originally all you could buy at Sears, were Kenmore appliances. Considering that WP makes most of Kenmore's...seems rather redundant to sell both brands. It will help their own brand sales. I think it's a good move. The should stop selling LG's as well since LG makes most of their front loaders and Elite fridges.

Post# 963859 , Reply# 6 10/22/2017 at 11:45 (2,376 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes 2 In that case, I wish they'd go back to having WP source just about all their Kenmore branded appliances like in the good ol' days.

Post# 963864 , Reply# 7 10/22/2017 at 12:27 (2,376 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I remember how late in the game Sears was about selling Maytag, whereas Montgomery Ward was who really needed to! Then no sooner than you got Maytag at Sears (remember the Sears commercial showing the Maytag Man standing in front of a Sears store?) Mont. Ward added Whirlpool (got my folks' ice & water side x side!)... -- Dave

Post# 963867 , Reply# 8 10/22/2017 at 12:41 (2,376 days old) by man114 (Buffalo)
Checkrate/Likes Our Sears carries hardly any of them to begin with. Most Whirlpools are largely redundant to Kenmores. Probably a strategy because you can't comparison shop Kenmore. Additionally if they look to sell the Kenmore brand having it's sales look t be increasing is good for them,

Post# 963898 , Reply# 14 10/22/2017 at 16:51 (2,376 days old) by Laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)
Checkrate/Likes 2 Over 50,000 quality items providing value ,selection and economy. Spiegel Chicago 60609. LOL

Post# 963912 , Reply# 18 10/22/2017 at 18:34 (2,375 days old) by agiflow2 ()
*This post has been removed by the member who posted it.*

Post# 964119 , Reply# 21 10/24/2017 at 07:55 (2,374 days old) by stricklybojack (South Hams Devon UK)
Checkrate/Likes . Here is the story... CLICK HERE TO GO TO stricklybojack's LINK

Post# 964144 , Reply# 23 10/24/2017 at 12:00 (2,374 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 According to a front page article in the WSJ for 10-24-17, Sears and WP split over price fight. The disagreement with WP was unrelated to Sears' credit issues and instead had to do with pricing, one person familiar with the situation said. "Whirlpool has sought to use its dominant position in the marketplace to make demands that would have prohibited us from offering Whirlpool products to our members at a reasonable price, " Sears told employees Friday in the internal memo, a copy of which was reviewed by the WSJ. Sears will deplete WP inventory currently in its stores, the memo said, but hundreds of items have disappeared from the websites of Sears and Kmart. Sears has stopped carrying products made by the biggest US appliance manufacturer including Maytag, Kitchenaid and Jenn-Air appliances. Sears has marketed itself for years as the only retailer to sell all of the top us appliance brands. Monday evening, a Sears customer-service representative tried to interest a caller in a Kenmore or GE appliance, saying, "We don't carry any Whirlpool appliances anymore." It wasn't immediately clear how WP's loss of Sears' floor space would affect WP. Retail floor space has been repeatedly raised as an issue in a heated trade battle over washing machines that Whirlpool has been waging against LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Whirlpool in part has complained that underselling by its South Korean rivals has edged it our of prime floor space. Whirlpool will continue to make products for Sears' Kenmore brand, a person familiar with the matter said. Sears will continue to sell appliances from LG, Samsung, GE, Frigidaire, Electrolux and Bosch, some of which also make Kenmore products. In a related story in the WSJ, WP shares fell sharply in after hours trading Monday after the appliance maker issued a profit warning, blaming rising costs. Chief Executive Marc Bitzer cited rising raw-material costs and slow progress on its European integration as hurting the company's profit margins. Mr. Bitzer added that the company would continue with its recently announced price increases on home appliances. WP's latest quarterly results come as the company is engaged in a trade battle over imported washing machines with two South Korean rivals. The company is asking US trade regulators to recommend tariffs and quotas to combat what it has said is a flood of imports that hurt the domestic industry. Me: So much for free trade or it makes a difference whose ox is being gored.

Post# 963875 , Reply# 9 10/22/2017 at 13:30 (2,376 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes 1 Roper made their ranges. Who made their TVs and radios? Whirlpool made their vacuums. Who made their sewing machines?

Post# 963878 , Reply# 10 10/22/2017 at 13:56 (2,376 days old) by kenwashesmonday (Carlstadt, NJ)
Checkrate/Likes I believe some of the ranges were Caloric and some were GE. Their TV and hi-fi stuff was made by Warwick until Sanyo took over in the mid-1970s. Note that at the time Fisher became the Sears house brand for stereo equipment, Fisher was owned by Sanyo. Back in the 1930s, many Sears Silvertone radios were made by Colonial, many of which are very nice radios.

Post# 963880 , Reply# 11 10/22/2017 at 14:09 (2,376 days old) by fan-of-fans (Florida)
Checkrate/Likes I think Frigidaire makes most of the Kenmore ranges and ovens now. Last I heard most of Kenmore washers and dryers are not by Whirlpool anymore. Whirlpool does make most of the Kenmore side by side fridges and some french doors. LG makes some of the TOL side by sides and french doors. Frigidaire and Haier make most of the top freezers, and Frigidaire makes most of the freezers. Not sure about the dishwashers. Of course a lot of Whirlpools are basically rebadges under various names. A Kenmore side by side is the same as a Whirlpool which is the same as an Amana which is the same as a Maytag which might be a little fancier. I was at an appliance store and saw an Amana next to a Whirlpool and couldn't tell any difference.

Post# 963883 , Reply# 12 10/22/2017 at 14:24 (2,376 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes LG makes all their front loaders and some top loaders. Some TLers are also made by Samsung. Some of their TLers are made by Whirlpool too. Most of their dishwashers are Whirlpool and except for one model, all their Kenmore Elite dishwashers are KitchenAids. Their lower-end dishwashers could be Frigideaire and maybe LG, although I don't investigate their low end dishwashers. I doubt many of y'all are aware, but a lot of the "differentiators" between Kenmore brand and the comparable producer are some features and many times software changes. That is exactly why I chose my Kenmore Elite dishwasher over comparable KitchenAids. Some of their ranges used to be made by GE but I think most are made by Frigidaire and Elux. Even among Whirlpool brands, differences may be slight cosmetic and software differences.

Post# 963892 , Reply# 13 10/22/2017 at 15:51 (2,376 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *Sears Appliances* Are currently made by many companies, but WP is still the largest supplier of Kenmore branded appliances. From the 50s through the early 80s most KM G&E ranges were built by Roper. I never saw a KM range that was made by or in the Caloric factory in Pennsylvania. In the 80s and on KM ranges were built by GE, FD and WP and a few others for odd models. In the 60s and 70s Sears Silvertone electronics were made by Warwick electronics [ owned by Whirlpool Corp. ] About 90% of KM DWs are built by WP, with FD, GE filling in on the cheaper mostly builder models, SS and LG never built any KM DWs, Sears did source some higher end DWs from Bosch about a decade ago, they were the usual Bosch disaster, LOL. John L.

Post# 963904 , Reply# 15 10/22/2017 at 17:32 (2,375 days old) by joeypete (Concord, NH)
Checkrate/Likes I helped my friend buy appliances about a year ago and she used Sears exclusively so I got pretty familiar with their products. WP is def their largest supplier, and they currently also use Frigidaire (Electrolux) and LG. GE used to make one of their laundry centers, but now the larger one is made by Frigidaire and the smaller one by WP. So right now they do not have any GE supplied appliances. Dishwashers are mostly WP (including KitchenAid clones) and their low end dial model is Frigidaire, along with an ADA certified SS interior model. Ovens are Frigidaire. Fridges are WP for the majority and LG for the Elite models. Washers...1 TL Elite model is LG and the other is the ginormous 6.2 cu ft WP design. All other TL washers are made by WP. Front loaders and all LG except for the cheaper one, which is made by Frigidaire. It's easy to tell the manufacturer if you download the operating manual. On the cover it lists the actual model number. So you just have to look up the code in the beginning. It was kind of fun doing all the research. haha. For an appliance geek. :-D

Post# 963908 , Reply# 16 10/22/2017 at 17:59 (2,375 days old) by Frigilux (The Minnesota Prairie)
Checkrate/Likes 3 Wasn't there a time when Sears carried only the Kenmore brand? I don't recall seeing other brands there when I was growing up (1960s-mid 1970s).

Post# 963911 , Reply# 17 10/22/2017 at 18:32 (2,375 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan)
Checkrate/Likes *Yes, only Kenmore* until the mid/late 1980's. Then their "Brand Central" appliance dept. debuted. They were even selling Maytag. I think they were trying to stay ahead of the emerging big box stores. Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. Sears also still serviced what ever they sold.

Post# 963918 , Reply# 19 10/22/2017 at 18:59 (2,375 days old) by agiflow2 ()
Checkrate/Likes I was in Sears last night and I noticed that WP is supplying some of their higher end cooking again. I noticed a new Kenmore downdraft slide in gas range that looked like current KA models. Will be interesting to see if WP starts supplying any of their FS gas or electric ranges again. In all honesty though, even the Frigidaire ranges feel heavier built than a lot of WP ranges. Maybe they should just stay with Frigidaire for cooking.

Post# 963965 , Reply# 20 10/23/2017 at 06:33 (2,375 days old) by joeypete (Concord, NH)
Checkrate/Likes When I was a kid in the 80's Sears only sold Kenmore products AND they only took their store credit card or Discover for payments. I do remember when the Brand Central theme came out. I'm sure they make more money on Kenmore appliances so it would make sense to only sell their brand. They have such a vast range of appliance levels in Kenmore, it would be easy to only offer them.

Post# 964131 , Reply# 22 10/24/2017 at 09:25 (2,374 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)
Checkrate/Likes 5 *Fake News* Sears has only sold WP branded appliances for less than 30 years. The real reason probably stems from Sears being unable to pay for the appliances, LOL John L.

Post# 964160 , Reply# 24 10/24/2017 at 15:56 (2,374 days old) by programcomputer (Ann Arbor Michigan, USA)
Checkrate/Likes 1 *Sears Vacuums.* Sears has had over the years, several suppliers for it's vacuum cleaners. This is a fairly comprehensive history I have pieced together, from both the internet, and the stories spun around the vacuum hummings of yore. From the very first electric vacuum offered by Sears, Roebuck and Company; all of their floor care machines until 1957 were supplied by Birtman Electric Company out of Chicago Illinois. BIrtman had it's own house brand which went by the trade name "Bee-Vac". Birtman also supplied most of their mixers, blenders and the like, as they were quite a major producer of smalls. The factory was located at 4150 W. Fullerton Avenue. Just west of the Metra tracks. Their complex went north to Diversey Avenue, both east and west of the metra. Again this was a very large concern. So Birtman made both Kenmore's Upright and tank style cleaners, as well as hand vacuums and a polisher or two, this ran unabated for several decades. In 1956, Sears approached Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation, (nee' RCA Whirlpool, and later Whirlpool Corporation); about purchasing the Birtman Company, and running it as a division of it's core business, which was major white goods. Sears wanted to get Birtman's quality, productivity and their labor force in line, and felt that Whirlpool had the chutzpah to do it, plus Sears (off the record), was giving Whirlpool ultimatums both verbal and financial to bend to it's will, and just DO IT, aside from the fact that Whirlpool really wanted nothing to do with vacuum cleaners, or small appliances. This feeling was continued on in the early 2000'nds, when they sold off Maytag Corporations, Hoover Company Division, to the Techtronic Industries Company, or TTI. At any rate, Sears felt that Whirlpool should be it's main supplier of most everything, but again wasn't happy with the way Birtman Electric was being ran, liked how Whirlpool WAS being executed. So,Whirlpool made inroads of a merger, but Birtman's board of directors refused. Sears ramped up the pressure on Whirlpool to do whatever it had to to overtake Birtman's management, and assume leadership of the company. This was completed by 1958. This takeover was considered "hostile" by some, and it certainly was NOT done with a cup of tea in one hand, and a cigar in another. It was most definitely NOT in Whirlpools master plan to undertake, and there were hard feelings all over. But it was done. Whirlpool definitely took over, and began a process of phasing out Birtman's other lines (the smalls e.g); and at the same time, poured money (probably coming from Sears somehow) into the vacuum cleaner line. They did NOT, as some have indicated "run off a few years of parts and shut down the whole thing". That would have been both ludicrous, and ill serving to the Sears part of the venture. The parts for older machines probably WERE put on allocation, but they did not just lock up the plant and shut off the lights. WHY? Well, it was during all this, that Kenmore and Whirlpool-Seeger, thru their newly acquired vacuum line began production on the Kenmore Power-Mate series (Whirlpool Imperial), which helped to popularize the upright/canister concept. The uprights (Birtman Designed) remained relatively unchanged thru 1963, aside from look etc.. Sears became a MAJOR canister producer thru this 1958-1963 period, and WAY beyond. They really cracked out and HARDCORE focused on the Power-Mate type of cleaner as well as the other "straight suction" canister styles. They went mainly after Electrolux, with this might and well won the rounds most years. So, with this new infusion of Sears and Whirlpool capital, the development and production of Kenmore vacuum cleaners continued, and for a time, were produced in Chicago, right in Birtmans old factory. (Unless anyone has information that Whirlpool moved the vacuum division to another facility prior to Cottage Grove being opened sometime between 1960, and 1968, One must assume that Birtman's Chicago facility remained on-stream. Unless documentation can be procured otherwise to dispute my finding.. Whirlpool also shoved out a few good, or at least interesting designs of uprights, such as the Lightweight CVR upright Concept, and a Hoover Dialamatic clone, coming on steam very shortly after that Hoover product was introduced in 1963; this new bag first, clean air upright was named, the Duo-Power. For a few years Sears only had a few Duo Power Upright Models available, especially after the Birtman Uprights disappeared in 1963-64. Whirlpool, in 1963, according to acceptable references, sold off it's lightweight upright design, that was developed in the late 1950's as the Whirlpool CVR, and Sears Bambi. This discard, was the product which ultimately became the first Oreck brand vacuum cleaner, The Oreck CRV Lightweight upright. The details of this partnership are foggy even to deep internet searches, but suffice to say for a time at least, until MacDonald Electric started producing the Oreck 1000 upright in the mid 1960's (I've read 1968 in certain sources), Whirlpool continued to produce that unit too. After this sell off, Whirlpool did not LEAVE the vacuum business, but instead, began to downplay the Whirlpool nameplate. This was done mostly under contract with the Oreck concern, to NOt produce a competing design- (although later Oreck SUED Whirlpool for breach of contract as they continued to produce a version for Sears). Whirlpool only featured, under their nameplate a canister/ upright "power-team" that roughly followed the strides continually being made by and for the Kenmore brand. Sears rather still had might with RCA Whirlpool at this point, and kinda suggested to them along the way, that they may just want to "Make our brand", and kinda drop your own, to quiet, unaccountable levels. Whirlpool's own version of Power-Mate lasted until 1970 or so, then was dropped until the 1980's when a resurgent line of product named Whirlpool reappeared as a premium brand, along with the same, like models built for Sears. Ain't the vacuum business fun?? In 1963-64, Sears struck a manufacturing deal with a secondary producer for a more traditional upright design, by selecting The Singer Manufacturing Company of Eleizabethport New Jersey, to produce the new cleaner for them. Singers then current factory area, at: 198 Trumbull Street, Elizabethport NJ, was better known for it's production of their world famous Sewing Machines, but had been producing vacuum cleaners, branded Singer since the late 1920's. This NEW Kenmore upright design was an updated version of Singers evolutionary "Twin Fan" design. This new cleaner built for Sears, would begat a whole host of models for Sears, being the nucleus for their upright stable, until the mid 1990's. Singer produced these units for Sears at a combination of their Elezabethport facility, and later at a facility built new by Singer for their own production, as wellas for the new Kenmore contract(s) about to ramp up; at a wholly new production at 1428 Pearman Dairy Rd, Anderson South Carolina. (Notice today, if you do a Google Maps search, that factory is owned by TTI, who bought up Oreck, Hoover and others) In the early 1980's Singer decided to do a massive reorganization of it's affairs, and began a process of selling off under-performing, or redundant arms of it's ventures. Ryobi Motor Products, bought/purchased Singers vacuum division, out of this corporate restructuring, and later still sold off this vacuum division, and the Singer vacuum brand to Bissell, out of Grand Rapids Michigan. It was during this last stages of the companies life, that the Singer built cleaners, were phased out at Sears, in favor of Panasonic built uprights. Is this Confusing enough for you? Cause WAIT, there is more. But before all of this happened with Singer, as early as 1960, but definitely not later than 1968 which was my first traceable online dig about this being a manufacturing plant for Whirlpool/Sears, another new facility was brought on tap for it's canister, and upright models that Singer did NOT produce. This plant was located in Cottage Grove Wisconsin. The address is/was: 1600 Landmark Dr, Cottage Grove, WI 53527. I have never ascertained an actual date that he facility opened, but for that matter, it could have happened earlier than 1960, although the design of the building leaves a idea of time-frame pretty hopeless too. It is in my estimation VERY highly unlikely it was before 1960, although it would fit into another historians "story" that Birtman was shut down immediately, parts ran off, and were "the workers" told to go home all in 1958. Possible, but unlikely. At any rate, it was a brand new, state of the art plant that was part and parcel of every Kenmore Canister vacuum, until the early 1980's when Whirlpool said enough of it's unionized, high priced workers, and moved, or rather bidded out it's production to a southern plant, which joined forces with none other than Matsushita Electric , or more commonly known, Panasonic. In the early part of the 1980's, Sears and Whirlpool approached Matsushita-Panasonic, to begin building ( a joint effort) canister cleaner design in a rather murky (not much is out there on this) joint venture with Whirlpool, Kenmore and Panasonic, starting sometime around 1984-1985, if we were to go on catalog proof. The Cottage Grove facility after this new venture was completed may have been discontinued, however there is online information in the depth of the inter-webs that this facility was closed at some point, possibly 1994 when Whirlpool sold it's vacuum line to Panasonic. Whirlpools last affiliation with the plant seemed to be around 1988 or 89 tho. So anyone's guess is good here. Production of the vacuums moved to a facility down south again. The city and area escapes me at this time. Really at this junction my interest in Sears and their vacuum history dies out. That said, a few final notes... In the late 1980's an early 90's tho, with Sears kicking off their NEW Brand Central Concept, Kenmore brand began to be downplayed to a degree, and more so, as time went on thier house brand. Around 1988, Sears introduced a line of cleaners made for them by Hoover with varying results. The Kenmore name was even stamped right on it, on one model. Same for a few models made for them by Eureka. In the early 90's their interaction with Iona Manufacturing brought them the Kenmore Destiny Plus, a badge copy of the new and VERY popular Fantom Thunder, which brought James Dyson's bagless technology over to the USA. Introducing still another competitor to the game. This one tho, especially the bagless type, changed the whole game forever. And of course in 2016, Panasonic decided after it's long history with vacuums to sell off it's whole schbang to another overseas firm, I think called Claret or some such thing. Again, after about 1990, my interest in companies and their vacuums die out. Hope this coffee table book helps... Chad

Post# 964161 , Reply# 25 10/24/2017 at 16:20 (2,374 days old) by programcomputer (Ann Arbor Michigan, USA)
Checkrate/Likes *Cottage Grove..* Cottage Grove Minnesota, was where the factory was..... It was on Jamaica Dr, in Cottage Grove. Jeeze. I wish i could just delete the whole last post.

Post# 964172 , Reply# 26 10/24/2017 at 17:47 (2,373 days old) by goatfarmer (South Bend, home of Champions)
Checkrate/Likes When I worked at Sears Service in the mid 80's, one of the shop techs showed me a sewing machine, I believe from the 50's. It was made by a subsidiary of Chrysler he said.

Post# 964175 , Reply# 27 10/24/2017 at 18:05 (2,373 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes I'm pretty disappointed to say the least. But when Sears decided to not source their front loaders from Whirlpool any longer they began to lose my interest as a customer. Home Depot and Lowes never have models I want. Hence the Duet purchased November 2011. But Sears was the only place I could get the model I wanted--actually I wanted the Maytag Maxima equivalent but Lowes, HD, nor Sears sold the model I wanted. When I got my new dishwasher two years ago, I was going to get a KitchenAid but when the comparable Kenmore Elites came out with feature set not even offered by KitchenAid, that's why I went with the Kenmore. That's what I loved about Sears--they offered features that weren't offered by their supplier or maybe weren't going to be offered until the next generation in the suppliers' line. I have my KitchenAid induction range. My Kenmore Elite fridge is 11.5 years old. I'll probably get a KitcheAid of Whirlpool as a replacement. Fortunately I can now buy appliances from a new place that's been here for about 3 years--Glenn actually brought the firm to my attention. They have access to just about every model in a manufacturer's lineup and offer just about every brand except for Miele. That's probably where I'll get my Vent-a-Hood to replace my 33.5 y/o GE Deluxe 30 hood whenever I do decide to do that.

Post# 964176 , Reply# 28 10/24/2017 at 18:09 (2,373 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes 2 *August 2001 wash-in Minneapolis, MN* Who can forget all us attendees (20 or so of us) invading a Sears there to go see the just announced and had on the sales floor the Kenmore He3T and He3 Whirlpool produced front loaders. (ChesterMikeUK arming the Hetties)

Post# 964177 , Reply# 29 10/24/2017 at 18:32 (2,373 days old) by Tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)
Checkrate/Likes Sears and WP got adventurous with the central vacuum system concept, too, even offering one plumbed in design that flushed itself with water each time it was shut off, or something like that, if I remember what John told me.

Post# 964183 , Reply# 30 10/24/2017 at 18:56 (2,373 days old) by appnut (TX)
Checkrate/Likes 1 I used to go to Sears web site just to see what was coming down the pike in 90 days and to window shop. All that's left online too is LG, Kenmore/Elite, Frigidaire/Elux, Samsung, and GE. I will no longer be going to Sear online/"looking" for anything.

Post# 964202 , Reply# 31 10/24/2017 at 22:56 (2,373 days old) by man114 (Buffalo)
Checkrate/Likes I saw some articles in WSJ about Whirlpool complaining about dumping from Samsung and LG. This might be more a WP problem than Sears. I'm wondering if they tried to pressure Sears and Sears just said no. Presuming Sears staves off bankruptcy for another year this could drastically hurt WP in the short term because even in their shrunken form they still sell a lot of appliances. Most people don't really care too much who makes it as long as it looks nice and works well at the right price. If Sears removes a WP and replaces it with an LG the average consumer won't care. They're not going to leave the floor space empty, so expect more GE, Samsung, LG and Frigidaire stuff to fill it in.

Post# 964214 , Reply# 32 10/25/2017 at 05:01 (2,373 days old) by foraloysius (Leeuwarden, Friesland, the Netherlands)
Checkrate/Likes 2 Oh yes Bob, I remember that trip to Sears to have a look at the new Hetties. That was over 16 years ago, can you believe it?