Royal Vacuum Cleaners
In 1905 the first Royal vacuum cleaners were made by the P.A.
Geier Company. Royal is one of the world’s oldest manufacturers of vacuums, and the company is still growing
strong today, although the company has changed somewhat to go along with the times. When the company was
first started, Mr. Geier was making metal vacuum cleaners out of a garage in his backyard in Cleveland, Ohio.
The company grew very rapidly, however, and it soon moved into a four-story building on a main street in
Cleveland. Out of that building it operated two separate divisions – one for machining and one for the
cleaners that it was making. In addition to the vacuum cleaners that it was becoming famous for the Royal
Company also made washing machines, mixers, and hair dryers. In spite of the other products, though, the
company’s vacuum cleaner line was the main revenue-producer as Royal vacuum cleaners continued to gain
popularity. In 1937 “The Royal Prince,” a hand-held vacuum, was introduced. Royal was very early with
this development as many other vacuum cleaner companies did not come out with hand-held vacuums until much
later.
During World War II, however, the Royal Company did what most other manufacturing companies did at that time –
switch production over to military items to help the war effort. In 1953 the P.A. Geier Company was purchased
by an investment group and the structure and sales of the company were changed. The company then focused more
on appliances in general and less on vacuums, which lowered the amount of sales that the company was
receiving. Finally, the company was purchased by a group of individual employees and it operated well until
1981 when things changed again. At that time another group of investors bought out the company and the Dirt
Devil brand was born with the creation of the handvac. This became Royal’s signature product for many
years.
The Royal vacuum cleaner company now calls itself TTI Floor Care North America, and the company has
beenthrough many changes in the years that it has been in operation. Almost all of the company’s products are
now sold through all of the major retail stores in the United States, and there is a 98 percent brand recognition
seen where the Dirt Devil name is concerned. This is very important to Royal because it shows that their
Royal vacuum cleaners, in any form, are still very popular in the minds of consumers and their market share is
still very high. While not everyone might recognize the ‘Royal’ brand, or TTI Floor Care North America,
almost everyone recognizes the Dirt Devil Vacuums brand. Since the
company now markets all of their products under that brand the recognition of the parent company is not as much of
an issue as it would have been before 1981 when the Dirt Devil brand was created. Royal can
be considered one of the top vacuum cleaner companies in the world, right up there with Oreck Vacuums, Dyson, and Hoover.
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