More Central Vacuum Information

Central Vacuum Parts Search: Look No Further

We own a house on the Withlacoochee River in Florida.  It was built in 1926, and Roger and I restored it for a family vacation spot.  Because of the age of the house, finding some of the older hardware involved a lot of searching. It wasn't until the past two years that we actually found the right hardware for the front door.  Before we found that hardware, if you didn't lock it, the door would just swing open...so,we kept an old bucket in front of the door to hold it shut. 

Well, finding central vacuum parts doesn't have to involve a lot of your time, because you found this blog!  Search no further... If you are looking for parts for your central vacuum system...we can help.  On our website you will find navigation to central vacuum motors, central vacuum hoses, central vacuum accessories, central vacuum attachments, central vacuum powerheads, central vacuum floor tools, central vacuum dust brushes, central vacuum bags, and the list goes on and on. You will also find the best Search tool available on any central vacuum website.  It is powered by SLI Systems, the same company that powers the search for Ulta Beauty, Qantas Airline, Edwin Watts Golf, and Tupperware, just to name a few.  Just type in what you are looking for and let our powerful search go to work for you.  Finally, if you just can't find what you want, we have experts standing by our phones to help you locate just what you need.  We often special order items for customers who haven't been able to find what they need anywhere else.  So you can peruse our site, use our Search tool, or call us at 1-800-221-8227 to find the central vacuum parts you need. 

Go Rays!

St. Petersburg, Florida has been the home of Central Vacuum Stores for 60 years!  Roger's Dad, Chris, founded this company, and he LOVED sports.  I can remember him sneaking out of the store to go see the spring training games at Al Lang Stadium in downtown St. Petersburg.   Unfortunately, he did not live to see St. Petersburg get a major league baseball team.  If he had, he would have been thrilled, and he would have had season tickets, and he would have been a huge fan through the bad times and the good times. 

Well, these are the good times.  We are really excited about the season the Rays are having this year. I am not a sports fan, but I actually watched most of the Rays/Red Sox game last night.   At Central Vacuum we have been selling and servicing the vacuum cleaners for the Rays since the Stadium opened.  I would like to say it is our superior service that has edged them along to victory, but I really can't make the connection....So instead I'll say "Go Rays!"

Compare Central Vacuum System Prices Then Call Us

Yesterday was Memorial Day.  We want to say thanks to all our servicemen and women, veterans, and families of veterans for their service to our country.  Roger served in the Navy and is a Vietnam Veteran.  Our son Micah received a four year ROTC scholarship to the University of Tampa, so it won't be too many years before he will be protecting the freedom we all enjoy.

We usually only answer one phone line on holidays, but Roger and I decided to go into the store and answer the phones.  Our daughter Faith and her husband Luke joined us.  We were really surprised how many of you guys were surfing the Internet and calling us on a holiday.  It was a fun day...we even had bar-b-que at the store! 

As we answered the phones we decided we need to remind our customers that we will meet most competitor's pricing.  As you shop remember to compare apples to apples.  Some places do offer lower prices, but they charge shipping.  Some places charge you to design a system.  Some places will only offer technical advice to their own customers.  We treat everyone as if they are our customer, even before they are our customer, because we want them to be our customer.  If you would like us to price match just be sure we are matching identical items and services.  Remember, we have been in this industry for 60 years...no one on the Internet can compete with our resume.

News From the Ladies' Road Trip

No Central Vacuum news today, just an amusing anecdote. On Thursday my daughters, Faith and Dawn, joined me on a road trip from St. Petersburg to Savannah, Georgia.  On Friday, we did what we came here to do...eat at Paula Deen's restaurant.  Paula Deen (for those of you who are not foodies) has a show on the Food Network and owns The Lady and Sons, a restaurant located in the historic district of Savannah.  They have a regular menu, but the main attraction is a Southern buffet with fried chicken, collard greens, candied yams, creamed corn, hoe cakes, biscuits, banana pudding, peach cobbler, and even more... 

Like all southern food, the seasonings of choice are salt and ham hocks!  The food was delicious, but there was  enough salt in it to raise your blood pressure just smelling it.  As we ate, I saw  Faith's jaw drop.  "I can't believe what I just saw!", she said, "I am shocked, just shocked. "  I expected  her to tell me she saw someone  take off their clothes, or something...Instead she said,  "That man behind you  just salted  this food!"   

"Did he taste it first." I asked.

"Yes!"

We were flabbergasted.   
What can I say?  We are just simple people amused by simple things.

On Saturday night we ate at Uncle Bubba's Seafood Restaurant.  Uncle Bubba is Paula Deen's brother, and the meal there was really delicious.  Sunday we hit the road and headed back home.

We had great fun but I have to admit there were times, particularly during the road trip,  I felt like I was held hostage by country music crazed women.  Both my daughter's are country music fans and I am not. I watched a special about Brad Paisley, listened to some man singing about still being a man, and another guy singing about checking for ticks. I found out that Shania Twain and Garth Brooks transformed the country music industry (according to my daughters), Carrie Underwood was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame way too soon, and Jimmy Buffet did a song with Alan Jackson(they thought mentioning Jimmy Buffet would make me like country music).  In spite of all this, they still have not converted me to country music.  Maybe next year we'll fly.   

Compare Central Vacuum System Dealers

At Central Vacuum Stores we encourage our customers to compare central vacuum systems.  In fact, we have one of the best comparison tools on the web for doing this.  However, I may have been remiss by not urging you to compare central vacuum dealers on the Internet.

If you have read much of this blog, or our About Us page, you know we are a real company, with real employees, who have real experience.  Unfortunately, when you get out there on the web, this just isn't always the case.  Last night I was looking at a competitor's website and I thought I would die laughing.  Then I thought about the customers who think they are dealing with a legitimate company and I knew I had to blog this as a warning.

This company is located in the Northeast, in an area where Google street view is available.  So the first thing I noticed was the fact that the building pictured was not their place of business.  The next thing I noticed was  their "About Us" page.  There they had photos of their employees and I couldn't believe how beautiful they were...even the men!  Well, there was a good reason I couldn't believe it, it wasn't true.  When I right clicked the images and looked at the properties it was clear that the majority of these pictures were taken from stock photos.  Our competitor obviously did not think to change the names on the images nor did he think to remove the links.  When I clicked one of the photos it was a link that opened up a portfolio page for a male model and if you follow the properties of another photo it opens up a site called "Free Colombian Women" which features a picture of Celia, the woman this company claims is their tri-lingual employee.  My question is, if a company is that audacious, do you really want to trust them to sell you something like a central vacuum system?

June 28th, 2008 update:  I recently checked out this site and the phony pictures are all gone!  The best way to protect consumers on the Internet is to expose companies who are trying to mislead the public.

This particular competitor also claimed to be the largest vacuum dealer on the Internet...but he is not alone, there are plenty of others claiming the same thing.  At Central Vacuum we are one of the major players in the industry, but no one really knows for sure who is the largest...we just aren't going to lie to get your business. I do know that on May 12th we will be making an announcement on this blog about our place in the central vacuum internet industry.

June 28th, 2008 update:  In case you missed it, Central Vacuum Stores is listed in Internet Retailer Magazine's 2007 Top 500 Internet Retailers in the country. 

You need to know that you can trust us and we will be here if you need assistance.  So, before you buy, be sure you are dealing with a company that you can trust...a real business, with real employees and real service.

Signing off for Central Vacuum,
Roger and Renee (see our photo below)

Let the Party Begin!

This year we are celebrating our  60th Anniversary at Central Vacuum Stores.  We have a special page we've put up on our website to let you join the party.  There's our 2008 company picture and a few congratulatory letters from some of our vendors.  We even have a letter of congratulations from Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida.  I went to high school with Charlie.  In fact, in the 10th grade I ran against him for Class President.   Charlie won, and that's why today he is Governor and I am writing this blog!

We are also featuring a special give away for our customers.  Starting May 1, every day for the next 60 business days we are giving away a $60 Central Vacuum gift card to our 60th customer.  So visit our party page here.

Beam Central Vacuum: Be Sure to Read This Before You Buy

ATTENTION:  If you would like to buy a Beam on the Internet, it is going to get harder beginning May 1, 2008.  In an effort to build a stronger dealer network and cut down on unauthorized Internet companies selling their product, Beam has placed some restrictions on their dealers who sell on the Internet. 

Because Central Vacuum Stores is an Authorized Beam Dealer, from now on we will only be allowed to ship Beam power units and attachment sets within 100 miles of our physical location.  For us, that's Tampa Bay.  If you are outside of this area, give us a call at 1-800-221-8227 and we will help you locate a Beam dealer in your area.  If there is no Beam dealer in your area, we'll  call Beam and get authorization to sell you Beam products.  If you run across anyone selling Beam central vacuums and they do not have bold text explaining Beam's new policy, then they are not an authorized Beam dealer, and you need to be careful. Take a look at our Beam pages with the bold text Beam now requires on all authorized sites. Consider this, a Beam product purchased from anyone other than an authorized dealer may not have a factory warranty.  Don't take that risk...If you buy a Beam make sure you buy from an authorized dealer.  Are you wondering if this is just hype or really true?  Here is a copy of Beam's new Internet Policy, direct from Beam Download beam_internet_policy20081.pdf

If you just want to buy a central vacuum on the Internet, we have products equivalent to Beam central vacs, manufactured by the parent company of Beam.  You may want to look at this Electrolux PU3900.  See it now on out site.

Central Vacuum Sponsors Triathlon Team

Today Central Vacuum Stores was the proud sponsor of a mixed relay team in the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida.  The members of the A (for Ambrose) Team were:
Swimming one mile - Dawn Ambrose Long (our oldest daughter)
Biking 24 miles- Rachel Ambrose (our daughter-in-law)
Running 6 miles - Micah Ambrose (our youngest son)

Our daugher Faith (pictured on the left) also participated in the triathlon, swimming with another relay team.

4500 people participated in the St. Anthony's Triathlon.  Faith and Dawn were initially worried about the water temperature.  Being native Floridians, 74 degree water sounded frigid to them.  However, it was windy and the water was quite choppy, so the water temperature was the least of their worries.   They both said it was the hardest they have ever had to swim.  By the time Rachel biked and Micah ran it was a typical 85 degree Florida day, and they said that it was pretty hot during their events.  All in all, it was  a fun morning and they say they are ready to do it again.

I saw some amazing things.  Among the most significant were two double amputees that finished this triathlon. Seeing so many people pursuing health and fitness was inspiring.  Yesterday as part of the weekend events, St. Anthony's sponsored a smaller sprint triathlon.  Our Shipping Manager, Nancy, and our Web Project Manager, Cathy, participated in that event. I'm hoping that next year we can have even more employees swimming, running and biking in the two St. Anthony's Triathlons.  I thought our customers might enjoy some of the pictures I took today.  If any of you participated, let me know...I'd love to hear from you.

First Photo - Faith and Dawn's wave  entering the water
Second Photo - Faith and Dawn on the final leg of the swim
Third Photo - Rachel immediately after the bike 
Fourth Photo - Micah at the finish line.
Fifth Photo - Nancy sporting her trophy from the race
Last Photo - Cathy waiting for the race to begin

New Intelligent Search at Central Vacuum

We are so excited to roll out our brand new search engine.  It went live today, April 1, and we're not foolin'! We are continually looking for ways to upgrade our site and make our customers' shopping experience easier.  This awesome tool allows you to search for products and then refine your search by categories and sub categories, price, brand, the possibilities are limitless.  This search also learns and adapts so that it presents items that are searched for more frequently near the top.  If you are on this blog looking for something specific, please visit our site and try our new search.  You can't miss it...It's the green button near the top of the page.
Central Vacuum Stores

Central Vacuum: The Real Thing

Last week I saw a website for an IT company here in St. Petersburg, Florida.  I know this company, and it is a one man operation.  He operates out of his home.  However, on his website he had pictured a big fancy building with his company name Photo-shopped on the building. I live in this area so I know the building and this guy doesn't even have an office there!  Unbelievable?   Not really.  I guess it isn't uncommon for smaller companies to do this...there was a company selling central vacuums on the internet that did the same thing. 

We want you to be assured that Central Vacuum Stores is a real company with real people.  We aren't a mega store and we aren't ashamed of that.  We also don't operate in our pajamas out of our garage.  You've seen and read about our employees on this blog...well now, courtesy of Google Maps, you can see our building using their new street view feature.  In certain metropolitan areas across the country Google took pictures of the entire city (I'm guessing).  They offer street view of addresses in the Tampa Bay Area...I'm embedding the link so you can see who we are.  The Central Vacuum Stores building is our main warehouse, and we also own the white warehouse to the left of our main warehouse.

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