Car slams through Long’s Vacuum, injures customer

On Thursday, March 8, a customer at Long’s Vacuum Cleaner Co. in Austin, TX, was seriously injured when a car jumped the curb slammed through the front window of the store.

According to a newpaper report in the American-Statesman, the customer injured was an elderly woman whose name was not released. She was taken to Brackenridge Hospital with injuries. Police detective Adrian Duran said the woman was pinned under the car until emergency officials backed it up.

Detective Duran said the car was a Ford Taurus parked in front of the store and that it somehow jumped the curb at about 2 p.m. and drove completely through the store’s glass front. The elderly woman driving the car, whose name was not released, was not injured, he said.

When VDTA checked in with owners Weldon and Terri Long, they were glad to report the injured customer will recover and that their staff is doing well.

Terri stated, “This is a good time to tell you how wonderful this industry is. We have received telephone calls and e-mails from dealers in California, Montana, Arkansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Michigan, Massachusetts, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Idaho, South Dakota, Oregon and New Jersey. We even received a flowering plant from A-1 Vac in Skokie, IL, and Sobel Vac in Long Island!”

A Texas dealer offered to share her stock with the Longs and their manufacturers and reps immediately wanted to know how they could help.

“Can you name another industry that takes care of one another like this?” Terri said. “It’s a great time to be in the vacuum cleaner business!”

Now the Longs are in the process of repairing the damages. The day after the accident they were closed but still sold a couple of vacuums to people who just knocked on the door. Now they are open for business, despite the store’s condition.

“Most customers don’t care about the ugly store situation,” said Terri. “Two days later, on Saturday, we were so busy we got a little emotional over it.”

In reflection on the accident, Terri said one piece of advice she would like to share with other dealers is to make sure you have safety glass in your store windows. She said by coincidence they had just changed the glass in their window due to a crack and upgraded to the best they could buy.

“This proved to be life-saving, as the glass stays together and no one got hurt from it,” said Terri.

Long’s Vacuum Cleaner Co. has been family owned and operated since 1957. The store which is 1200 square feet in size was established 50 years ago by Weldon’s father, Gene. The Longs said they are told that their store is the oldest location on Congress Avenue that is still run by the original owners. Today their current product lines include Miele, Riccar and SEBO. They have been active members of the association since 1996.

Reprinted from Floor Care Professional, April 2007