Metro quality commitment applauded by VDTA ’07 attendees

On behalf of the Stern family and the entire staff at Metropolitan Vacuum Cleaner Company, I’d like to thank the hundreds of dealers and distributors who visited our booth this year. Your overwhelming vote of confidence in our company, our products and support programs warmed our hearts and acted to further strengthen our quality resolve.

Many of you who stopped by the booth were treasured old friends who we always look forward to seeing, but especially satisfying this year were all the new faces. Most had heard about our unique, American-made products through our advertising and were eager to see them first hand, try them and “kick the tires.” As has always been the case with Metro products, seeing, trying and “tire kicking” are believing, and virtually all the new people who came, saw, tried and “kicked” left the booth as believers! We’re looking forward to developing working partnerships with many of you.

We were also impressed by the extremely positive feedback on our USP and slogan: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To…We Do! This new twist on the old line dramatizes our commitment to providing you with quality products and personal service that your customers can’t get anymore, anywhere else, at any price -- products and service that give independent dealers a true competitive edge over the mass-merchandising giants!

In addition to our core Metro® Professionals line of floor care products, we presented two other lines that present you with exciting new sources of diversified profit potential: The Metro DataVac® line of computer and electronic maintenance systems and our Vac’N,Blo® car and garage cleaning systems.

DataVac® systems are the safest, most effective ways available to keep expensive computer equipment clean and running at peak efficiency, helping to eliminate costly downtime. They provide you with a great opportunity for add-on sales within your B2B commercial accounts.

Vac’N,Blo® systems are the most powerful car vacs ever tested. They were originally designed to meet the demands of professional automotive detailers, but are now available to a new group of consumer enthusiasts. These are people who are fed up with the “toy” car vacs currently on the market and are looking for some serious American-made cleaning power -- an exciting follow-up opportunity for your up-scale customers who may also be car nuts!

All-in all we feel that the ’07 show was a huge success. Despite the vagaries of the Dow/Jones, the economy, especially in our markets, remains strong and the future looks exceptionally bright for the up-scale segment. We anticipate strengthening, and hopefully expanding, our relationships with established dealer/partner/friends, and as mentioned, look forward to developing new ones with many of you who we met for the first time at this year’s show!

For product up-dates, interesting dealer profiles and selling insights, be sure to check out the monthly MetroPulse™ section in Floor Care Professional magazine.

Reprinted from Floor Care Professional, May 2007