Shopsmith Forums

Well, dang! I finally got an actual genuine Shop Vac shop vacuum and now they go out of business?! If those things didn't last 20 years easily I'd be in deep trouble and have to go out and buy one of a thousand equivalent vacuum cleaners before then.

Wow! Thanks for posting this because I probably wouldn't have learned about their closing for a long time without it. It is unfortunate. I had a ShopVac™ go bad on me and they replaced the motor for free even though it was out of warranty. The only reason that I knew to contact them was I saw a YouTube video where someone said to contact them and that they would stand behind the product even after the warranty was expired, which is what they did for each of us. Not many companies today will still support a product and take care of you after a warranty is up, but ShopVac™ did for me.

That's too bad. I always liked my Shop Vacs. I still have my old 30-40 year old one in the garage and my newer one in my woodworking shop. Both have treated me well.

We spent a couple of decades in the vac industry and this company, The Henry Company of Hammond IN was our most reliable wholesale vendor. They were / are both wholesale and retail. We could sometimes beat them shopping price but not on service and standing behind stuff. If we called an order in by 11:00 AM it was in our store by 11:00 AM the next day... It's been a few years now but I hear that they are still the same. Covid19 may have slowed things down a bit, I don't know about this year.
Most of the "working parts" of your shop vac are off the shelf parts. Most turbine/motor units were made by either the Lamb Electric Co. or Singer. Switches etc. are common stuff as are cords, hoses, filters, attachments etc. Here is a link:
https://www.vacpartsplusstore.com/catalog/
I have no connection to the company, they just served us well for over 20 years.
We used to ask for "Larry" but I suppose he has long retired.


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RFGuy wrote:Wow! Thanks for posting this because I probably wouldn't have learned about their closing for a long time without it. It is unfortunate. I had a ShopVac™ go bad on me and they replaced the motor for free even though it was out of warranty. The only reason that I knew to contact them was I saw a YouTube video where someone said to contact them and that they would stand behind the product even after the warranty was expired, which is what they did for each of us. Not many companies today will still support a product and take care of you after a warranty is up, but ShopVac™ did for me.

That's rare now a days. But anyone has an idea why they are closing down ?

megank wrote: That's rare now a days. But anyone has an idea why they are closing down ?

Below is an excerpt I found online for them. They were trying to sell the company but the offer fell through at the last minute and they took this action to layoff employees in PA. What is unclear to me is whether ShopVac™ will still be in business or not. I think only the US based operations were shut down but they still have locations in NY and Shenzhen, China. I am wondering if they are shutting down completely as a company or just shifting all of their manufacturing to China...sucks either way.

On a macroeconomic note, I think this is just the first of many businesses shutting down due to the economic ramifications resulting from strained/broken business models that won't survive this pandemic.

Excerpt: "Employees at the three facilities Shop-Vac has in Williamsport were reportedly told the coronavirus pandemic and economic conditions left Shop-Vac in dire financial straits."

https://fox56.com/news/local/shop-vac-a ... 00-jobless

RFGuy wrote:

megank wrote:
..... On a macroeconomic note, I think this is just the first of many businesses shutting down due to the economic ramifications resulting from strained/broken business models that won't survive this pandemic....
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I think most current business models will not survive this pandemic. They all are built on the philosophy take the money and run. However when the money stops coming in there is nothing. Only models that will survive are the ones built on old business ethics. Work hard build a strong foundation and in time you will see your returns but also your children's children will see them too.

this stinks, like losing a good friend , wonder what will happen with filters and parts availability ? I have a small wet dry that is at least 25 years old .

I looked for disposable filter bags for my Shopvac and everybody seems to be out of them. I ended up buying some generic ones that are supposed to fit my Shopvac.

The real Shopvac ones are probably made of unobtanium.