Sucking up the competition
Hoover last year overtook Dyson and Miele as the best-selling floorcare brand in Europe, according to the group commercial director for the parent company's small domestic appliances sector, Joe Grech.Mr Grech is of Maltese origin, having attended De...
Hoover last year overtook Dyson and Miele as the best-selling floorcare brand in Europe, according to the group commercial director for the parent company's small domestic appliances sector, Joe Grech.
Mr Grech is of Maltese origin, having attended De La Salle College until sixth form. He was in Malta recently for his father's 80th birthday celebrations and took the opportunity to visit Crosscraft, which was awarded the Hoover agency by Candy a year ago.
Hoover now sells 7.4 per cent of all vacuum cleaners in Europe, over half these sales being accounted for in Italy and UK alone.
In Italy Hoover enjoys 25 per cent market share of the cleaner market. Its turnover has grown from €140 million in 2000 to a forecast €150 million this year.
"This is all due to investment in innovation and design," he said. Hoover is launching a number of new products in the coming weeks, in time for the International Trade Fair.
Freemotion has an ergonomically-designed nozzle and a head that swivels so that it can get into narrow spaces. The suction is also located as close to the front of the head as possible to ensure it cleans right to the edge of a room. Another product is the Freespace, a cleaner that offers the same power as the larger ranges but which takes up less than half as much room to store.
"Storage is much more of an issue nowadays and we wanted to design a product that could be stored in small spaces such as a kitchen cupboard," Mr Grech explained to the Crosscraft staff during a workshop.
The third product is Jovis, a handheld cleaner with what Mr Grech described as an "iconic" design.
"Many of the features we introduced, like controls on the nozzle of the Freemotion, do not cost that much but they are very helpful , making cleaning quicker and easier . They set our products apart. You also have to think about the visual aspect. Household appliances should not be boring. You should see one of our machines in a shop and want to own it," he said.
Crosscraft were offered the Hoover agency because of their success with Kenwood, which they had taken on a year before. Mr Grech said that the results since Crosscraft took over have been very positive.
"We estimate that the market for floorcare in Malta is around 17,000 to 18,000 and we estimate that last year Crosscraft captured 40 per cent of the market for Hoover. I came here to see them and congratulate them!" he said.
Crosscraft was set up 25 years ago and is run by brothers Robert and Clyde Farrugia Vella.
Mr Grech is of Maltese origin, having attended De La Salle College until sixth form. He was in Malta recently for his father's 80th birthday celebrations and took the opportunity to visit Crosscraft, which was awarded the Hoover agency by Candy a year ago.
Hoover now sells 7.4 per cent of all vacuum cleaners in Europe, over half these sales being accounted for in Italy and UK alone.
In Italy Hoover enjoys 25 per cent market share of the cleaner market. Its turnover has grown from €140 million in 2000 to a forecast €150 million this year.
"This is all due to investment in innovation and design," he said. Hoover is launching a number of new products in the coming weeks, in time for the International Trade Fair.
Freemotion has an ergonomically-designed nozzle and a head that swivels so that it can get into narrow spaces. The suction is also located as close to the front of the head as possible to ensure it cleans right to the edge of a room. Another product is the Freespace, a cleaner that offers the same power as the larger ranges but which takes up less than half as much room to store.
"Storage is much more of an issue nowadays and we wanted to design a product that could be stored in small spaces such as a kitchen cupboard," Mr Grech explained to the Crosscraft staff during a workshop.
The third product is Jovis, a handheld cleaner with what Mr Grech described as an "iconic" design.
"Many of the features we introduced, like controls on the nozzle of the Freemotion, do not cost that much but they are very helpful , making cleaning quicker and easier . They set our products apart. You also have to think about the visual aspect. Household appliances should not be boring. You should see one of our machines in a shop and want to own it," he said.
Crosscraft were offered the Hoover agency because of their success with Kenwood, which they had taken on a year before. Mr Grech said that the results since Crosscraft took over have been very positive.
"We estimate that the market for floorcare in Malta is around 17,000 to 18,000 and we estimate that last year Crosscraft captured 40 per cent of the market for Hoover. I came here to see them and congratulate them!" he said.
Crosscraft was set up 25 years ago and is run by brothers Robert and Clyde Farrugia Vella.