The company began operation in the United States, in Newton, Massachusetts, back in 1992.
With the recent success of the Shark Navigator vacuums, and the introduction of the upgraded Shark Rotator series, EuroPro is firmly established in the US vacuum cleaner market.
Sharks are found on retail shelves everywhere, a feat matched only by Dyson and Hoover.
Euro-Pro Operating, LLC, a privately-held company, created a line of chemical-free steam mops prior to the success with the Shark Navigator and Shark Rotator Lift-Away vacuum cleaners.
In addition to the Sharks, Euro-Pro also markets the Bravetti, Ninja and Euro-Pro household products brands.
Millions have seen the telegenic and very persuasive Mr. Rosenzweig on TV, looking and acting very similar to the young David Oreck of yesteryear. Mr. Oreck was a pioneer of vacuum cleaner infomercial marketing.
Copying the old Oreck infomercial marketing tricks, Shark uses every salesman's gag in the book; visual stunts that overplay the vacuum's suction, bait and switch, EZ credit ripoff, and "free" extras with hidden shipping charges tacked on.
Things Euro-Pro/Shark has done, like offering the HEPA filter on the models purchased through the infomercial, but switching to cheaper filters, and shorter warranties, for vacs shipped to retailers, lower our opinion of the product.
This infomercial strategy, which is perfectly legal, took Mr. Oreck from rags to riches. David retired with the means to indulge his life-long love of aviation with a large personal fleet of classic aircraft.
Why should Shark try anything else when so many buyers will believe everything they see on TV?
Proof of the infomercial's dominance in vacuum marketing comes from Hoover, which now runs its own infomercials on the same channels as Shark's.
While the infomercials have rocketed Shark to the top, we think this track will limit Mr. Rosenzweig's further upward mobility.
We think he is trapped in the $200 price bracket, by his own behavior. But Dyson is quite a ways up, and Shark's current success may be enough for the moment.
We actually think Shark is on to something with the versatile Lift-Away series, it's among our favorites.
And, unlike some competitors, Mr. Rosenzweig doesn't rest on his laurels, bringing out the new improved Shark NV500 Rotators while Navigators were still selling well.
Shark's customer service and warranty support is said to be outsourced and has a poor reputation.
There are lots of negative reviews on Shark customer service, with stonewalling and "on backorder until" the most common complaints.
But customer service has to be a weak area for any vac under $200, where all Sharks sell.
The margins in the competitive vacuum industry are so low that the Asian conglomerate that owns Hoover and Dirt Devil has offered the vacuum brands for sale.
Increased budgets for customer service and warranty claims can quickly wreck a vacuum company.
Executives at Euro-Pro know this well.
Euro-Pro once purchased the rights to the Fantom vacuum cleaner brand, when the Fantom company was bankrupted by excessive warranty claim costs and ongoing patent litigation.
With the Lift-Away series doing so well, there is some indication Shark service may be getting a bit more management attention.
The new Sharks are designed with modular assemblies, which has both good and bad aspects. The bad is that the Lift-Away's brushroll and power head are basically disposable. If the powerhead has an issue, replacement of the whole module is generally the only option.
The good point is that, if the powerhead fails, the Lift-Away still functions as a canister vacuum.
Shark is not alone here, everyone, not just in the vacuum cleaning business, is fighting to cut service and warranty costs for the new off-shored consumer products.
The objective here is for consumers to learn a new mindset. "Buyer be aware," rather than just buyer beware, should be the watch word.
We recommend Shark buyers use a retailer, like Amazon or Wal-Mart, with a liberal return policy. Buyers should thoroughly evaluate the new vacuum during the retailer's return period.
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