Rexair

Rexair LLC

Type	Private subsidiary of Newell Brands
Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1932
Headquarters	Troy, Michigan
Key people	Paul T. Vidovich, Chairman, President and CEO
Products	Vacuum Cleaners
Owner	Newell Brands Inc.
Website	www.rainbowsystem.com www.rexairinc.com

Rexair LLC is an American manufacturer of home cleaning systems based in Troy, Michigan. Rexair is predominately known for its production and marketing of an air cleaner that uses water as its filter. By using attachments for "source control", the Rainbow has left the vacuum cleaner industry in the Dark Ages.

Along with its corporate headquarters in Troy, Rexair also has manufacturing facilities in Cadillac, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio.

History

In the early 1920s, John W. Newcombe invented a device that separated dust and particulates from the air, referred to as the "Separator" and more aptly named, "The Newcombe Separator". This air-cleaning device forever changed the method of collecting dust and contaminates from the home and workplace.

It was quickly discovered, however that cleaning the air was only taking care of a small percentage of the problem of indoor pollution; the larger percentile of dust and debris in a room has already "settled" onto surfaces and that any movement through that room would stir the dust and contaminates back up and into the air. Hence, the idea of "source control" was born; by removing the contaminates at their source, the device could effectively clean the air and then keep it clean.

By the late 1920s, Leslie H. Green joined forces with Newcombe to develop the "Newcombe Bagless". In 1929, Green formed a new corporation named Rexair, meaning "King of the Air". While the nation was in the midst of the Great Depression, the Rexair Company began producing, refining and marketing the Rexair Cleaner.^[1]

In 1936, T. Russ Hill joined Rexair. Inspired by street cleaners in Kentucky, Hill came up with the idea of incorporating water into the Rexair design, claiming that this would trap dust and dirt. Rexair developed a new slogan: "Wet Dust Can't Fly!" Rexair claims that, by the late 1930s, medical professionals recognized it as a breakthrough product for allergy and hay fever sufferers.^[2]

In 1941, Rexair merged with the Martin-Parry Corporation of Toledo, Ohio, providing Rexair with expanded manufacturing capabilities. During the war, Rexair and Martin-Parry produced radar cases, rocket launchers and ship partitions and linings to aid the war effort.^[3]

Around 1948, J. V. "Sandy" Sanders (a salesman from Owensboro, Kentucky) saw a demonstration of the Rexair and came to Detroit, Michigan determined to become "the best salesman the company ever had". In 1953, "Sandy" became one of five Regional Managers in Rexair's newly aligned national sales organization.^[4]

A newly designed Rexair Cleaner was released in 1955 with a motor allegedly twice as powerful as its predecessor. Rexair executives rechristened it the "Rainbow" with one ad reading, "Now your home can be fresh as a rainbow".^[5]

In 1969, Rexair opened a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Cadillac, Michigan. New attachments were developed: the Power Nozzle and AquaMate, among others. The new Rainbow D3 was launched in 1980, the first major model change in twenty years. The D3 was the first Rainbow approved for "wet pick-up".^[6]

In 1959, Sanders and Associates purchased Rexair. J. V. Sanders was now in control of Rexair. He attempted to develop what he called the "Rainbow Opportunity".^[7]

As early as 1947, Rexair had branch locations in Canada, Cuba and Mexico. In the 1980s, Rexair developed an international sales and distribution network, and the Rainbow was modified to meet the specific demands of countries around the world. In 1986, Rexair celebrated its Golden Anniversary by launching its newest Rainbow, the D4.^[8]

In 2001, Paul Vidovich took charge of Rexair, as President and CEO, and in 2002, he also assumed the responsibilities of Chairman. Paul began his career in the business in 1971. He rose through the ranks via direct selling business.^[9]

2015 - Rexair LLC was owned by public company, "Jarden"—in April 2016, Jarden was purchased by Newell-Rubbermaid and the companies were merged. "Newell Brands" is now the owner of Rexair LLC. Newell Brands is a publicly held company.^[10]

Sales

Sanders restructured the company to focus on direct marketing of its products via independent contractor or independently owned distributors. Rexair's independent distributors and their independent dealers (who are told they are being offered a customer service position) may use direct marketing techniques such as door to door lead generation, the use of referral gathering to get their leads. The main promotional tool it advocates is labeled as "Talent Scouting" which is recruiting a prospect to join the organization as a salesperson and a person who can "scout (more) talent". Once a lead is generated, salespeople will attempt to contact this lead to schedule an appointment to show the Rainbow Cleaning System (sometimes called a vacuum, sometimes called an air filter).

A prospect is offered a gift, if they offer to give the sales person more referrals. Rexair teaches sales and marketing techniques through corporate distributor developers and through training seminars. The CEO Paul Vidovich and his staff travel the world educating distributors on developing the Rainbow business.

Rexair manufactures sales promotional tools and sells them to their independent distributors.

References

External links

www.rainbowsystem.com — Rexair home page

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