A Grand Rapids, MI Cleaning Legend
Posted by Jessica Katsma on Jul 16, 2012 in cleaning services | 0 comments
Cleaning services in Grand Rapids MI can boast of a local legend in Bissell. Bissell was founded and continues to be ran right here in Grand Rapids, MI! In the city of Walker resides the headquarters of the company that had it’s beginnings in 1876. I must admit that it was not until recently that I realized that Bissell was started in Grand Rapids. I found it extremely interesting that such a familiar household brand name was founded here. I started to do some additional research to learn a little bit more about this company and its roots. I wanted to share just a little bit about some of the facts I found. There will be references to other sources so you can gladly read up a little more.
The Power of an Idea
For the majority of us we may take it for granted. We pull the vacuum out, plug it in and in no time the carpets are clean and the dust is gone. You didn’t have to sweep all your carpet or get on your hands and knees. Back in 1876 it wasn’t quite this way.
…Anna and Melville Bissell owned a small crockery shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. While cleaning up after the day’s work, Anna often became frustrated with the sawdust that was embedded in the carpet. The tiny, stubborn particles clung to the carpet, and trying to sweep them up was becoming a time-consuming nuisance.
Melville wanted to provide a solution to his wifes problem. This led Melville to invent and patent the Bissell Carpet Sweeper. This was a mechanical device that spun two brushes around and picked up dirt and collected it into a box. This most likely was the early predecessor to the modern day vacuum. Cleaning services in Grand Rapids, MI would look a lot different today if you still had to clean a house or offices using a mechanical device with no electric! This simple device has paved the way for a larger scale industry!
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Much like today, in our technology driven world, it doesn’t take long for an idea whose time has come to start capturing a large audience. The carpet sweeper technology made the pesky job of cleaning carpets much easier. It took less time and energy to make carpets look better. As the word started to spread soon after Melville created his mechanical device the demand for the product started to soar. It soared so much that in 1883 they opened their first manufacturing plant in Grand Rapids, MI. They experienced strong demand for their products and output at the Grand Rapids plant reached approximately 1000 sweepers per day.
Bissell continues it tradition today of providing quality cleaning products. But over the years they have had to go along with the swinging trends across not only America but internationally as well. Stiff competition from other companies like Hoover and Eureka, along with technological changes in house cleaning and office cleaning products have only forced Bissell to diversity and stay strong. They remain a strong business both here in Grand Rapids and internationally as well.
Cleaning services would not be the same without the small and innovative invention of the carpet sweeper. Paving the way for the modern day vacuum along with a larger industry. At Less Mess With Jess cleaning services we do not use a carpet sweeper! We have moved along with industry trends and have opted for a vacuum.
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