Madison Vacuum Brings Years of Experience to Main Street

Whether you’re shopping for a new upright, or just a belt for your steadfast Hoover, Ron Scoppettuolo and his cousin/partner, John Gambrino, of Madison Vacuum, have it all. 

The partners opened a new showroom at 81 Main Street four months ago with vacuums of all types and many brands, to belts, hoses and floor cleaners galore, but their success, says Scoppettuolo, rests on years of experience, reasonable prices, and personable customer service. 

“My cousin and I have been doing this for 33 years, so we’re very knowledgeable, fair and honest,” Scoppettuolo says. “We’re not here to oversell you.  We’ll repair before we sell you something.  That’s why our stores are successful.  We deal on personal relationships.” 

Scoppettuolo promptly wrests a pack of vacuum bags for shopper Barbara Rado.  “It’s wonderful to have vacuum store in the neighborhood,” says Rado. “We’re in Morristown, so we’re always in this area.  It’s convenient.”   

Scoppettuolo says he came to Madison because “it’s a great town” where everyone has been supportive.  His customers have come from Morristown, Chatham, and Berkeley Heights. “We knew people would need a repair shack for their machines, buying vacuums, or parts,” says Scoppettuolo. 

“Definitely a sense of humor is a big part of our success,” says Scoppettuolo.  “I really enjoy my work.  I enjoy dealing with people and repairing things.” 

Jerry Corsi of East Hanover buys a new belt and says “it seems like they have everything you need and they give you service with a smile.” 

Scoppettuolo says he and his staff can turn around repairs in just one day.

Madison Vacuum is the fourth store in the family business which began 58 years ago when Scoppettuolo’s father, Carmen, opened J&S vacuum in Orange. Livingston Vacuum on South Livingston Avenue started business 30 years ago, followed by Nutley Vacuum, the Madison store, and Montclair Vacuum in a couple of weeks. 

The business mainstay is sales of about 20 vacuum varieties, parts, accessories, and repair service.  The stores also offer upholstery and carpet steam cleaning service on commercial and residential accounts.  They sell uncommon parts, too, such as a 30-foot sock for a central vacuum hose.  

“Just cleaning a vacuum is like giving it a bath,” says Scoppettuolo.  “It maintains the vacuum and makes it last a long time.”  

Suction and filter system are the two most important factors in a vacuum, according to Scoppettuolo, followed by durability. The style, either upright or canister, depends on the type of type of flooring. 

“If you have a lot of carpeting, we’ll probably steer you to an upright vacuum with attachments.  It’s just easy to plug in and go.  For area rugs and hardwood floors we’ll bring you over to a canister with a power nozzle and revolving brush to do your carpets.  You switch that off to a floor brush to do your floors,” says Scoppettuolo.  

The hottest-selling uprights for the price are the Panasonics, says Scoppettuolo, who sells them for $250 to $400.  He also has Hoovers and Eurekas for $129. 

The bestselling canister vacuum is Miele. “This town seems like they trust us already.  They’re not afraid to purchase a $600 to $900 Miele.  They know we’re not new in the business.  We’re new here.  They know we own Livingston Vacuum.  This has been a family business forever.”