CLEVELAND — In England, the brand is so well-known that people refer to cleaning floors as "hoovering."

Closer to home, vacuum repairmen say it's not uncommon for customers to pay for Hoovers to be fixed instead of replacing them.

The new company that will sell Hoover machines has good news for those loyalists: Executives promise that the Hoover name not only will coexist with the company's Dirt Devil and Royal brands, but will grow.

"The Hoover name is synonymous with floor care and is one of the most recognized brands in the world," said Joseph Galli Jr., chief executive of Techtronic Appliances Holdings Co., a division of Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries Co., which paid Whirlpool Corp. $107 million for the Hoover Co.

TTI owns Royal Appliance, maker of Dirt Devil, Royal and Regina vacuums. The company plans to move the newly created TTI Floor Care's headquarters to Glenwillow, near Cleveland, and build a global research and development operation.

The R&D center, which promises 110 new jobs, will create new products to be sold under the Hoover and Dirt Devil brands to compete with popular vacuums being sold by competitors Dyson and Bissell, said Chris Gurreri, president of TTI Floor Care.

Gurreri said Dyson has done well marketing its higher-end vacuums while Bissell has had success with carpet shampooers at a time when Hoover, founded in 1908, and the industry overall have been struggling.

The competition's success "has put a big noose around Hoover's neck," Gurreri said.

Gurreri said the troubles are obvious.

"If you look at the purchase price, it's easy to see this was a distressed business," he said.

The industry has been in similar straits. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the value of shipments for household vacuum cleaners was $1.2 billion in 2005, down from $1.7 billion in 2004 and $1.9 billion in 2002.

Gurreri said combining Dirt Devil and Hoover will create the largest floor-care business in North America and a chance to revive the industry with new products. "Between TTI, Dirt Devil and Hoover, we now have under one roof a passion for floor care as well as financial and intellectual resources, design and marketing skills, a commitment to product innovation, highly recognized brands, and established retail distribution and supply chain expertise," Gurreri said.