Rich,

It's one of my pet peeves. People spend good money for brooms use them
a few times like them and then store them in a way the ruins them and
they can't figure out why the broom doesn't work any more.

I splurged on some fairly decent brooms about 5 years ago. They've just
been leaning against a wall when not in use, and they still look and
function the same today as they did 5 years ago.

The bristles on my small broom were curved when I bought it, but I liked
the broom and it was the only one they had in stock. The curve never went
away, but it hasn't gotten any worse either.

Anthony