| − | His true passion was in sales and marketing and understood what captured the attention of customers. After the war, he moved to [[New York City]] and learned his industrial skills at Bruno, [[New York]], then the exclusive distributor for [[RCA]] [[television]] and Whirlpool appliances for New York, [[New Jersey]], and [[Connecticut]]. He subsequently was named the chief executive officer of the Louisiana and [[Mississippi]] RCA distributorship, in which position, he established several national marketing strategies for RCA. In 1963, he founded the Oreck Corporation, He was initially the exclusive national distributor for Whirlpool-branded vacuum cleaners. Prior to the rise of [[Mike Lindell]] of the MyPillow Company, another Minnesota-based firm, Oreck was the pioneer of direct mail and marketing for vacuum cleaners. The conventional thinking was that vacuums were a product that would only sell off the showroom floor. Yet a smart and compelling marketing story allowed Oreck's direct mail approach to flourish. Just as he defied convention with his direct marketing techniques, he also believed that he could sell a vacuum cleaner that was radically different. At that time consumers had been trained to believe that a good vacuum cleaner had to be heavy. But Oreck thought that a great vacuum could be powerful and durable yet also light-weight. He produced not just a revolutionary product but ground-breaking marketing and customer service programs. By the time the company was sold in 2003, the 8-pound Oreck vacuum had become the premier high performance floor care product. <ref name=obit/>
| + | Oreck's passion was in sales and marketing and understood what captured the attention of customers. After the war, he moved to [[New York City]] and learned his industrial skills at Bruno, [[New York]], then the exclusive distributor for [[RCA]] [[television]] and Whirlpool appliances for New York, [[New Jersey]], and [[Connecticut]]. He subsequently was named the chief executive officer of the Louisiana and [[Mississippi]] RCA distributorship, in which position, he established several national marketing strategies for RCA.<ref name=obit/> |
| − | In his later years, he was a lecturer at many leading universities espousing the importance of entrepreneurship and premium branding. He was also dedicated to the educaation of the younger generation about the U.S. role in [[World War II]] and was a benefactor of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.<ref name=obit/> | + | In 1963, he founded the Oreck Corporation, He was initially the exclusive national distributor for Whirlpool-branded vacuum cleaners. Prior to the rise of [[Mike Lindell]] of the MyPillow Company, another Minnesota-based firm, Oreck was the pioneer of direct mail and marketing for vacuum cleaners. The conventional thinking was that vacuums were a product that would only sell off the showroom floor. Yet a smart and compelling marketing story allowed Oreck's direct mail approach to flourish. Just as he defied convention with his direct marketing techniques, he also believed that he could sell a vacuum cleaner that was radically different. At that time consumers had been trained to believe that a suitable vacuum cleaner had to be heavy. But Oreck thought that a great vacuum could be powerful and durable yet also light-weight. He produced not just a revolutionary product but ground-breaking marketing and customer service programs. By the time the company was sold in 2003, the 8-pound Oreck vacuum had become the premier high performance floor care product. <ref name=obit/> |