What would YOU do if you were ORECK?

[paulg]

This is a slightly different thread than the Chapter 11 bankruptcy announcement thread.
... I got to thinking... What would I do if I were ORECK ?
Yeah I know, Chapter 11 is a reorganization and Oreck will survive ending up a leaner, meaner and probably smaller Oreck.
However, you all are full of information, new and old. You have seen many vacuum manufacturers come and go and probably know the reasons why. Surely you would have an opinion as to what Oreck should do now.
Here's my two cents:
It really does surprise me that Oreck is having trouble. I don't know of a hotel I've visited where I haven't seen an Oreck. I'm sure they still have the hotel industry "in the bag". (Sorry...)
My Orecks are durable and leave me satisfied with my investment. Other vacs may do a better job perhaps but (in my opinion) Orecks pick up dirt reliably and are of good quality. Oreck has never given me much to complain about. Service and parts are super-duper easy to buy. It is a USA-based company.

Some things did mystify me somewhat.
SMALL APPLIANCES? An Oreck iron? Why? A Oreck clothing shaver? Why?
Didn't Oreck buy Regina? Didn't Regina itself go bankrupt because of the belt issues with the Housekeeper series? Hmm. Did Oreck overextend themselves?

Solutions?
Should they reduce their range of upright selections? I was at the Oreck store recently and there was a sea of uprights. Do they offer too many?
Bagged vs bagless: I get the benefit of bagged. The bagless has caught on with many people now. VHS vs BETA. BETA was better but the world wanted VHS. Is a "bagged" vac obsolete?

Air cleaners: I have two electronic air cleaners very similar to the Oreck. I love them. Maybe they should sell them in China. Not joking. AIr cleaners are popular there due to the bad air quality.

Should General Electric buy them? I don't know why I am suggesting this. I know GE is reinvesting in appliance manufacturing in the USA. They (and others) probably ran screaming from the vacuum-cleaner manufacturing market years ago. History repeats itself in strange ways....

Comments welcome.

One last thing. TRIVIA. Wasn't it ORECK that put a radio in the vacuum handle?

 

[super-sweeper]

Yep,

General-Electric went out of vacuum production in 1972, or 1973. etiher one.


And yes, they put a radio transmitter in the Magnessium's handle, that way it be powered on from the handle, without an un-sightly cord.


 


If I was Oreck, I'd do what  I could to stay alive, put out more TV commercials (IF there's even a budget for that sort of thing), and maybe radio ads? Idk.


 


I see what you Beta-max and VHS.


(For those whom do not know, He's referring to the rivalry between home video cassettes in the 80's. Beta max was better quality, but had less space and was mroe expensive. VHS was cheaper, and lasted about 2 hours, allowing movies to be recorded, which is the main selling point of how VHS won over


 


-Alex.


 

 

[vacman117]

To answer one question, yes, Oreck was the one to put an actual AM/FM radio in the handle. It was a yellow 2800 model. The only problem was, from what I've heard, you could only use the headphones that came with the vacuum.

 

[filterboy244]

Radio in a vacuum cleaner??LOL . wow thats the wierdest gimmick ever

 

[bagintheback]

Oreck desperately needs to advertise. I think a good majority of their sales comes from return costumers.   Most people I hear from that own Orecks are extremely loyal and have bought numerous products at full retail. They need to get more people hooked. Their Orbiter floor machine is amazing, and the best cleaning investment I've ever made. They need to get the word out about this product. The sales people at my Oreck Store seem to direct people only to their uprights. Is David Oreck is good health? He needs to be the spokesman for the company once again! Even his son, I think Tom, would be an improvement. 


 


I too would slim down the upright product line. Just one of each style is necessary. Bring back the Dutchtech canister if possible. I've heard some great stuff about that model. All their current canisters are outsourced, cheap, and extremely overpriced. The Ironman may be an exception, but I don't know much about that model. 


 


Oreck used to be pretty big on their air pruifers; not so much recently. We have one their huge floor models from the early 2000s and it does a fantastic job. The water is always black when we wash the cell. Their desk models were very unreliable but the scent tablets smelt amazing and the current Truman cell offerings seem to do better.  Go back to in house air purifiers and advertise. 


 


I do like the Oreck cleaning chemicals. As mentioned in the other thread, they hardly smell and do a great job. Since Oreck is already selling uprights at Target, why not sell the chemicals there? I'd rather pick up some quality products there than go to the Home Depot. 


 


Here is the radio Oreck you asked about. I would love to own one of these. Has anyone seen one in person? I never saw any for sale at the Oreck store back when they were available. Maybe they were catalog only? 


 

[this post was last edited: 5/9/2013-23:24]

 

[tylerawells]

 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;">1. Exit the small home appliance business right away. No one goes into an Oreck store to buy an iron or things like that.</span>


 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;">2. This may cause flack, and come as a surprise, but I think Oreck needs to exit the retail establishments like Walmart & Target, etc... I think that their products are sold best in the Oreck store, where you get a demonstration of the product from a knowledgeable sales professional. I visited my Oreck dealer the other day, and he said that they weren't going to be hit hard because they were franchised, but the company owned stores were going to get it hard. </span>


 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;">3. Advertising - If I hadn't known that my grandmother had an Oreck and its lasted her as long as it has, 20 plus years, only bag and belt changes and does a good job, I wouldn't know about Oreck. I think they need to go back to advertising, and I don't mean 30 minute infomercials at three AM. Simple 15 second spots like the one below, that just show the name and the product and get it out there. Hit the fact that the majority of the Oreck products are made in the USA. That's a strong selling point. </span>


 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;">4. The company must trim back the upright line. My dealer told me that the Magenesium has been very problematic, with 9 returned in the last six months, which is a very high number. He also said the VersaVac was not good at all. They should keep the Classic model (or whatever they are currently calling the entry 199.99 upright), and then the Graphite for the mid tier model, and then the Gold model & Pilot 360 for your top tier choices. Keep the Lightweight Handy Vac, and the two DutchTech canister lines, the Quest compact and the Quest Pro full sized with the power head canister. They should also trim down the steam-vac type offerings as well.</span>


 


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;">That's my two cents</span>


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;"> </span>


<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: book antiqua,palatino; color: #000080;"></span>

 

[bagintheback]

David Oreck Comments

Here's an interview with David Oreck that was just published today:


 


 


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<div class="timestamp" style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">May 9, 2013, 4:35pm CDT</div>
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<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">If he had to do it over again, David Oreckwouldn’t have sold his vacuum company to a private equity group 10 years ago.</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">“It was a successful company doing well, manufacturing in America,” said Oreck, who founded the company in 1963 then sold it to American Securities Capital Partners in 2003 for an undisclosed sum. “We were creating jobs in retail stores owned by individuals making a good living and educating their kids. What the hell is wrong with that. I can't for the life of me<span style="background-color: transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span>understand why people would buy something very successful and decide everything it was doing was wrong.”</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">Oreck, who continued as spokesman for the company in TV spots, said mismanagement by American Securities Capital Partners and Black Diamond Commercial Finance, which bought the company in 2010, led to its struggles and recent filing for bankruptcy.</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">Now Oreck, at age 89, and his family seek to buy the company back. He vows to keep its manufacturing in the Unite States and says he will focus the company back on its direct sales roots. He has no doubt other potential buyers would shift production overseas, where most major vacuum brands are made.</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">“Where it’s made will depend on who takes it over,” Oreck said. “If Oreck Group prevails our products are going to be made in the U.S.”</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">In recent years the Nashville-based company made a push into big-box stores, as vacuum shoppers shifted to major retailers. Oreck would like to return the company to selling direct to consumers in specialty stores that provide a high-level of customer service.</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">“Oreck vacuums have a lot of features and benefits, but a salesman has to explain it to the customer,” Oreck said. “You don’t get any personal attention at a big-box store.”</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">Oreck still wouldn’t trust a bagless vacuum in his home— even the new Oreck model that bears his name.</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">“They spew dirt into the air,” he said. “In my opinion that’s a very bad thing.”</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">Oreck would love to see the company he started become successful again.</p>
<p style="background-color: transparent; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 20px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #444444;">“The product is still excellent and in some respects better,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with the product. There’s something wrong with management, that’s all.”</p>
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http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2013/05/david-oreck-wants-to-finish-what-he.html?page=all

 

[mr_mom]

i had a neighbor who had it and only problem was the radio would work sometimes and when it did work you couldn't hear it volume wasn't that good

 

[tolivac]

Drop that new bagless upright--they just don't "fit" into the original Oreck bagged vacuum cleaner agenda they promote.Bring back the Oreck commercial "big Foot" and "Twin Stack" uprights.The Dutchtechs spend a lot of time in vac repair places-cure the problems at their factory and reintroduce them.
I can agree-Oreck products should be sold from Oreck dealers or authorized independent dealers only--No "Big Box" stores.The Oreck machines need to be properly demoed to a customer-big box places cannot do that.Static displays do not sell vacuums very well.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Not bashing, but, WHY then did Dave sell the company?

And, wouldn't you love to know that undisclosed amount?
It IS true: WHY would people buy any company (based on its reputation, etc) then change it all?
HOOVER had 3000 employees. 2000 were let go. I heard them tell stories of how they'd see H.R. come....they KNEW someone was getting the axe.THey did keep the patents, etc and Windtunnel. It is what is saving them.
Who knows what 'll happen.
My next trip to Ohio, I'll meet w/ the man who worked in the "vault". He also was the man who restored the Model O(s)> I can't wait to get him talking.

But, I hope Dave Oreck can save the company he started. I hope the American jobs are kept. I hope they all survive.
I also hope someone will want the 2 Orecks from my basement. Idon't need/want them. I'll gladly sell them to those who do.

It seems that all those companies wanted to make irons, etc..HOOVER later stopped all of that, too, to reinforce the "floor care line". Some of those appliances were great. some.............. I never used an Oreck iron, so, I cannot give an opinion. I "personally" never like the vacuums (ran 3 different models) But, that's just me.

 

[rugsucker]

-Oreck-

I have seen 1 of the above yellow radio vacs at the Oreck store.(Frigidaire,I think,put a tape recorder on a side by side fridge door to be a family message center.)
Along with Regina,that had been with Elux who put their name on a broom & hand vac,Oreck got what I understood to be a modern factory.
Oreck would probably have been better off to stay with what had become a good small bagged upright and then offer various canisters for other jobs.As noted these can best be demoed at Oreck stores or with an infomercial with a known spokesman.
Hoover got into many small appliances,Elux sold water and then air filters and even Eureka had a cordless iron.Looking back what did this have to do with removing dust and dirt from a home??
Mr Orecks comments are very interesting as to bagless and more.It would be logical to think that an older person could sell a company and hope or expect it to carry on as they enjoy semi-retirement years no matter at what $$ level.But as with many companies happily ever after may only be a fairy tale.

 

[kirbyloverdan]

The cure will

be the Oreck family buying it back that will fix everything .

The appliances they offered were mostly "free" gifts with purchase but could be purchased .

When I managed our local Oreck store customers loved getting a "free" cord free iron which the last one they made was a very good iron very comparable to my favorite iron Rowenta .

I know the Oreck family will buy it back and keep all the American jobs and weed out the junk . The Oreck stores are the best way to sell an Oreck I converted many doubters into Oreck owners who just stopped in out of curiosity.

I love Oreck and the US made Orecks are very good well built long lasting vacuums made like they used to make vacuums .

Dan

 

[ralph123]

Oreck has lost it's identity

Sadly, Oreck may be hopeless. Nowadays everyone has a lightweight vacuum (e.g. Hoover, Riccar/Simplicity, Shark, Dyson, ...). Will be interesting to see if there are any merger opportunities. For example, would it make sense for Dyson to buy out Oreck to gain access to the Oreck retail stores and commercial products? Or perhaps Lux/Aerus would benefit by a merger. It would give them some lower price point options and additional store fronts.

 

[dysonman1]

I'm fairly sure David Oreck sold the company all those years ago, because he was getting up in age and didn't want the stress of the day to day operations of a large company. I personally don't want to work past the age of 60, so I can understand.

The way I see it (from inside the vacuum manufacturing world), Oreck's problems were many - but they were easy to solve. It's just that no one did.

80% of all new vacuums sold are bagless. It's a fact that most people want a bagless. Whether we as collectors like them or not is immaterial. It's the opinion of the public that matters to a manufacturer. Interestingly, Oreck's new bagless (the Touch - made in China) is actually a good bagless with really good suction and a good multi-cyclonic separation system. They needed it ten years ago. But should have made it in America.

Another problem is all the returns Oreck gets. They advertise a 30 day trial period and free return shipping if you don't keep it. Lots of people are drawn to that offer, and many people DO return them. After all, having two vacuums (upright and hand held canister) isn't very convenient for the general public. Older people will find that different - but a younger person would not like having to drag out two vacuums. Many people are surprised when using an Oreck by the lack of the feeling that it's cleaning DEEPLY. For a vacuum that isn't carried by retailers like Wal-Mart and Target (until very recently) they sure did have enough returns to outfit every Big Lots in this country.

Another problem is the Franchise store and Company owned store principal. IF you sell your vacuums through specialty stores, you can't cut their throats on price. Sadly, many Oreck stores lose sales directly to Oreck Corporation because the web site price is less than the Oreck Franchise Store's cost at wholesale. The Company-owned stores are a real drain on the company's bottom line.

Another problem is they do not update their core products. Yes, the 8 pound vacuum must remain 8 pounds in order to capture the 'older folks' market - but there are many changes that could have been made along the way in order to create a better cleaning machine. There's no comparison in cleaning ability between a Riccar Supralite and an Oreck. Riccar can clean rings around the Oreck. While both use the same type of design and engineering - the brush roller is many times superior in the Riccar. The Riccar creates the feeling of actually cleaning, where the Oreck creates only the feel of gliding over the rug. This 'feeling' to the customer is crucial in their ultimate happiness with the product.

The entire Halo debacle also hurt Oreck tremendously. The cost of the lawsuit by owners as well as the headaches to the company brought about by the government over the advertising for that machine - have been tremendously draining on the company's profits. They lost many, many millions of dollars on that one.

The Franchise store owners are now also selling Miele. To have two competing products in the same store, with one being much better than the other, has also cost Oreck sales. Yes, the Miele upright is heavy, but the Miele canisters are light years ahead of Oreck's canisters. The profits on Miele are much better as well.

All in all, whomever buys Oreck needs to also hire some really good engineers, who will design brand new products. The tremendous cost of the tooling to make even one new model is overwhelming. I actually foresee (and I may be wrong - so don't quote me) another vacuum manufacturer (like TTI) buying Oreck. What ever happens, I believe the name "Oreck" will continue in some form or another. Euro-Pro is actually in a position that they could buy Oreck and continue to sell them - but they most surely will be completely built in China if that happens.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

We might see an Oreck with a HOOVER badge,

like some of the Royals and Dirt Devils...even with "Windtunnel". Say it isn't so.
Good designers are needed, surely.

 

[tylerawells]

The last  thing I want is for TTI or any other China-junk company to buy Oreck.

 

[sebo_fan]

If Oreck are to survive they won't do it by going out of the Big store franchises for global profits and going into a store of their own. It might work in the U.S but it won't work in the U.K unless Oreck consider other products that will give them a bigger profit. The only store in the UK who sell Oreck on the high street are John Lewis who have been for many years the sole high street provider for SEBO as well.

The only brand that have been "successful" with going entirely independent with a store are Miele but they have larger appliances as well and for the fact that Miele also sell online, offline, at high street franchises as well as having their "sole boutiques" in London. Thus, that "shop" is more of a sideline marketing show room rather than a place to buy the products. Miele can do it as they have a big market share.

Oreck on the other hand don't have anything in the UK other than their uprights and none of them have hoses or tools on board. Whilst there are a handful of canister vacs and a trickle of their air purifiers, it is a pity that the company don't have other appliances that would attract buyers to the brand- it isn't enough to offer just one or two models that have a similar spec and try and snatch sales globally. Either Oreck pull out of Europe altogether and just concentrate on the home market, or sell up or go with another company.

 

[vintagerepairer]

dysonman1

I like you message, sir. In the UK there are no franchises selling electrical goods in stores, what we have are chains of supermarkets and DIY stores, plus a huge chain store known as Argos who sell just about everything for the home. In addition to these, we have chain and independent department stores, though the latter is a rarity at as the chains such as House of Fraser have bought most of them up. We did of course have for many years a good deal of chain electrical stores, but in the last twenty years they have one by one gone out of business, leaving only Currys chain stores and whatever independent electrical stores are left.

However, in the UK, the problem for Oreck has been that their product has a niche market. Sold only through TV shopping channels and mail order via advertisements in magazines, their lightweight cleaning ensemble was targeted really at an aging consumer. That same aging consumer like myself is unlikely wax lyrical about appliances of yore and lust after a soft-bag upright in the same way my mother may have, and then again I know my mother was so happy to dispense with her large soft-bag Hoover cleaner, having aspired to a (then) modern streamlined hard-bag Electrolux; to revert to a soft-bag could well have seen like a step-down of epic dimensions.

No matter what changes Oreck has made to the cleaner over the years, for as long as I can recall it has been as basic as basic could be, and looked incredibly dated. The style was old-fashioned and unappealing, long before the futuristic looking bagless cleaners were ever on sale. I note with interest the comments that Oreck is widely used in hotels in the US; this is very much not the case in the UK. Like I say, they their market was the elderly and the home-shoppers.

I think Oreck got lazy and failed to realise they were supplying a finite market. This is where Vax were very business-savvy; we can say what we like about the appalling quality of the cheap and not-so-cheap-at-all cleaners they make, the fact remains that Vax started out as a company making above-average quality 3-in-1 canister vacuum cleaners who's selling point was the fact it could be used to wash carpets. Until the early 1990's, Vax only sold one model at a time, extending to two canister models around 1990, two uprights from 1993, and two more canisters (total of four) from 1994. Of course Dyson went on sale from 1992 and orders for these cleaners were fulfilled from 1993. Vax sales were declining anyway, and Dyson didn't help matters. Vax as we knew it in the UK has of course been taken over by TTI but whoever is in charge has clearly seen the need to diversify to meet the needs of the consumer. Had they continued to make 3-in-1 canister cleaners and nothing else, the name Vax wouldn't have made it into the 21st century.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

David Oreck seems to have the right philosophy and I think him buying the company back would be enough to turn things around.

I've never seen an Oreck in a hotel... Every hotel I've ever seen has had a Sanitaire with a shake out bag, a Windsor Sensor S12, or an orange plastic hard case Royal. The Windsors seem to hold up the best.

The classic Oreck is too loud and under powered in my opinion... plus it leaks dust at the pipe that goes from the floor head to the bag, it has a flat belt that stretches, and the brushroll can't be turned off for bare floors. They need to fix those things to be taken seriously... and stop condemning and then copying the competition. Now they have machines with on board tools, machines that have swivel steering, and bagless machines... I'm not saying those are all bad things, but they spent so much time condemning the competition and now they are copying them. It makes them seem flaky...