{"id":112512,"date":"2021-10-06T11:52:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T09:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/?p=112512"},"modified":"2024-02-08T15:23:38","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T14:23:38","slug":"40-years-of-orion-from-a-small-mail-order-business-to-a-global-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/40-years-of-orion-from-a-small-mail-order-business-to-a-global-player\/","title":{"rendered":"40\u00a0Years of\u00a0ORION \u2013\u00a0From a Small Mail Order Business to a Global Player\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row nav_skin=”light” consent_include=”include”][vc_column css_animation=””][vc_column_text]ORION\u00a0Versand\u00a0GmbH & Co. KG is celebrating its 40th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary \u2013 with special products, offers and a competition.<\/p>\n

40\u00a0years in the erotic business is a long time. The name ORION has been traditionally and competently associated with eroticism for 40 years. What began as a small mail order company in 1981, has grown into an innovative, independent and\u00a0globally active\u00a0group that is all about sexual wellness. Three strong sales channels are responsible for the growing success of the company: the B2C\u00a0E-commerce business, the stores and the wholesale business.<\/p>\n

Maike\u00a0Rotermund\u00a0is now the managing director of the family company and she\u00a0will\u00a0tell us about the\u00a0history\u00a0and values of the company:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An Unusual Start<\/u><\/p>\n

ORION has experienced a lot over the 40 years in one of the most interesting industries in the world. However, the\u00a0start was\u00a0not an easy one. In 1981,\u00a0Beate\u00a0Uhse\u00a0decided to divide her company between\u00a0the\u00a0stepbrothers.\u00a0Beate\u00a0kept the shops with her youngest son Ulrich while her\u00a0stepson\u00a0Dirk\u00a0Rotermund\u00a0and her eldest son Klaus\u00a0Uhse\u00a0took over the mail order business and the publishing company.\u00a0A few years later, Dirk Rotermund and Klaus Uhse decided to move out of the building they had previously shared and change their name to ORION.\u00a0However, something unexpected happened during the\u00a0separation and relocation process which shocked everybody: after a short, serious illness, Klaus\u00a0Uhse\u00a0died in his early 40\u2019s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Story Continues\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

It was precisely this\u00a0start\u00a0that shaped ORION and constantly forced us to find new ways, build networks and exchange knowledge. This is how a new department was created shortly after the move: the wholesale business. A small team took care of supplying ORION’s foreign branches in Austria and Switzerland \u2013 which were founded in the same year. At that time, nobody could have guessed that this small department would take on a market-leading role in Europe\u00a0one day\u00a0and have customers in over 50 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n

And sometimes timing is everything:\u00a0In 1986 Dirk\u00a0Rotermund\u00a0got in contact with Werner Susemichel\u00a0who was already running several erotic stores \u2013 the FCV-Erotik-Shops (FCV erotic shops).\u00a0They both\u00a0decided to combine their knowledge and know-how from the stores and\u00a0the\u00a0mail order\u00a0business\u00a0during Werner\u00a0Susemichel\u2019s\u00a0visit to Flensburg. They then changed\u00a0the\u00a0name\u00a0from\u00a0FCV-Erotik-Shops to\u00a0ORION. Today, the ORION stores are the market leader in Germany.\u00a0There are 145 stores in Germany and approx. 20 stores in Austria, Denmark and Norway.<\/p>\n

In the mid-1990s, the first very rudimentary ORION online shop was launched. It was supervised\u00a0by colleagues who still had to work out how to use the new technology themselves. However, we believed in this new distribution channel even though some people said that\u00a0only\u00a050% of the orders (at most) would ever come from the internet. Around the same time, the wholesale business invested in their own packaging, then in their own products and finally in\u00a0joint\u00a0product developments with inventors.<\/p>\n

The product range and the company\u00a0grew\u00a0steadily over the years and this meant that the headquarters in Flensburg had to be expanded. An office block and a high-rack warehouse were built. Today, over 15,000 different items are stored in high quantities in 85,000 carton storage spaces so that we can supply our\u00a0B2C E-commerce\u00a0and\u00a0ORION Wholesale customers,\u00a0and the 165 ORION stores even more reliably. Up to 80,000 items leave our warehouse in Flensburg daily.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What Drives Us Today\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n

Everything has\u00a0revolved\u00a0around love\u00a0for\u00a040 years\u00a0at ORION\u00a0\u2013 and love is colourful and diverse just like life.\u00a0Not only is this\u00a0reflected\u00a0in our\u00a0products, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0also\u00a0reflected\u00a0in our team spirit as well.\u00a0We have fun doing what we do because we get to devote ourselves daily to the most beautiful pastime in the world which is the main thing for us.<\/p>\n

ORION is always open to creative ideas. It\u2019s not unusual for great innovations to be thought of during a normal conversation over a\u00a0cup of\u00a0coffee or a flash of inspiration at a hotel bar on a business trip. We also use external ideas to become\u00a0even\u00a0more innovative. For example, we work together with\u00a0universities and inventors\u00a0and\u00a0we have already brought things onto the market with their help.<\/p>\n

At the end of the innovation process, it is important for the ORION team to always have a high-quality product that customers can enjoy.\u00a0We know that many of our products are used in the most intimate areas of the body. That’s why we adhere to the Children’s Toy Safety Directive and the strict German quality standards especially when it comes to the production of sex toys. We also give all the necessary information and certificates\u00a0for the sale of the products to the ORION Wholesale customers.<\/p>\n

The topic of responsibility and sustainability plays an increasingly important role for us as a regionally anchored family business. We have been supporting numerous social projects over the years. However, ORION is also working on the topic of ecological sustainability too. The idea of sustainability will continue to accompany us in the future\u00a0and we are striving for continual improvement in order to make the working stages, products and packaging even more environmentally-friendly.<\/p>\n

However, what makes ORION stand out the most,\u00a0in all the three sales channels,\u00a0is the closeness to our customers. Not only does a customer get innovative, quality-tested products at ORION, but also a colourful mixture of service and expertise.\u00a0Sexuality is an important part of every person’s life. In order for it to become what it is, it\u2019s important\u00a0for\u00a0people\u00a0to know themselves\u00a0and\u00a0their\u00a0body \u2013 that is why sex education is important to us.\u00a0The ORION team\u2019s mission is to be present\u00a0on various channels and pass on\u00a0its\u00a0knowledge. We work with doctors, scientists and sexologists so that we can keep improving as\u00a0sexperts. We learn from\u00a0the questions we are asked\u00a0so that we can constantly improve our products \u2013 for more satisfaction in sexuality and therefore a happier life!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can find more information about the ORION group here:\u00a0<\/em>www.orion.eu<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>
\n<\/em>Specialist\u00a0retailers\u00a0can find more information about the anniversary products, offers and the\u00a0competition\u00a0here:\u00a0<\/em>www.orion-wholesale.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row nav_skin=”light” consent_include=”include”][vc_column css_animation=””][vc_column_text]ORION\u00a0Versand\u00a0GmbH & Co. KG is celebrating its 40th\u00a0anniversary \u2013 with special products, offers and a competition. 40\u00a0years in the erotic business is a long time. The name ORION has been traditionally and competently associated with eroticism for 40 years. What began as a small mail order company in 1981, has grown into an innovative, independent and\u00a0globally active\u00a0group that is all about sexual wellness. Three strong sales channels are responsible for the growing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":112506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-external-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112512"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112517,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112512\/revisions\/112517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orion.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}