There is increasing evidence that St. Joseph’s Sam Abdelnour has been an absolute game changer for both the appliance industry in general and his beloved Whirlpool Corporation in particular. In an absolutely unprecedented move, BrandSource — a major retail industry organization — chose its 2018 Convention earlier this month to name Abdelnour the first-ever recipient of a BrandSource Lifetime Achievement Award.
Even TWICE magazine writer Alan Wolf contends, “Perhaps no one is more synonymous with the appliance industry in general, and Whirlpool Corp. in particular, than Sam Abdelnour.” TWICE is the leading business-to-business publication for the technology and consumer electronics industries.
The Executive Team and Board of Directors at BrandSource introduced the first ever Lifetime Achievement Award at its recent convention saying it would be designated for someone who has “completed an outstanding lifetime of service to the retail industry,” and added, “Sam Abdelnour, Vice President of North American Sales, Whirlpool Corporation, was the clear choice as the first-annual award winner.”
Saying, “As one chapter ends, another begins,” Jim Ristow, Chief Executive Officer at BrandSource added, “Congratulations to our friend, Sam on his retirement! Sam has been serving the industry and the independent channel for 40 years and we are honored to present him with the first annual Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Abdelnour, as reported earlier here on Moody on the Market, is celebrating his retirement after 40 years of service to the Benton Harbor-based appliance giant. He joined Whirlpool at age twenty-three in the sales department as an account manager and grew with the company. As he told us then, “I’ve been blessed with an amazing 40-year career at the best company in the world. I’ve come full-circle, having had the privilege to lead the U.S. sales team for the past 14 years, and I can’t say enough about the people I’ve been surrounded by during this time. We have a sales force that’s second to none.”
BrandSource, which has more than 4,500 locally-owned appliance, electronics, bedding, home furnishings and floor covering stores nationwide in its organization stable went on to wish Sam and his family, “all the best as he begins his retirement.”
To read more about Sam and his career and retirement plans, click this link for the earlier story announcing his retirement decision:
https://www.moodyonthemarket.com/whirlpool-vp-abdelnour-to-retire-after-four-decades-of-service/
