Alan Hecht – Founder, President
As well as starting and building a variety of businesses, Alan has held senior management and marketing positions for diverse companies. Over the last 9 years, his practice and passion have focused on developing websites, ecommerce business, web-based lead generation programs, and internet/search engine marketing programs.
Alan spent 10 years at Saks Fifth Avenue, where (as head of the catalog division), he grew sales four-fold and increased profits from $600,000 to $5,600,000. As Saks VP Marketing & Consumer Research, he initiated database marketing and customer development programs that generated over $50,000,000 annually in measurable sales.
Alan led the start-up and growth of a market share leading company in the adult education industry. Much of this company’s success was due to his creation of a highly profitable online business in the early stages of internet commerce.
He also worked as an Account Executive for Grey Advertising, Director of Advertising Services for Bloomingdales, and President of the Sporting Edge Companies (a catalog and multi-unit retail specialty business).
As an active member of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, Alan serves as a Chamber Ambassador and is a member of the Marketing and Communications Committee. He offers seminars on how local businesses can use the internet to boost their business.
A native New Yorker, Alan has a BA in History from Queens College, an MBA in Marketing from New York University, and is a former Peace Corps Volunteer.
He now resides in Chapel Hill with his wife Evelyn (an artist), whose business Top Dog Art he helped start and continues to manage.