Inside Pearl Izumi’s headquarters
In its nearly 100,000 square feet, which includes a research and development center, warranty repair center, custom fitting area, product shot location, warehouse space and a pingpong table to work out the stresses of the day, the Pearl Izumi headquarters in Louisville, Colo. seems to have it all.
The running and biking gear manufacturer, which is owned by Shimano, is located just outside Boulder, Colo., and I recently got an inside look.
Like many outdoors companies, many of Pearl’s roughly 100 employees run or bike to work – exuding the company’s image, said Kody Riley, Pearl’s marketing coordinator.
- Pearl Izumi’s prototype and repair area
That’s understandable also considering there is a large bike storage area as well as locker rooms with showers just inside the back door.
While the building isn’t very glamorous – much of it is one large warehouse-looking space with departmental dividers – it’s a true headquarters.
If someone makes a warranty claim that needs to be fixed, it’s sent to the area where about a dozen sewing machines sit at the ready.
Those sewing machines are also used to make prototypes of new products that are designed 30 steps away in cubicleland.
The company also has a tent-like area set up to custom fit the Garmin-Slipstream professional cycling team. Of course the team’s gear is then created on site.
And a small fenced-in corner is where all the product shots are captured – lifestyle gear shots are typically shot in and around Boulder, Riley said.
- Pearl Izumi’s employee bike storage
As for warehouse space, the building houses nearly all of Pearl Izumi’s inventory – except for a fairly insignificant amount of gear stored in Germany.
And because the company was formerly owned by Nautilus Inc. (until being sold to Shimano in early 2009 for $69.5 million), the building has a wide range of exercise equipment set up for employees to use.
Plus there’s a pingpong table to foster some lunch-time competition.
As you could guess, Riley said it’s a pretty sweet place to work.
