Today, employees at DC Shoes are packing up to move from their Vista, Calif. office, about 70 miles north to the Quiksilver headquarters in Huntington Beach.
Quiksilver gave all DC employees the choice to move to Huntington Beach about six months ago.
Quiksilver has worked to reduce costs throughout its businesses as it adjusts to lower sales and a high debt load.
Rob Colby, Quiksilver Chief Operating Officer of the Americas said the move is definitely going to re-energize the Quiksilver office.
“It’s a shame when you have a brand as great as DC that is 70 miles away. We had an event last night where all three brands (Roxy, Quiksilver, and DC) presented, and the energy becomes really evident when you put all of them together.”
(Right: Quiksilver Americas COO Rob Colby.)
There will be about 200 new positions moving to the Quiksilver office in Huntington Beach. That includes 150 from DC and 50 others replacing the jobs from people who chose not to move from DC’s office in San Diego to the Orange County headquarters.
Rob said of the 25% of DC’s staff that chose not to relocate, there was an even mix of people from the top and bottom of the organization chart. Many were San Diego natives, just bought a house, or had spouses who worked in San Diego and could not leave, especially in this economy. Rob said there was a large mix of people working at DC that already lived in Orange County.
At Quiksilver, 250 employees changed areas and desks to make room for the new staff.
“It’s going back to the olden days,” said Rob. “The place is going to be pretty full.”
DC, Quiksilver and Roxy will each have their own wings for marketing, design and sales. Sourcing, production, IT, and parts of customer service will now be shared.
Each brand’s design team already gutted their areas, applied fresh paint and curated their space so it is special to each brand. There will be a few shared spaces for design reviews, meetings and events.
On Tuesday, everyone moves in. On Friday, July 9, there will be a giant welcoming party.
With the holiday, school getting out, and sales cycles, Rob said this all took a lot of planning.
“We’re just stoked so many people are making the move and that the headcount is going to be high again.”
