I recently stopped by the Westlife Distribution headquarters in Los Angeles, which has a very cool aesthetic and building design that was created by Westlife founder Mike West.
Westlife owns the 686 outerwear and Matix apparel brands, plus partners with New Balance on snowboard boots and skate shoes.
In addition to being a notable creative entrepreneur, Mike is one of the nicest guys in the industry in my humble opinion.
We have photos of the new space above in our slide show, and I asked Mike some questions about the new headquarters as well.
When did you buy the building?
Mike West: We bought it in 2010 after we moved out of Orange County. It was previously a vintage truck tail-lifting manufacturer. I got it with the intention to repurpose some of the materials that were left over.
I call the style rustic modern. I’ve been a fan of modern design for all my life and with the mountain lifestyle and being located in the city, I wanted to combine my tastes into one medium.
Why move from the previous space in Orange County?
Mike: I started my business in November 1992 from a small apartment in South Central LA while going to school. LA has always been my home and I know I wanted to come back to our roots as soon as possible. We moved to Irvine in 2004 when I brought on a minority partner, the Rays Group. I repurchased the minority shares in 2008 and then moved back to LA.
We’re in the city of Gardena in Los Angeles. Gardena is 15 minutes from LAX, 15 minutes from downtown LA and 15 minutes from Long Beach. About 50% of our Westlife family members come from LA and the rest are from OC so I picked a place in the middle.
Did you design the building?
Mike: I would love to say that I brought on a name brand architect and contractor, but I actually designed it all myself and nearly acted as the general contractor. I’ve been a fan of midcentury modern design and designed our past offices. Plus, with my handyman skills building skate ramps back in the day, I like to get involved in the process.
What were you going for aesthetically?
Mike: I wanted to carry forward with repurposing some of the vintage truck company’s materials so I reused the shipping containers as floating offices for part of the design area.
I also wanted to bring a very warm feeling when you come inside the building so you can see a lot of weathered redwood slats placed horizontally throughout the building.
Other elements include a very large living camouflage green wall, big industrial fans, pivoting hidden doors, natural light, open format kitchen/breakroom that connects to the outside patio and skate bowl building, and private but open offices. It was a fun but grueling process to go through.
I call the overall design theme a “rustic modern playhouse” – there is warm ambiance, clean design and is fun for work and play.
In my experience, being in an environment that’s inspiring and building a company culture that cares about the details will make all the difference to the people on your team.
What has worked best about the new space? Do you have the room you need now for future growth?
Mike: The ability to communicate within each brand and department in a private yet collaborative manner has worked well.
Backend work like administration, operations and distribution are shared services but each department has its own space. Within that space, they have all the high tech gadgets to make sure everyone is on the same page.
I wanted everything to be visual and steam things down to a paperless environment. Clean and open space translates to clear and concise decision-making.
My favorite parts of the building are the grand foyer and open kitchen – Westlife family members have access to free snacks/drinks, bikes, skateboards for the ramp, surfboards for the ocean, etc.
We have a space in the back next to the NB# design offices that are open for additional growth.
I also own the land next door so I’m ready to expand if I need to!
