Clothing maker La Jolla Group Inc. has made a big investment in a new Irvine headquarters.
The company, which makes clothes under the O’Neill, Lost, Rusty and Metal Mulisha brands, recently consolidated operations in Irvine, where it used to be spread among five buildings.
La Jolla now operates from 200,000 square feet of space at 14350 Myford Road near Tustin, where it has 150,000 square feet in one building and 50,000 in an adjoining one.
About 140,000 square feet of warehouse space makes up the bulk of the operation.
La Jolla employs about 350 people in Irvine.
The new space is double La Jolla’s old headquarters in the Irvine Spectrum.
The company sells clothes inspired by surfing, skateboarding and motocross through J. C. Penney Corp., Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Macy’s Inc. and other retailers.
La Jolla has revamped its Irvine building to include skateboard ramps, a gym, an indoor basketball court, a 2,000-square-foot store as well as 6,000 square feet of conference and showroom space.
Chief Executive Toby Bost, clad in jeans and a T-shirt, declined to say what the company spent on the improvements.
“We built the building around action sports,” he said.
La Jolla Group has yearly sales of more than $200 million. Last year, sales grew 15% in a tough economy, Bost said. In 2007, they were up 30%.
Sales last year were helped by La Jolla’s opening of six of its own stores in California and Las Vegas, as well as a flagship O’Neill store in Anaheim.
The stores employ about 100 people.
Half of La Jolla’s business comes from its O’Neill brand, which it licenses from brand owner O’Neill Trademark BV under a “long-term” contract, according to Bost.
The other half of La Jolla group’s revenue is split evenly among its three other brands.
The company is feeling the clothing industry’s challenges, as shoppers pull back on purchases and stores such as Wal-Mart and Kohl’s have come up with their own lines of surfwear, Bost said.
“There’s definitely a recession going on in surf,” he said. “Fall is usually the toughest time for the industry. This one should be the toughest.”
For more on this story, see the July 6 edition of the Business Journal.
