Incipio Group is changing its skin.
The Irvine-based mobile device accessories maker recently signed a deal to move its headquarters across town to the Park Place mixed-use use campus a few blocks from John Wayne Airport.
The privately held firm will lease nearly 70,000 square feet of offices at LBA Realty’s 3347 Michelson Drive, one of several midrise buildings the Irvine-based landlord operates at the campus.
More than 300 employees will move from Incipio’s current location in the Spectrum area, according to founder and Chief Executive Andy Fathollahi. The move should take place around the end of the year.
The Park Place lease is among the largest new office deals signed in Orange County over the past few months.
Incipio, whose product lineup includes cellphone and laptop cases, audio equipment, bags, luggage and related items, is working with architecture firm gkkworks of Irvine on design of the new offices.
The architecture firm “reimagined” the layout of the space to include a variety of employee-friendly amenities and upscale design features, Fathollahi said. “It’s really something phenomenal.”
The space was previously occupied by Caltrans, which moved to Santa Ana about a year ago. Another new tenant taking over part of Caltrans’ old space is telecom giant Qualcomm, which inked a deal this year to move local operations there.
The remainder of Park Place’s midrise office space is largely leased up, large tenants including Western Digital Corp., Alteryx Inc. and Ingram Micro Inc.
Incipio had been based in a largely industrial, 160,000-square-foot building next to Oak Creek Golf Club.
The Park Place property roughly doubles its area office space and allows for growth, Fathollahi said. The company’s website had listings for more than 40 positions in Irvine last week.
Incipio will remain in the Spectrum site through the end of next year but is starting to look for a new West Coast distribution center, Fathollahi said.
“It may not be in Irvine,” as North Orange County sites are options, as is the Inland Empire.
Retail Flagship
Incipio, which the Business Journal estimates has about $500 million in annual sales, also has designs on retail locations.
By year-end, it will open a downtown Los Angeles location that’s part retail store, part creative-office.
In addition to a showroom that will allow shoppers to have personalized messenger bags “sewn right in front of you,” the site will offer free classes, including photography, graphic design, and social media, to smartphone and laptop users who buy the company’s accessories, Fathollahi said.
The 910 S. Broadway location near the city’s Fashion District will be run under Incipio’s InCase product line, which it acquired in 2015, and is the company’s flagship store. Gkkworks also designed the space, Fathollahi said.
A few more U.S. locations are planned, and international locations are also a possibility.
iPhone X
The real estate moves come during a busy period for Incipio; Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone X, has a Nov. 3 release date.
Incipio, best known for Apple accessories, has been “super-busy’ with its own product development leading up to this week’s release, making sure the nearly 60,000 retail stores its products are sold in will be well-stocked to meet demand, Fathollahi said.
Retailers that carry its products include Best Buy and Walmart. E-commerce represents about 10% of sales, company officials said this year.
The iPhone release “has been a major focus for us,” Fathollahi said.
Changes could be in store for the closely held company, which was formed in 1999.
Incipio got $55 million in financing from Chicago-based Monroe Capital LLC in 2015. Last year it sold a minority stake to investor Goode Partners LLC of New York on undisclosed terms.
The current ownership structure has been a positive one for the company, which has made a number of acquisitions in the past few years to beef up its product line, Fathollahi said.
That said, “I’d like to do something significant for my employees in terms of letting them participate financially in the company’s success,” he said. “I think they deserve a transaction.”
