Baseball-style hat maker and distributor Flexfit LLC signed a new industrial lease for the entirety of a 124,678-square-foot building under construction at the Brea Logistics Center, at 285 N. Berry St.
The company is set to move into the new facility, developed by Colorado-based firm Transwestern, once construction is complete in March, according to brokerage data.
The move marks a sizeable boost in space for the company from the 54,000 square feet at its current location in Brea, on Columbia Street; records indicate it paid $7.1 million for that building in 2013.
The company’s current base, which has entitlements for additional development, is listed for sale at $24 million, records indicate; Voit Real Estate Services has the listing.
The new building, located at the intersection of Imperial Highway and Berry Street, includes 32-foot clear height, 17 docks and two drive-ins. The site is a total of 6.4 acres.
Flexfit is the U.S. distributor for South Korean-based Yupoong hats, which the company first released in 1994. It moved its West Coast operations from Fullerton to Brea in 2014.
Flexfit also manufactures private label headwear offering wholesale blank caps and custom pieces.
The retailer primarily wholesales baseball cap-style hats to 150 street wear and action-sports apparel brands, including Nike, Costa Mesa-based Hurley International LLC and Boardrider’s Quiksilver.
Yupoong is headquartered in Seoul and was established in 1974. The headwear maker exceeded $200 million worth of export in 2016 and currently counts seven factories located across Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Restructuring, Layoffs At Boardriders, Vans
Layoffs at Huntington Beach’s Boardriders are continuing, after a series of cuts across the retailer’s operations in recent months.
State employment records indicate that 128 positions will be eliminated at its Surf City headquarters, with a handful effective since January. The layoffs are permanent and will continue through April.
The company is also cutting positions at its distribution center in Mira Loma this month. A total of 89 roles were cut a week ago and 246 more will be let go in Mira Loma by April, totaling 335 layoffs, records indicate.
Boardriders, which was acquired by Authentic Brands Inc. last year for an undisclosed amount, was estimated to have around 8,500 companywide employees as of May 2023.
A prior round of layoffs started last fall, when the acquisition was finalized, at company operations located in Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Mira Loma.
By April, close to 700 employees will have been laid off from the company, according to state filings.
The Boardriders group is made up of eight different action sports and apparel companies such as RVCA, Roxy and Quiksilver. The portfolio generates retail sales of $2.9 billion through a global store count of over 500 locations with 7,000 wholesale accounts and an e-commerce network in 35 countries, according to company officials.
Vans Cuts
Another OC retailer shedding employees is Vans Inc. in Costa Mesa.
The local shoe and apparel manufacturer is in the midst of a restructuring plan stemming from its parent firm VF Corp. (NYSE: VFC), after a few years of decreasing sales.
Forty-two positions from the company’s prominent headquarters just off the San Diego (405) Freeway, which at it’s peak was estimated to house 800 total employees, were cut last month.
Turning Vans’ fortunes around is one of VF’s initial priorities listed in the operator’s improvement strategy dubbed Reinvent. The Denver-based parent company said it will begin reviewing the brands in its portfolio to evaluate which to keep.
VF revenue for the third quarter ended Dec. 30 was down 16% to $3 billion, with Vans falling 28% to $668 million.
