BERKELEY, CA (BRAIN)—GU Energy Labs, will move its corporate operations to a new facility on June 13, offering 50 percent greater square footage.
And while the new digs significantly expand the sports nutrition company’s capabilities, it doesn’t mean abandoning their Berkeley roots.
The new office, located on the busy 4th Street shopping area of Berkeley, California, is the former headquarters of Clif Bar, Inc., another sports nutrition company with Berkeley roots. Along with the increase in space, GU is expanding production capacity by 50 percent, with room to accommodate significant additional growth.
Architectural details and the site layout help to create an energetic, interesting and functional space. GU employees will not only enjoy a safer bike commute route, but will also benefit from a company gym, ping-pong tables and lounging/brainstorming spaces.
For the past several years, GU has run its operations, shipping and marketing from multiple buildings throughout Berkeley. Sustained growth and a downturn in the commercial real estate market led GU to pursue the goal of getting all employees and the manufacturing operation under one roof.
“This is the first time in five years that everyone will be in the same building; there will be are all kinds of benefits for morale. And the move will allow for the expansion in production and staffing to meet our medium and long-term growth objectives,” said Christian Johnson, GU’s vice president of sales and marketing.
“We’ve outsourced shipping to a third party logistics provider, which not only has improved service and response times, but has allowed us to focus on key sales, marketing and product development initiatives,” said vice president of operations Nell Gharibian. “The manufacturing expansion has allowed us to fine tune our production as well as transition our loyal and long-serving shipping staff to newly created manufacturing positions. It’s exciting to be a part of all of the positive company-wide change.”
The 4th Street location will also welcome Annie’s Homegrown, which is occupying a separate build-out in the adjacent space. Annie’s is currently headquartered in Napa, California, and is also significantly expanding their corporate footprint.
