Copyright Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Marmot is not only getting a new Sonoma County address but is also in the midst of a multiyear quest to reconquer its image built over five decades as an innovator in prestige outdoors apparel and gear. The nationally known company plans to relocate its headquarters in late February from Rohnert Park to a newly leased Petaluma office said to better fit its brand identity and future direction, according to a spokesperson for parent organization Newell Brands. The new base camp will be in 11,400 square feet at 2000 S. McDowell Blvd., Suite 100, the same space once occupied by longtime Sonoma County outdoors hydration products maker Camelbak before it left the area last year. It’s a smaller footprint than the current Rohnert Park office Marmot established more than a decade ago. Marmot moved to Rohnert Park from Santa Rosa in 2012 as part of an expansion that added space for new employees and infrastructure, including production facilities and a product photography studio, the Journal reported. At the time, Marmot had 124 local employees and signed a 10-year lease for 43,000 square feet in the former Next Level Communications headquarters at 5789 State Farm Drive, plus an additional 15,000 square feet in an adjacent warehouse. Now with about 40 employees and its lease expiring, Marmot looked for a location that better fit with how its teams operate today. “While the new space is smaller, it is much more functional, collaborative and better suited for our teams,” the spokesperson said, noting that the Petaluma location provides access to outdoor space at adjacent Shollenberger Park that fits Marmot’s heritage. The move follows the arrival of Jon Graden in November 2023 as vice president and general manager of technical brands for Newell’s Outdoor and Recreation business, which includes Marmot and ExOfficio. He came to Marmot after 14 years at Gap and Levi Straus in the Bay Area then more than a decade in senior merchandising roles for Perry Ellis, PVH and Tommy Bahama. Under Graden’s leadership at Marmot, Newell Brands said, the goal was to secure a workspace that better reflects the brand’s history and is closer to San Francisco, helping Marmot to attract the talent needed to fuel its next stage of growth. “The Petaluma location achieves that balance. It keeps us close to where our current employees live while opening up new recruitment opportunities in a bigger market,” the spokesperson said. As the company works to strengthen product development and reconnect with core outdoor customers, The Marmot office relocation is said to be unrelated to Newell’s broader cost-cutting efforts called Project Phoenix and One Newell, which have been trimming jobs and real estate and shifting centralizing back-office functions since 2023. “While Newell has been optimizing its real estate footprint, Marmot’s move was driven by brand and business needs,” the spokesperson said. “Under Jon’s leadership, we wanted a workspace that better represents Marmot’s identity and supports future growth.” Newell on Oct. 31 reported improving performance in its Outdoor & Recreation segment in the third quarter, with expectations for continued progress in 2026. Marmot’s spokesperson pointed to initiatives already underway to drive that turnaround: “Over the past couple of years, Marmot has refocused our efforts on getting back to innovation, redefining our target consumers and expanding our offering in both styles and colors to meet the needs of the new outdoor community, and we are seeing some green shoots.” Marmot is working to move beyond its “zombie brand” reputation with a rebuild focused on core outdoor consumers, renewed innovation and tighter execution at retail, Graden told industry news website GearJunkie in August. “We got off our innovation cadence,” he said. The past two years have focused on “returning to what made Marmot great: practical, high-performing, approachable gear.” Graden said the company remains the outdoor industry’s “fourth-most recognizable brand.” That’s an asset Marmot is now leveraging through design updates, clearer consumer focus and improved internal processes. “We tackled broken systems immediately — product, marketing, sales, planning,” he told the publication. Performance indicators show early progress. “The Rock Fight” podcast in early June first called Marmot a “zombie brand,” or a revived classic product. On that podcast Graden said simply “fixing color” — shifting away from shiny fabrics and broadening palette options — has been worth “a 25% increase in sales” online year over year. The company had pursued that to capture Gen Z buyers but ended up alienating the brand’s core consumers. Updated versions of the PreCip shell and Guides down jacket, along with expanded lightweight insulation for fall 2025, were expected to strengthen sell-through heading into the second half of this year. New product investment is also returning. For spring 2026, Marmot plans to jump back into innovation with the debut of the Wraptor sleeping bag. “We have something truly incremental to the market,” Graden said, describing its zipper-free, magnet-closure venting and roomier cut for side sleepers. The design aims to appeal to both “gearheads” and “the person who just steps into the outdoor industry occasionally.” Further ahead, 2027 priorities include more Gore-Tex and Pertex shells, a pinnacle-level ultralight tent, and value-driven sleeping bags to rebuild entry points. In June, one class-action lawsuit by a Vallejo man alleging harm from “forever chemicals” in Gore-Tex weatherproof fabric was dropped, but another one was filed that month in Maryland. The producer, W.L. Gore & Associates, has pledged to phase out the problematic compounds in the past few years. “How do we build new icons?” Graden asked on the podcast. “Innovation cycles are shorter now; consumers expect more frequent, noticeable newness.” Consistent execution — not one-season spikes — will define success. “Our job is to build favorites,” Graden said. And with retailer confidence returning, he said: “When Marmot is winning, the whole industry wins.” In the Petaluma lease deal, Joe Garvey and Trevor Buck of Cushman Wakefield represented Marmot, and Steve Leonard and Brian Foster of Cushman Wakefield represented property owner Basin Street Properties. Jeff Quackenbush joined North Bay Business Journal in May 1999. He covers primarily wine, construction and real estate. Reach him at jeff@nbbj.news or 707-521-4256.
