Burton Moving The Program To Burlington
mike lewis
- December 05 2008
- 1,572 views
- 9 comments
Burton announced today it had begun transitioning The Program from its Irvine, CA offices to Burton’s Vermont headquarters. The move is being touted as an opportunity for The Program’s brands, Forum, Special Blend, and Foursquare, to capitalize on their parent company’s resources, reduce overhead, and focus on core competencies during the current recession.
In the press release, Burton states that the brands’ athlete teams will remain intact and that retailers will benefit from the move through efficiency based price reductions and shortened delivery times.
Stay tuned to Transworld Business for further details.
Here’s the press release:
Irvine, Calif. (December 5, 2008)—The Program, which includes snowboard brands Forum, Special Blend and Foursquare, today announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters to Burlington, Vermont where parent company Burton Snowboards is based. The transition will be complete by early February and will allow The Program to invest more in developing great products and marketing while reducing overhead costs, which is critical during challenging economic periods.
“In tough times like these, we need to be very strategic and efficient so we can continue to invest in our core strengths like product development and marketing, and this move allows us to do just that,” says The Program General Manager Sam Paschel. “In Burlington, The Program will benefit from over 30 years of Burton’s product development, sales and operations expertise while enjoying easy access to Burton’s shared services. And it will be great to have the company close to the mountains where we can easily test product on snow.”
Retailers and riders will also benefit from the move as The Program will operate more efficiently when it is next door to Burton Headquarters. Ultimately, the move will result in better product at a better price and improved product delivery times.
There are no plans to change the distinct personality of the Program brands, and marketing functions will remain separate from Burton. The current Forum, Special Blend and Foursquare pro snowboarders will stay the same, and Program Team Management staff will remain in Southern California.
For more information about The Program, head to www.theprogram.com <http://www.theprogram.com/> .
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December 5th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Is Rose headed back to his original stomping grounds?
December 5th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Well if you need to get rid of any cubicles, don’t forget to run down to Cube King …the finest in used office furniture since Sept 08!
http://www.cubeking.com/
Over 500,000 pieces of new inventory from the US 0f A alone in the past.
No jobs = more cubes!
December 5th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Kinda knew that this was coming some day.
I guess the old “Tough Economic Times” that the media is screaming about all day, every day just made it happen sooner than later.
December 5th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
oof. how many Program SoCal locs are going to make the move out to Burlington??? Not many I’m guessing.
Maybe Burton is banking on that to happen–that way they decrease staffing too w/out having to lay anyone off…?
December 5th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
the nail in the coffin…
December 6th, 2008 at 8:36 am
This is the most passive-aggressive way to lay people off these days. Burton has done this before when they moved the apparel program to cali.
“Hey, you want to uproot your family and friends and move across the country even though you’ve lived here your whole life? C’mon Burlington is the most livable city in the US, plus you can be closer to Burton’s senior management team of industry experts. You’ll be in meetings all day and have twice as much work to do and probably in the end get paid less; but at least you can bring your dog to work!”
“no?”
“OK, goodbye.”
(Cue sigh of relief from the operations bottom line)
December 7th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Please take Laurent Vrignaud with you, thanks.
That arrogant prick can drive all of the Active product back himself.
Also, can this be far away?
Attention…Attention please, will all Anon and Analog employees please assume the crash position for next announcement: emergency landing into Burlington HQ.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Where’s the sweet lifestyle photo of this “Sam Paschel”?