There’s a good chance the beauty salon you pass by on your commute to work is a customer of Olivia Garden, a leading producer of such salon tools as hairbrushes, curling irons, hair dryers and combs, among other products. Founded in Liège, Belgium, in 1967, the company distributes its products to customers in more than 100 countries.
Liège remains the company’s European headquarters. The headquarters for everywhere else is in Antioch, California. The Rennette family, founders of Olivia Garden, moved from Belgium to the Bay Area in 1985. The company first rented office and warehouse space and then purchased a building which in time it outgrew. It purchased a larger building in 2013 — its current headquarters in Antioch — and after building out the interior it occupied the building in 2014. About 40 people work at the location.
“We liked that the building was empty so we could build out the office layout the way we wanted it to be,” says co-owner Anne Maza, daughter of founders Jean and Micheline Rennette and the company’s vice president of marketing and sales. The nearly 29,000-sq.-ft. building still meets Olivia Garden’s space needs after 10 years despite solid growth that might have meant another real estate change, notes Maza.
“The pandemic changed things in terms of workplace,” says Maza. “Some employees are working remotely, so we will not run out of office space anytime soon. But the warehouses can be tricky, because as the business grows, inventory increases. But we can use some of the empty office space for that. Right now, we’re fine. We don’t want to move to a bigger facility at this time.”
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Product Design Is Job One “We have a larger network of hair stylists throughout the country who are part of our testing group, and they suggest products in addition to those that originate internally,” she relates. “Wherever the idea comes from, we work to bring it to reality at the office.” |
An advanced 3-D printer helps bring a product to life and prepare it for testing. Advisory stylists weigh in with their thoughts on the new product and further work is then done to improve it. “This process is very unique to us,” says Maza. “Others market products designed by factories in Asia and put their name on it and launch them. Our way is more expensive, and it’s a slower process, which can take four to seven years, but it makes a world of difference because we can market a product to be proud of. And we can accurately address stylists’ questions and concerns.” Olivia Garden has more than 60 patents on its products.
Maza says products destined for salons in the U.S., Canada and Central America come to Antioch, hence the warehousing challenges. Products are sent to the company’s Belgium operation for distribution throughout Europe. The factories ship products to other markets.
How the Bay Area Assists
When moving to the U.S. from Belgium, says Maza, the Bay Area was always the Rennette family’s first location choice. Part of that has to do with proximity to Asia, a market the company was keen to enter. Shipments from the Asia factories primarily arrive at the Port of Oakland.
“We wanted a business location that was easily accessible for trucks coming from the port [37 miles away], which is a straight shot,” she explains. “We receive multiple containers a week from our factories, so a big part of our business is receiving the goods and sending them on to our customers as quickly as possible. This building in Antioch makes that possible.”
In addition to the area being a desirable place to work, Maza says finding labor, be it warehouse or office, has never been a problem. Most workers live within 10 miles of the building site, so commuting is not an obstacle to finding talent. As for Antioch, she adds, “Any time we have had an issue with anything, which has been rare, the City has been very responsive. During the build-out of the workspace, we had no issues whatsoever.”
For this salon products company, the location has worked out beautifully.
This Investment Profile has been prepared under the auspices of the City of Antioch. For more information, contact BretSweet, Economic Development Program Manager, at (925) 779-6168, or visit ChooseAntioch.com/opportunity.
