Better late than never: Exxel Outdoors celebrates long-delayed HQ opening

BROOMFIELD — Good things come to those who wait. At least that’s what the leaders of Exxel Outdoors LLC are hoping as the company finally moves into it’s new Broomfield headquarters after COVID-19 delayed its opening for more than a year. 

The company, which owns outdoor brands such as Sierra Designs and Kelty, celebrated the grand opening Wednesday of its new 39,000-square-foot Interlocken business park office at 1 International Court, which it purchased in 2019 for $6 million. The headquarters is about a third larger than its former offices in Gunbarrel. 

Exxel has been in growth mode in recent years after the 2015 acquisition of American Recreation Products LLC. It was after that merger that the company moved its operations from California American Recreation Products’ existing operations in Gunbarrel.

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“The whole back view of our offices is the Flatirons and open fields,” Exxel CEO Harry Kazazian said of the company’s new digs. “We fell in love with these offices on Day One.” 

About 130 product development and administrative workers are housed in the Broomfield office, which has the capacity for about 400 employees. 

Exxel employees have the opportunity to work from home one day per week. 

“We spent a lot of money to ensure our employees have the best environment,” Kazazian said.  “We spend more of our waking time at work than we do at home, so I want that experience to be extremely positive and rewarding.”

The new headquarters has amenities such as a gym, bike trails and large collaboration spaces. 

When Exxel began looking for a larger headquarters, Kazazian said the company’s intent was always to stay close to Denver and Boulder. 

“I love the city of Boulder, but for the type of facility and the space that we need, this fits us really well,” he said. “… A lot of our employees come from Denver, and we thought of Broomfield as the perfect place to attract” talent from the entirety of the U.S. Highway 36 corridor.

The region’s status as a mecca for lovers of the outdoors makes the talent pool particularly rich for a company like Exxel.

“It’s important for the people who are coming up with the product to be users,” Kazazian said. “There are people here who work all day then go for a weekend of camping. Or people who leave early when their day’s done and rock climb. That’s what you want.”

COVID-19 impacted more than just Exxel’s ability to occupy its new offices; it had a profound impact on the outdoor industry as a whole in ways both good and bad.

“When COVID first happened and stores were closed, we were getting cancellations all day,” Kazazian said. “… But when things started opening up … the demand for the products that we sell skyrocketed.”

Now the industry is challenged by a “frayed logistical supply chain,” he said. “You can’t always get what you need and prices are going up.”

The pandemic accelerated a trend that Exxel’s brands had already been cashing in on: newbies. The company has been putting increased focus on entry level brands and making products available in stores such as Target rather than specialty retailers.

With more and more people looking to the outdoors to escape crowds or their home offices, Exxel leaders expect this strategy to pay off. 

“Sometimes, it’s good to be lucky, right?” Kazazian said.

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