Blue-collar clothing brand Dickies bucks recent trend by moving from Texas to California

Dickies clothing brand is moving from Texas to California, marking a rare corporate switch after several companies relocated from California to the southern state.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the company will be moving from Fort Worth to Costa Mesa to share a space with its sister brand Vans.

 VF Corp., the brand’s parent owner also owns North Face, Timberland and JanSport, the outlet reported.

Companies like Space X and Chevron previously chose to move their companies from California to Texas in search of lower real estate prices, better tax laws and fewer restrictions. Dickies’ move is due to impact 120 employees, the company told the outlet.

“This move allows VF to further consolidate its US real estate portfolio as part of its stated business turnaround strategy,” a spokesperson for VF told the newspaper. The move should also foster a collaboration between Vans and Dickies employees to “create an even more vibrant campus where creativity and best practice sharing can thrive through greater collaboration and connections,” they added.

The company hopes the relocation process will be completed by May.

Chief Executive of RetailWire, Dominick Miserandino, told the outlet that the matter may have more to do with real estate ownership than anything else. “Clearly, you’re making a decision like this for operational efficiency,” he said.

Vans and Dickies have seen a decrease in revenue following the second fiscal quarter that ended in September 28, the outlet reported. Vans saw an 11 per cent decrease in revenue. Still, the number is an improvement from the last quarter, when the brand was down 22 per cent, according to the newspaper.

Dickies was down 11 per cent during the second fiscal quarter and 14 per cent the previous quarter.

VF President Bracken P Darrell blamed the decrease in revenue on a lack of attention given to youth audiences.

“We actually took our eye off … the core youth audience that had been the lifeblood of Vans,” said Darrell, according to the newspaper.

“The brand had to evolve, but rather than continue to respect and serve the youth audience that had built the brand, we only fed the trend that grew it rapidly. We largely withdrew marketing to the core youth, and instead focused on everyone else.”