Inside SharkNinja’s Needham HQ
A tour of SharkNinja’s new Needham headquarters gives insight into the inner workings of a household appliance company and how it gets into the minds of consumers.
At the building’s entrance, a wall with the statement, “Positively impacting people’s lives every day in every home around the world,” greet employees and visitors, and is reflective of SharkNinja’s culture, according to Sheri Zee, senior vice president of human resources.
The private, 22-year-old company — called Euro-Pro until 2015 — makes Shark vacuums, steam mops and irons, and the Ninja kitchen appliances including Coffee Bar systems promoted by actress Sofia Vergara, blenders and multi-cookers. It had $1.7 billion in revenue in the last fiscal year.
Some 400 SharkNinja employees just moved into 175,000 square feet at the leased A Street building in the N2 Innovation District along the Newton line, consolidating a workforce that had been in four Needham and Newton locations into expanded space.
The company, which has about 1,100 workers globally, plans to add 100-plus in Needham in the next two years.
“We’re finally in an all-inclusive space that feels authentic to SharkNinja’s identity and spirit, while further enhancing our ability to deliver products that delight our consumers,” president Mark Barrocas said in a statement.
The new building has a model home with a kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom and bedroom, where SharkNinja’s consumer insights team can watch consumers using its products from observational windows and get feedback.
“When we think of interacting with the consumers, it’s important to see them in a real-world setting,” Zee said.
In a separate “Planogram” room, Shark vacuum cleaners are lined up next to competitors’ cleaners on retail shelves that mimic those at big-box stores where SharkNinja’s products are sold. The setup allows it to evaluate how consumers see different models and their packaging next to other brands at a Walmart or Target.
The headquarters also has rapid 3-D printers to build prototype products before they’re manufactured.
“We used to have to wait for them to come back from China,” where SharkNinja products are produced, Zee said. “This is giving us a lot more agility and ability to influence the design of our products.”