Longaberger to move offices again — now, back to roots
Basketmaker’s home will again be in Dresden.
The Longaberger Co. is moving again, from Frazeysburg back to Dresden where the basketmaker began.
In a message sent Thursday to the company’s sales force, Longaberger said that, “in the coming few months, we will be moving home to the village of Dresden. Our home office and our retail will all be back in our hometown.”
The company moved its offices to Frazeysburg from its iconic basket building in Newark not long ago, in July 2016.
The move is another step in the basketmaker’s retreat from its glory days.
The Longaberger Co. opened the Longaberger Homestead in June 1999. The $25 million complex, which includes shops, restaurants and demonstration areas, was intended to feature a daily parade, street entertainers and variety shows.
However, the company has struggled since founder Dave Longaberger’s death the year it opened. Bad economic times and changing décor tastes sent sales from a peak of $1 billion in 2000 to about $100 million in 2014.
By December 2011, Longaberger announced that it was looking to sell or lease a significant part of the manufacturing campus in Frazeysburg. A few years later, the property was sold for $15.8 million and Longaberger Co. parent JRJR Networks became the sole tenant.
In July 2016, Longaberger vacated its iconic “Big Basket” headquarters building in Newark after moving the dozen or so remaining office workers to the Frazeysburg campus. In April of this year, Longaberger Co. was served with foreclosure documents on the former headquarters building.
The move to Dresden marks “a new beginning for Longaberger,” said CEO John Rochon Jr., in a statement.
The parent company is “investing heavily in the recapitalization of (Longaberger) to provide ... the best production and delivery times; shorter customer service hold times, new and innovative products.”
With the move to Dresden, according to Rochon’s statement, “You’ll be able to make a basket on Main Street, explore unique and full shops, and stop into Longaberger University — so beautifully restored by Dave Longaberger many years ago — for a home office tour.”