Life is Good to Consolidate Operations to New Hudson Building
Life is Good to Consolidate Operations to New Hudson Building
By Jonathan Phelps, Union Leader
Life is Good, the clothing company known for its quirky stick-figure logo, plans to consolidate its warehouse and manufacturing operations from four separate buildings to one space in Hudson.
The move also includes its corporate headquarters, which are now in Boston, according to planning documents.
The company now operates out of four different warehouses in Hudson and Massachusetts, which makes for inefficient operations, Life is Good President Tom Hassel told the Planning Board on Jan. 11.
“Over the years our business has grown and changed and very rapidly in the last five years,” he said. “As a result, we’ve taken additional space almost on an emergency basis over the last few years.”
Printing, storage, shipping and special projects are all happening in different buildings, which will all be placed under one roof, he said. The company started to look out of the area before finding the building.
“That is the opposite of efficient,” Hassel said.
Life is Good is best known for its apparel and message of optimism. It was founded by brothers Bert and John Jacobs in 1994.
Life is Good will own the building in partnership with GFI Partners, a Boston-based real estate firm with properties across New England. The 504,000-square-foot Friars Drive Industrial Facility is located at 48 Friars Drive and is the last remaining vacant parcel in the Sagamore Industrial Park.
Life is Good will be located in 75% of the building with the remaining 126,000 square feet to be leased to another tenant.
Hayley Palazola, vice president of development for GFI, told the Planning Board that the company decided to break ground on the building without a tenant lined up. That’s what happened with Life is Good, she said.
Life is Good plans to have about 200 warehouse workers and 15 office staff over two shifts, according to the application. Approximately eight trucks will drive in and out every day.
The second tenant, which remains unknown, is estimated to have 88 employees over three shifts based on the building size.
The project was approved in March 2022 with 104 loading dock doors, 46 trailer slops and 366 parking spaces, according to the application. No major changes have been made to the exterior, including its height of 54 feet.
The following changes were approved by the Planning Board earlier this month:
- Remove 38 loading dock doors.
- Add 70 employee parking spaces with new landscaping for a total of 436 spaces.
- Add 19,320 square feet of office space for a total building square footage of 523,320 square feet.
- Add a landscaped area with brick pavers in the front of the building to be used by employees.
Life is Good moved its operation from Derry to a 144,000 square-foot building at 15 Hudson Park Drive in Hudson in August 2005. The company at first contracted with the Shirt Factory on Kendall Pond Road in Derry before buying the company earlier that year.
“We are moving as fast as we can to get these guys into their new home as soon as possible so they can continue to operate efficiently,” Palazola said.
