Thirty-One Gifts, the direct-selling company known for its functional and fashionable handbags, totes and accessories, has purchased Bob Evans headquarters on Smiths Mill Road which will now serve as its corporate office and house 300 employees.
Cindy Monroe, founder and CEO of Thirty-One Gifts, said the move into the new building supports the company’s growth plans. “This is a beautiful building on a beautiful 40-acre campus,” she said. “It will help us attract and retain the top talent we need to grow and remain a leader in the industry.”
Opened in October 2013, the building is newer than Thirty-One Gifts’ current home office. It features modern amenities that appeal to today’s workers, such as an open floor plan, plenty of space for collaboration, and skylights and towering windows that provide natural light. It also affords room for expansion as sales grow.
Thirty-One Gifts also announced that, as part of its growth strategy, it will move its distribution center to Texas in the second quarter of 2019. It is leasing 651,000 square feet of distribution center space in Flower Mound, a suburb of Dallas, and plans to begin fulfillment operations there in April 2019. The move will enable the company to better serve the markets where it anticipates the most growth.
“We’ve had our home office and distribution center in Columbus for 10 years,” Monroe said. “Our Columbus location has served us well, and we’re proud and excited to maintain our headquarters – and 300 jobs – here. Moving the distribution center to Texas, however, puts our distribution operations closer to areas of significant growth potential for us in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.”
The move will affect about 800 employees who work in the Columbus distribution center. Company officials have invited all of them to relocate to Dallas and continue working for Thirty-One Gifts there. Those who remain in Columbus will be eligible for a severance package and outplacement services, including onsite job fairs.
Thirty-One Gifts started in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2003. The company, which uses a network of independent sales consultants to sell totes, handbags, luggage, backpacks and other accessories, moved to Columbus in 2008 to take advantage of the region’s talent pool, logistics capabilities and proximity to customers. The company has grown significantly the past 10 years, becoming one of the world’s premier direct selling companies.