New Brookstone headquarters a result of partnerships

Partnerships are critical to business success, and a partnership developed by the New Hampshire Business Resource Center and Brookstone Inc. is just what led the specialty retailer to stay in the Granite State and built a 100,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Merrimack.

Brookstone – a nationwide retailer that offers an assortment of consumer products — first introduced itself to the world in a small classified ad selling “hard-to-find tools” in Popular Mechanics magazine in 1965 and now has 225 employees with sales close to $500,000,000 and growing.

“We started in Peterborough in 1965, and we are committed to New Hampshire,” said Mike Anthony, chairman, president and CEO of the firm. “We decided to remain in New Hampshire for a number of reasons. Most of our employees live in the state. New Hampshire doesn’t have an income tax, and the quality of life is outstanding.
Also, we’re close to both the Manchester and Boston airports.”

Brookstone started working with Chris Goodnow of Goodnow Real Estate and Brian Gallagher of Dacon Corp. to help them find the right location. Goodnow, a member of the New Hampshire Commercial Investment Board of Realtors, and Gallagher contacted John DiNapoli, state industrial representative at the New Hampshire Business Resource Center, for assistance. They learned of DiNapoli’s work for New Hampshire through NH CIBOR.

Many companies begin their site selection research with commercial realtors, and DiNapoli’s association with NH CIBOR has led to a number of strong leads and new companies for New Hampshire. (DiNapoli is NH CIBOR President-elect for 2005.)

“Our job is to educate our clients so they can make the best decisions for their business,” said DiNapoli. “But we can’t do it alone, and my work with NH CIBOR is one part of the total equation.”

Brookstone also began working with Natick, Mass.-based Dacon to design and build their new corporate headquarters. Dacon is a design, architecture and construction company with a project history and client list that includes Fortune 500 companies and a number of New England’s leading real estate development companies.

DiNapoli began working with the Brookstone team in August 2003 to find the right site. Over the course of several weeks, various site surveys were e-mailed back and forth between the partners until one site stood out. That site, now known as 1 Innovation Way in Merrimack, is home to Brookstone’s new 100,000-square foot corporate headquarters.

The goal of the new building was to take advantage of as much natural light as possible and capture the new design of Brookstone’s retail stores, four of which are in New Hampshire: Nashua, Manchester, Salem and North Conway.

“The entire project took less than 11 months from start to finish,” said Gallagher. “This doesn’t happen every day. We were able to accomplish this feat due to the efforts of the team of partners: Brookstone, the town of Merrimack, Chris Goodnow, Pat McDermott at Public Service of New Hampshire and their energy rebate program, and the good folks at the New Hampshire Business Resource Center.”

According to DiNapoli, “the office market has been relatively quiet over the past two years. We’ve assisted on smaller projects — between 1,000 and 5,000 square feet — but nothing as large as 100,000-square feet in a long time. This is refreshing.”

Gallagher, who has worked with DiNapoli on other projects, said, “We find his can-do attitude contagious. His knowledge of the market, of the benefits of investing in the state of New Hampshire and his all around work ethic assisted us in fast-tracking this important project.”

“New Hampshire is very impressed with the commitment that Brookstone has made to the state, the town of Merrimack and its employees by constructing a 100,000-square foot building,” said Roy Duddy, director of the Business Resource Center. “We applaud their great work and are here to assist them in any way we can.”

To learn more about the New Hampshire Business Resource Center, contact DiNapoli, at 271-2591, ext. 114.

This article was provided by the New Hampshire Business Resource Center.