Published April 2001

JanSport to build facility
in Mountain View complex

By Bryan Corliss
Herald Economy Writer

EVERETT — An explosion in backpack sales is prompting JanSport to build a new U.S. distribution center more than double the size of its current one here.

The company has announced it will break ground in July on the new 200,000-square-foot center, which will be in the Mountain View Industrial Park off Seaway Boulevard. The center is expected to be completed by January.

The move will consolidate the company’s Everett operations, which are split between JanSport’s 90,000-square-foot facility on Airport Road and leased satellite space.

About 130 people work at the center, and that won’t change by much, said JanSport spokeswoman Gigi de Young.

“The personnel are in place, we just ran out of space,” she said.

The move comes almost exactly three years after JanSport announced plans to close its Everett sewing operations. The closure, in June 1998, eliminated 84 jobs. The company sent the work to plants in Mexico and Honduras, in what was billed as a cost-cutting move essential to keeping the company competitive.

JanSport’s headquarters are in Appleton, Wis.

Back to the top/April 2001 Main Menu