Casual Living, Patio Furniture Maker, Gets Spacious New Home

Dale Boles, president of Casual Living Worldwide, has changed his corporate letterhead more frequently than most entrepreneurs. Since founding his Oxnard patio furniture company in 1990, Boles has relocated and expanded the operation four times.

And he’s about to make it five.

Casual Living Worldwide, an affiliate of El Monte-based outdoor furniture company Brown Jordan International, has agreed to a 10-year lease at the former Nabisco plant at 1500 E. 3rd St. in Oxnard.

The company plans to begin the lengthy relocation process in January and by April is expected to fully occupy 200,000 of the 515,000 square feet on the 50-acre property.

Sale of the building--previously the manufacturing and distribution center for Nabisco’s Ortega chili peppers, Grey Poupon mustard and A-1 steak sauce--was finalized last week. Harry Ross Industries, a Santa Monica-based industrial real estate developer and investor, purchased 90% of the site, with Brown Jordan buying the remaining 10%.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to get into that Oxnard property again,” said Jim Meaney, an industrial specialist with Ventura’s CB Commercial Real Estate Group, which represented the buyers in the transaction. The seller, Nestle USA, represented itself.

“It’s a building that didn’t have any use the way it sat,” Meaney said. “But with a little work and effort splitting it up, it turns into a very marketable building.”

Plans call for $1 million to $2 million in renovations on the site, to improve truck access and convert the design of the building from one tenant to an anticipated five. Future Flo Systems, a Newbury Park manufacturer of water and air filter systems, has already leased 83,000 square feet of warehouse space, leaving 232,000 square feet left to fill.

“We can do absolutely anything in this building--from heavy manufacturing all the way to a distribution company--any type of user, except the guy who needs a high-identity building,” Meaney said. “We’re going to have incredible truck access, a huge yard area, with good freeway access right off Rose Avenue.”

For Casual Living Worldwide, the long-term lease illustrates the company’s confidence in the site and in the growth of its patio furniture business.

“The 10-year lease allows us to not only more than double our space for the coming few years, it allows us to build out and cover more property,” said Boles, who serves as chief operating officer of Brown Jordan.

“We are growing [in sales] at 30% to 40% annually, and for 1998 we’re up 80%,” Boles said. “This will let us double our manufacturing and more than double our warehouse and distribution space.”

A seasonal operation, Casual Living has about 80 employees during its peak months of November through July. With the anticipated growth, Boles said the company hopes to be able to hire dozens of additional peak-time workers down the road.

Casual Living is one of three brands under the Brown Jordan International umbrella, manufacturing patio furniture that retails for $299 to $599 for a five-piece set.

Brown Jordan’s midrange outdoor furniture line, priced from $399 to $999, is sold under the Shae brand name; and the top furniture line, priced in the $999 to $3,000 range, is marketed under the Brown Jordan label.

Casual Living currently operates out of a 73,000-square-foot space on Statham Parkway in Oxnard. The property, formerly a Nabisco warehouse, also is owned by Harry Ross Industries.

Rick Ross, president of the real estate development firm, said it was Boles’ desire to expand that solidified the sale of the Nestle property.

“This was a quantum step above the type and size of deal we usually do--it’s three or four times the size,” said Ross, a partner in the family-run business, which owns property in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Phoenix.

“The reason I was willing to risk so much and bring the family into a deal like this is that it has so much potential,” Ross said.

“There is 12 acres of accessible land on one side, 8 acres on the other. Once we develop this, there are other projects we can look for. There’s so much basic value to the site.”