Mullen to Leave Behind Country Manor For City Offices in 2009
A long time coming, Mullen has finally made it official. It's moving it's stately Wenham Massachusetts offices to Boston. Founded in Marblehead Massachusetts by Jim Mullen in 1970, the company then moved to a large mansion in Beverly Massachusetts until 1987 when a fire (which we witnessed from miles away while driving on a nearby highway) destroyed the offices. The company then moved to another mansion in Wenham Massachusetts where another fire, just eight months later, damaged but did not destroy the building. State investigators determined the fire to be arson but a private investigation by Jim Mullen found the fires to accidental.
With all that behind them, 420 employees will, in June 2009, leave wooded manor life behind and head for the bright lights of the big city. The company will reside in what will be named The Mullen Building at 40 Broad Street in the city's downtown area. We've seen the Wenham offices quite a few times and they are truly magnificent. While far from the city, the company has a full time kitchen staff that cooks restaurant-quality food every day for employees who choose not to venture off the 50 acre wooded lot for the center of Wenham five to ten minutes away or to the the North Shore and Liberty Tree Mall areas. about 15 minutes away. It's a different work lifestyle but a very nice one.
But it's off to the city now where the company will occupy 1000,000 square feet on the top four floors (8-11) of The Mullen Building which is near the new Rose Kennedy Greenway and the Faneuil Hall market area.
About the move, Mullen CEO Joe Grimaldi commented, "We wanted a destination building that would bear our company name and in which our presence would be significant. We did not want to be a faceless company on several floors of a skyscraper."
It's certainly a big move for the company and one which will, no doubt, change its culture over time but also place them directly in a city where they can more easily attract top talent (not that they aren't already extremely talented) and, perhaps, interface more directly with the Boston ad community.
We wish them well and look forward to checking out their new digs.
Comments
this is absolutely the right move for Mullen and I'm happy for them.
being in Boston will attract more top candidates, will allow their workers to live closer to the city without headaches.
Mullen will definitely be even better in the years to come as a result, growing faster and pumping out more quality, which is a pretty scary concept.
And now, instead of that restuarant quality food they're used to, they can have lunch at Biddy Early's and Durty Nellie's.
Damn, I really wanted to get a job there because I live 14 minutes away to the north in Gloucester and it would have been the perfect commute! :-(
I worked there for about 5 years. I'm curious about this decision...they have always put their "culture" first, and the location was a major factor behind that culture. Sure, they'll be able to attract talent and big cheese...but what about the 150-250 people who make the place work - admin/finance/HR/kitchen (yeah, the food rules)? Well, I wish them the best. Solid people, great place. Would love to go back there sometime.