Zumiez is known as the mall skate/snowboard shop that caters to the younger demographic but for many places it can be the only skate/snowboard shop and with multiple stores around the country they are one of the most known shops despite not being “core”. In my own personal case, I bought my first setup from Zumiez in Seattle back in 1994 when it was my local snowboard shop. Despite their large corporation appearance, the employees that run the company behind the scenes are young and just as interested in skate/snowboarding as anyone else on the mountain.
Zumiez has stores across the country but their headquarters are based out of Everett, Washington just north of Seattle. The headquarters is where the magic happens which impacts the thousands of stores around the country. This office houses the buyers to accounting to handling the online sales.
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When you walk into the Zumiez headquarters, a comfy couch is there to greet and remind you of your local store. At least for me it did, you know the couch setup with the snowboard dvd’s you could watch for hours without being bothered.
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Receptionist desk greeting everyone who comes in
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Thousands of stores around the country
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Each hallway has Zumiez momentos, this hallway showcased their 100K event for Zumiez employees each year. They bring out top sellers from stores around the country and give them days on snow & parties with tons of companies and athletes.
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Mix of snowboard and skate gear around the building
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The Wall of Shame of childhood photos that you’ll never forget but now can laugh about them. They had some really great ones!
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A mix of offices, each person is talking distance to the next and open room environment.
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During the visit to the buyers offices, I was able to visit with the Zumiez crew that I met and rode with earlier this winter at Buffalo Pass.
Kate was my tour guide and is one of the Zumiez buyers
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Josh and Ben
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Zeke
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Liz the Zumiez shoe buyer was overwhelmed at her desk with shoes
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Graphic Designers offices
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The Tech Department for Zumiez
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Conference Room for the big important meetings
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Cafeteria for Zumiez employees
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Backstock for summer items
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The warehouse lounge area
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Zumiez warehouse workers
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The warehouse for Zumiez is massive and was busy with workers packaging and sorting boxes to go out to stores. Zumiez just announced they’ll be moving their distribution warehouse to southern california which resulted in layoffs but this warehouse will continue it’s online distribution.
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Sorting boxes
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A huge thanks to Kate for showing me around Zumiez and taking time from her day to do it!
Mike
March 18, 2010 at 2:36 pmGreat write-up Shay. Always nice to see the behind the scenes of more industry players. See you in Park City!
Hanh
March 19, 2010 at 1:31 ami used to work for one. one of the most corporate places i have ever been, do your self and the real shops a favor and dont walk into one again. no managers ive met ever rode, just bottom liners
Shay Update: Roadtrip continued… – Shayboarder.com
March 19, 2010 at 8:22 am[…] much needed quiet time of relaxation. Monday morning I got in some blog visits like visiting the Zumiez Headquarters and evo snowboard shop (post coming soon). Then I hit the road again, this time heading south to […]
Travis
March 20, 2010 at 12:08 pmNice warehouse design. Oh and I love your snowboards.
hayley thorn
November 15, 2010 at 12:00 pmHi, I have been trying to order some products off the zumiez website, i’m from the UK. I do not seem to be having any luck, I phoned the othe rday and someone said they were sorting out the website, I think there may have been some problem with it. I would be really grateful for some help, or if somone could let me know how much shipping would be to the uk, and i’ll order by phone.
many thanks
hayley thorn
Amy
January 17, 2011 at 8:53 amThanks for sharing the pics! I drive by the corporate office every day on my way to work at Boeing and always wonder what the inside looks like! Really cool!!
chris thomas
March 11, 2011 at 6:25 pmDo you carry armoundillo belts? Or Imperial Motion clothing
I can’t find it anywhere
Shay
March 15, 2011 at 8:26 amChris,
I have no affiliation with Zumiez other than visiting their headquarters so you might want to try http://www.zumiez.com/