Shimano Shifts U.S. Operations to Irvine

Shimano American Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of a leading Japanese manufacturer of bicycle parts and fishing rods and reels, has consolidated its U.S operations in a new 125,000-square-foot corporate headquarters, warehouse and distribution facility in Irvine.

In the consolidation, the company has closed its former headquarters in Parsippany, N.J., and shut down a sales and warehouse facility in Chatsworth.

About 70 employees, including 20 who previously worked at a Shimano fishing-tackle distribution center in Irvine, have moved into the new facility in the Spectrum business park being developed by the Irvine Co. near the intersection of the Santa Ana and San Diego freeways. Shimano’s work force is expected to expand to 100 by the end of the year.

The primary objective of the company’s move from New Jersey was to reduce the shipping time from manufacturing plants in Japan to Shimano’s fast-growing U.S. market, according to Shimano spokesman Russ Johnson. He said it took 30 days to ship fishing and bicycle products to New Jersey by way of the Panama Canal. But shipping from Japan to the West Coast requires only 10 days, he said.

Property Seen as Investment

Also, Shimano--which bought a 7.6-acre site in Irvine Spectrum from the Irvine Co. for about $3.3 million in anticipation of future expansion--views the West Coast property as a valuable investment, said Shimano American Corp. President Yoshizo Shimano. The company leased its facilities in New Jersey.

Shimano Industrial Co. Ltd., the Japan-based parent of Shimano American Corp., had sales of $350 million in 1986, about a third of that generated in the United States. Johnson said Shimano’s U.S. business has been growing by about 18% a year.

At an opening ceremony conducted in Irvine Monday, Richard Sim, president of the Irvine Co.’s Office and Industrial Co., said Shimano is the 16th major Japanese firm to relocate to the 2,200-acre Irvine Spectrum business park in the past two and a half years.