Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Congratulations go to Conair Corporation on their official grand opening of their new distribution center on Tuesday, August 1, 2017.It is a remarkable achievement.

You could say Conair and I grew up together. Twenty-five years ago I began serving my very first term as the Yucca district councilmember. That same year Conair opened its first facility in Glendale. Part of my history as a councilmember is also Conair’s history in Glendale.

Here are some fast facts about Conair:

  • the corporation is 57 years old
  • its annual gross sales is $3 billion dollars
  • it employs 3,500 people worldwide
  • 95% of us have at least one Conair product
  • it owns 24 brands
  • it sells its products in 124 countries

Just a few of the brands it owns include Cuisinart, Waring, Scunci, Interplak, Rusk and Allegro.

Conair has had a long relationship with Glendale. In 1992, after the creation of a foreign trade sub-zone, Conair built a 300,000 SF distribution warehouse and minor manufacturing operation at Glendale’s Airpark. As a newly elected councilmember, I remember to this day, my first tour of a Conair facility and was impressed by its use of technology to enhance productivity.

In 2009, as the national Great Recession gripped the country, Conair in a bold move, purchased the KB distribution center and opened a national return center at the site and grew to 620,000 SF, double the size of their original location. As Metro Phoenix was losing jobs and the vacancy rate for industrial buildings soared, Conair, in one fell swoop with its acquisition of the KB facility, dropped that rate in Glendale from 16% to 9%. Once again, as councilmember I toured this facility and thought at the time that the facility was enormous.

But Conair has outdone itself with the second largest facility in the valley – only Intel is larger. This facility is about 4 times larger than their existent operation and will expand to 750 employees. If you are not impressed, you should be. Their continued use of advanced technology has made them a model for distribution facilities. Touring this facility once again in my last term as a councilmember will be my pleasure and I will be sure to request a motor cart this time around.

Glendale is very proud of our 25 year relationship with Conair. We are grateful to have a name brand/household corporation in our community. Conair has always been very consistent about their desire to grow their business in Glendale and we appreciate their vote of confidence.  It attests to the fact that long term relationships do matter. We continue to support Conair and welcome the opening of their newest facility.

© Joyce Clark, 2017                 

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