Char-Broil to debut new global headquarters at Bradley Park

Char-Broil executives were looking to make a statement with the new global headquarters in a north Columbus industrial park.

The facility on Belfast Avenue off Bradley Park Drive, adjacent to the company’s distribution center, will be dedicated Wednesday morning with an official ribbon cutting.

But the impact is already being felt by the nearly 110 employees working the 26,000-square-foot facility and the Char-Broil wholesale customers visiting it.

“We wanted a facility that was fitting for a company that is the market leader in its industry,” Char-Broil CEO Christine Robins said earlier this week when she gave a tour of the building.

W.C. Bradley Co. President and CEO Marc Olivié put it another way.

“The cover didn’t match the story,” he said.

It does now.

Char-Broil, established in 1949 by Columbus-based W.C. Bradley Co., is the nation’s top provider of gas grills. Before the new headquarters opened, the more than 110 people who worked in the Columbus front-office operation were in a cobbled together space, mostly in the 1-million square feet of distribution space.

“We recently hosted one of our larger customers in this space,” Robins said of the new building. “They made the comment that we were now in a building that reflected our place in the market.”

That was the goal.

Robins, who will finish her third year at the helm of the company in June, was heavily involved in the process that led to the new space that connects to the distribution center through a patio that displays the wide range of grills and outdoor products the company produces.

A committee that included Robins, Vice President for Finance Steve Dean, Human Resources Director Christi Johnson and W.C. Bradley Co. Construction Manager Mike Webb steered the project, which broke ground 10 months ago, to this month’s completion. A larger employee committee also had input throughout the process.

“It was truly a collaborative effort,” Robins said. “We used the group to bounce ideas off of and they had input into the functional part of the building.”

Employees can feel the difference, said Star Duncan, who has worked for Char-Broil for two decades and came out of space that was once a closet into a wide-open area with a bank of windows as the front wall.

“It is so bright and you can actually see outside,” said Duncan, who is the company’s customer service manager. “It’s more cheerful and that is such a good feeling.”

Scott Allen, a senior principal partner with 2WR + Partners, was the primary architect on the facility. His goal was to reflect Char-Broil’s business in the design and function of the building.

“Strategically placed on the site, the building design allows for an abundance of north and south natural light that permeates deep into the heart of the interior,” Allen said in an email. “The building orientation also provides for a ‘back yard’ that will be used daily for staff and for marketing video. The concrete and glass exterior reinforces the lasting nature of the brand and is juxtaposed to the adjacent prefabricated industrial warehouses.”

The construction was done by Brasfield & Gorrie, an Alabama-based firm with an office in Columbus. When the original building permit was obtained from the city, Char-Broil estimated the cost of the project with be $4.1 million. Company officials have not disclosed the final cost of the building.

It has multiple conference rooms, all named for brands that the company produces. All of the rooms are equipped with the technology that allows Char-Broil employees in Columbus to communicate with employees at other facilities all of the world.

Char-Broil markets grills, smokers, fryers and cooking accessories in North America, Latin America, Australia and Europe. Aside from Columbus, the company has offices and workers in Atlanta; Mooresville, N.C.; Bentonville, Ark.; Hamburg, Germany; Shekou, China; Toronto; and London. Its products are sold at Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, Target, Menards, on Amazon.com and other outlets.

“We recently had a meeting with a team member in China and he was on one of the screens and his presentation was on the other,” Robins said. “While he presented, there were 14 people in the room here.”

One of the features of the building is a nod to the product. Put another way, if you sell grills, you need a place to use them and the building has a massive patio that has a large outdoor kitchen.

“We will do a lot of entertaining in this space,” Robins said. “We will bring in chefs to use the grills. This really does showcase that.”

Char-Broil commissioned Columbus State University professor Rylan Steele to create a photo display throughout the building. Steele produced more than 400 images from Char-Broil’s facilities in Columbus and China. About 60 of them were selected to be displayed in the new building.

In addition to being functional and saving the company money on travel and other meeting-related expense, it also offers a place to showcase 69 years of grill history.

“We really wanted to respect our heritage,” Robins said.

A neat little detail that shows that heritage is in the Char-Broil conference room where a replica of the company’s flame logo was built out of reclaimed wood from W.C. Bradley-owned buildings.

That is an example of how the building embraces the history of Char-Broil, with a display in the main corridor and reminders throughout the building, including a restored grill that was manufactured in the late 1940s. The original logo was recreated using modern technology.

“I thought that was interesting,” Robins said. “And the logo was reproduced in about 30 minutes using a 3-D printer.”

Employees have been working the facility for about a month.

This story was originally published April 18, 2017 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Char-Broil to debut new global headquarters at Bradley Park."