Second Impressions – EXXEL OUTDOORS INC.

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EXXEL OUTDOORS INC.


Irwindale – Profiled June 2008

Exxel Outdoors Inc. is used to standing out from the crowd.

As companies nationwide moved their manufacturing operations overseas in recent years, the Irwindale-based sleeping bag company actually closed a plant in Mexico and brought work back to the United States.

Now, the company is once again distinguishing itself as it expands during the economic downturn.

Since the Business Journal first profiled Exxel in June, the country has endured a catastrophic financial crisis that decimated Wall Street and ultimately spread across the globe. Yet in that same period, Exxel has added more than 20 employees, increased 2009 revenue projections by 10 percent, secured a new deal with national retail chain Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. and upped its projected 2009 production 5 percent to 2.1 million sleeping bags. It also has introduced a new line of water ski vests and seen overseas sales grow.

“We’re doing extremely well,” said Harry Kazazian, chief executive of Exxel, pointing in particular to the period since the financial crisis hit in early September. “The world has changed in four months. I don’t remember the last time four months made this big of a deal.”

For Exxel, the recession has had several unexpected beneficial consequences. First, since many of the company’s products are produced in its Alabama plant, Exxel can offer just-in-time delivery. This gives retailers the flexibility to order less at a time, knowing they can replenish stock quickly. For a company producing in China, buyers typically have to place orders five or six months out.

Second, consumer spending has dipped, which benefits companies such as Exxel that make inexpensive products. The company’s sleeping bags, sold in low-cost retail chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., go for as little as $7.99.

“Everybody’s looking for a deal right now,” Kazazian said.

Founded in 1996, Exxel had produced sleeping bags for years in China and Mexico. But in 2000, the company, which has its management and distribution operations in L.A. County, seized an opportunity to take over a sleeping-bag production facility in Alabama after Brunswick Corp. abandoned the market.

Exxel saved tremendously on costs by purchasing a working plant, and with a streamlined operation the company found a way to make domestic manufacturing about as cost-effective as outsourcing.

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