projectprofile petmate { arlington, texas }

P R O J E C T
P R O F I L E
PETMATE
{ ARLINGTON, TEXAS }
“We’re seeing more informal meetings and
collaboration now, and it’s helping productivity.”
Joe Messner, Chief Executive Officer, Petmate
CHALLENGE
A longtime leading manufacturer of innovative pet products,
Petmate was looking to regain its leadership position in
the market. CEO Joe Messner could see Petmate still had
the talent to realize its goals, but the organizational culture
and physical environment were standing in the way.
“We were spread out across three buildings separated by
streets,” Messner says. “It got in the way of collaboration, and
we had grown departmentalized.” What’s more, the furniture
was outdated and had become inadequate for the company’s
needs. All of this made retaining and recruiting top talent
challenging. The work environment was less than ideal.
Messner and his team wanted to move Petmate’s 125
employees out of the outdated and fragmented closedoffice workspaces and bring them to one open space
that emphasized collaboration. However, by the time
they found the right building and finalized their plans,
they faced a different challenge. A new tenant would be
moving into Petmate’s current space in a very short period
of time, and Petmate had to select furniture and design
their new environment under an extreme time crunch.
SOLUTION
GAINS
The team designing the space immediately set out to find
furniture that would be flexible enough to work well for
everyone from accountants to product developers. “We
looked at all the major manufacturers, and Allsteel’s products
seemed more updated, had a ‘current touch,’ and offered
better value,” says Messner. “Allsteel also stood out for
its product availability. Other manufacturers we looked at
couldn’t have met our schedule.”
Petmate began to see the benefits
of their new layout and furniture
right away, including:
Supporting collaboration was one of Petmate’s key goals.
Messner’s team fell in love with the Gather collection and
decided to use it to create unique breakout areas that
reflect the company’s fun, creative spirit. Hedge, one of the
more unique products in the collection, helps define the
collaboration spaces while offering additional functional
worksurfaces. By mixing in Linger, Scooch, Take-5, and Rise,
they were able to provide flexible seating that promotes
impromptu conversations and meetings. Plus, View and
Sketch make the collaboration spaces truly hardworking.
• More spontaneous and organic
small-group meetings.
• Improved interaction across
departments.
• A flexible furniture system that
easily adapts to support how
Petmate’s employees work.
• Employees taking more pride
in their workspace.
• Better coordinated work schedules
due to increased collaboration.
• A work environment that reflects the
company’s playful, creative culture.
For the systems furniture, the team chose Stride panels with
Involve storage and soft seating. “Our employees love the
personal storage space within each workstation,” Messner
says. “The lower panel height with frosted glass allows
separation without making the space feel closed off.”
ALL STEEL PRODUCTS
Stride® panels and storage, Involve®
storage and soft seating, Essentials™
storage, All-Around™, Belong®, Hedge™,
Linger™, Rise™, Scooch™, Sketch™, Take-5™,
Transfer™, and View™ from the Gather™
collection
PETMATE
{ ARLINGTON, TEXAS }
E XPERIENCE
“Allsteel was really great to work with,” says Messner. “They
made all the accommodations we needed, and we moved in
on time.” While they have not had much need to change the
layout yet, they did need to make some initial modifications to
the research and design area. “The furniture has proven very
flexible,” he says.
For Messner and his team, the hard work has already begun to
pay off in a shift of the company culture. “We’re seeing more
informal meetings and collaboration now,” he says. “Everybody
knows each other and is working together more. The new space
has been very well received.”
The updated workspace is admired by more than just employees.
Messner said that while it sometimes can be difficult to convince
investors that investments in remodeling and furniture are worth
it, he recently received a ringing endorsement from an investor
who toured the new building.
“Our old environment made recruitment
difficult. Now
Now we’re
we’re at
at the
thetop
topof
ofthe
thelist.”
list.”
Joe Messner, Chief Executive Officer, Petmate
Joe Messner, Chief Executive Officer, Petmate
For more information about Allsteel solutions, please
visit allsteeloffice.com.
Allsteel Inc.
Muscatine, Iowa 52761-5257
allsteeloffice.com
Form # A8188 (10/13)
Printed in USA
This FSC-certified paper
contains 10% post-consumer
recycled content.
©2013 Allsteel Inc.
Allsteel, Belong, Involve and Stride are
registered trademarks and All-Around,
Essentials, Gather, Hedge, Linger, Rise,
Scooch, Sketch, Take-5, Transfer and View
are trademarks. Indoor Advantage is a
trademark of SCS Global Services.
level is a registered trademark of
BIFMA International.
Allsteel supports green initiatives in the contract furniture
industry as a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Stride is an SCS Indoor Advantage™ Gold and level® 3
certified product.