Lego bricks and mortar: Company to move US headquarters to Boston
The Lego Group announced today it's moving its US headquarters from Connecticut to the Back Bay.
The company is already leasing space at 501 Boylston St., the large office building that went up in 1940 as the home of the New England Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Lego US President Skip Kodak said exactly the sort of things you'd expect about why the company is moving here:
Boston is ranked one of the best cities in the world to attract and retain talent. This, along with its world-class academic institutions, skilled workforce and great quality of life makes it an ideal location for our US head office. We have exciting plans for the next phase of growth and hope we can retain many of our current team, as well as attract new colleagues.
The company will begin to move its offices in 2025, with the final migration due to finish in 2026, the company says. With any luck, the move will go better than the last time a Connecticut company moved its headquarters here - GE got big city and state tax breaks, announced plans for a big new headquarters building on Fort Point Channel, then downsized, then gave back the public money and sold the headquarters site.
Lego currently has 740 people working in its Enfield, CT offices. It has a total of 2,600 employees in the US, but that does not include the Lego store with the Lego giraffe outside in Assembly Row in Somerville, which is owned by a different company.
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Minor correction the Lego Discovery Center not run by Lego Group
The "Boston Lego Discovery Center" in Assembly Square is owned/run by Merlin Entertainment, not the Lego Group. That means the store there isn't officially a Lego Store, which means normal Lego Store things don't work there, like Lego's VIP points or certain sales/promotions. This is admittedly a minor detail but did mean I wasted a trip there once, and their Pick A Brick wall is a worse deal than the normal Lego Stores version.
Ah, thanks!
I'll change that reference in the story.
AND THEY SAID THIS CITY IS DEAD
LFGGGGGGG
I don't think anyone has ever
I don't think anyone has ever said this place is dead, it just really enjoys a good night's sleep.
Moving from one of the worst
Stated to do business in.
CT is the most irrelevant state in New England.
Half just wish they could be
Half just wish they could be in NY anyways.
I find Connecticut
I find Connecticut interesting because, in such a small geographical area, you have both leafy super-wealthy centers of finance like Greenwich, and rusted-out former manufacturing towns like Bridgeport. What a contrast: on the one hand, you have a hive of depraved criminal behavior, and on the other hand, you have P. T. Barnum's hometown.
this comment section needs more of this energy
lol
It's not dead, it just smells
It's not dead, it just smells that way..
They've been in Enfield a
They've been in Enfield a long time! When I was a kid the 70s, I exchanged letters with customer service in Enfield several times regarding missing pieces or errors in Lego instructions.
Maybe they should consider
Maybe they should consider moving to Enfield, MA. It's a little out of the way, true, but real estate is cheap there, at least I hear it's all completely underwater.
This might sound silly, but I
This might sound silly, but I assure you that in some circles in this town getting Lego specifically is going to be considered a real coup. We have a lot of engineers here, and many of their careers have their roots in playing with Lego as a tot.
Are they planning on building a new facility
Are they planning on building a new facility, or will they just fix up an existing building?
Maybe
They are just expanding their Assembly Square location?
(former IKEA joke, still works)
See 1st comment.
See 1st comment.
Old joke
This was a joke.
Oh, great
So much for my plans to walk around Back Bay barefoot.
Sounds like a back-door way
Sounds like a back-door way of getting that seawall project built.