Issa Asad Gives 6 Examples of Huge Brands with Headquarters in Smaller Cities
Issa Asad Florida Entrepreneur
It is a common belief that in the U.S., when it comes to tech, San Francisco is an absolute king. On the other hand, with respect to finance and business, no other city dominates as much as New York City. This element tallies with the fact that tech giants like Apple, Google, and Facebook call the Bay Area in Northern California home. Similarly, titans of finance like MetLife and Citigroup have head offices in Manhattan.
“Despite the dominance of tech and finance firms in these two cities, some companies are choosing to locate to other smaller less known cities in the United States,” said Issa Asad Florida businessman and entrepreneur since 1996. Mr. Asad is the CEO of Q Link Wireless, Hello Mobile, and Quadrant Holdings, all located in South Florida. He is also the author of 4 e-commerce and marketing e-books that can be purchased on Amazon.
For instance, retail giant Amazon and tech pioneer Microsoft have bases in Seattle, Washington. This new trend is a result of the skyrocketing cost of doing business in major cities, as well as an increase in remote working.
As a consequence of this new drift, small cities like Colo and Boulder are now emerging as new tech hubs. Incidentally, some renowned brands have attributed their success to being based in these cities. Here, Issa Asad gives 6 examples of huge brands with headquarters in smaller towns.
1. Walmart
The Number one private employer and most prominent in the world in terms of revenue, Walmart since its establishment and incorporation in 1962 and 1969 respectively, has always been headquartered in the little known city of Bentonville, Arkansas. The retail giant draws university graduates from nearby Fayetteville, hence keeping them in the area after completion of their studies. Apart from that, the founders of Walmart have been instrumental in developing the region. For instance, in terms of expansion of the Northwest Regional Airport in Arkansas and the distinguished Crystal Bridges Museum of narrative Art.
2. Zelle
Despite PayPal’s Venmo being the dominant mobile-based payment service, Zelle is slowly establishing itself as a force to reckon with in terms of competition ever since its founding in 2017. The company is a subsidiary of Early Warning, a firm whose shareholding includes major U.S banks like JPMorgan and Bank Of America. So it’s rather odd that the company does not have a center of operations in the major cities like New York like its parent companies but rather, in the lesser-recognized town of Scottsdale, Ariz. The location is instead known as a destination for golf and travel, rather than tech or financial business.
3. Snap
Snap, recognized initially as Snapchat Inc, was created by Spielberg and Murphy in 2011. Despite being a social media startup, Snap has stationed its headquarters in Venice Beach, Southern California, since May 2015. The company was one of the first to move there alongside Tinder, therefore branding the place “Silicon Beach.” In 2017, after the launch of the company’s IPO, the largest in Los Angeles history, the New York Times published an article lauding Snap for ‘changing the face of Venice.’ Snap has since relocated the majority of its staff from Venice to adjacent Santa Monica, where it has leased office space.
4. Epic Games
Founded in 1991, in his parent’s basement, Tim Sweeny’s Epic games has christened Cary, North Carolina, as its headquarters through its parent company Fortnite since 1991. The town of Cary is an unlikely headquarter for an enterprise with more than 250 million users worldwide. Even after the tech giant, Tencent acquired a 40% stake in the company; there is little sign of the business relocating from its North Carolina home. Currently, Epic Games is in the process of expanding its current headquarters to accommodate a further 2000 workers.
5. Whole Foods
Whole foods, since its acquisition by Amazon, has been headquartered in Austin, Texas for the last 40 years. The corporation formed after the merger of two minor natural foods in the city of Austin, Texas, in 1980. From there, the firm went on to acquire additional natural food stores across America and the U.K. As of now, the international headquarters is based close to the original Whole Foods in downtown Austin.
6. Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Originally ExactTarget, Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud is arguably one of the most significant tech acquisitions in Indianapolis to date. Since its purchase by Salesforce, it has maintained Indianapolis as the regional center of operations of the marketing cloud since 2016. This aspect is despite the parent company’s head office being in San Francisco. And just like in many other purchases done in small cities in America, original execs go ahead and acquire other startups that are within the area.
