“It’s been clear to us over the last year that as Gregory moves into its fourth decade, we really needed to be a completely autonomous brand moving forward to focus best on our mission. And as we began planning that transition, it also became clear that we needed to be located in an environment that makes the most sense for the brand and the team at Gregory,” Simons said. “After a year-long search, Sacramento was the obvious choice for us on number of levels.”

With access to outdoor activities, a vibrant city with cultural and arts offerings, good schools and two universities, Sacramento makes sense for Gregory as a place that more accurately reflects the values of the company and its employees. It also will help the company retain existing employees and attract new ones, as well as provide a home base that is more in line with employee lifestyles.

Sacramento is located near mountains, rivers and snowsports, which helps the design team more easily test packs and other new products in the environments for which they are created.

Sacramento is considered one of the most sustainable cities in the nation. It currently has 4.2 million square feet of LEED-certified construction. It is also in the process of finalizing a city-wide Sustainability Master Plan with goals for energy independence, reduced use of fossil fuels, improved energy efficiency, incentives for green construction, and better air quality, among others. As a city focused on sustainable initiatives, Sacramento welcomes businesses rooted in economies such as the outdoors. It also has a vibrant business community and provides more immediate access to a major airport for business travel.

Sustainability is an important company value for Gregory, so as part of its move to Sacramento, it is working with LEED-certified architects to design its new headquarters. It is currently assessing ways to employ design components such as reclaimed wood, recycled carpets, reclaimed and refurbished office furniture, and other structural elements, as well as following LEED design standards for things such as air quality, energy conservation and general construction materials.

Sacramento has excellent public transportation, and Gregory’s new headquarters is located near a light-rail system station, providing opportunities for employees to commute without cars. An extensive network of pathways also provides employees the opportunity to commute via bicycle.

A Sacramento headquarters ensures Gregory remains in its home state.

All Gregory employees at its current home base in Temecula, Calif., were offered the opportunity to move with the company. Roughly two-thirds of the staff, including all upper management, the entire design team, and all employees in sales and marketing, will make the move. Company founder Wayne Gregory will continue in his role on the design team. Gregory is actively recruiting for positions created as a result of the move.

Because of the timing of the move, which will commence in early 2008, Gregory will not attend the upcoming winter Outdoor Retailer show, but will return to Outdoor Retailer for the summer 2008 show. Due to missing Outdoor Retailer, the sales team will be placing more emphasis on being in the field visiting dealers and attending regional shows in January and February.

During that time, the sales team will be showing six new packs that are being introduced mid-summer 2008, expanding on the success of Gregory’s popular 2007 Z series packs – the Z55, Jade 50, Z30 and Z22 – which feature back-panel venting via the company’s Jet Stream suspension. These new packs, which all employ Jet Stream suspension, include a Z65, women’s specific Jade 60, Z35, women’s specific Jade 35, Z25 and women’s specific Jade 25.

For more information about Gregory packs, visit gregorypacks.com or call 877.477.4292.

About Gregory Packs

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2007, Gregory Packs has been the longtime leader in expedition, backpacking and day packs. Gregory is world-renowned for setting durability, comfort and performance standard in backpacks. In recent years, Gregory won awards for its pack designs from such diverse media outlets as Backpacker Magazine, Popular Science, National Geographic Adventure, Consumers Digest and Alpinist Magazine. Responsible for many industry firsts in backpacking fit and design, the Gregory research and design team, including company founder Wayne Gregory, continues to lead the way in innovative backpack technology and performance.

The new program, which will include marketing support for the brand in Canada, will take effect starting Nov. 15, 2007, BoisD’Enghien said.

In addition, Gregory recently hired sales rep Ron Barr of the Outside Group, based in Toronto, to represent Gregory in Ontario and Manitoba. Barr joins Dale Robotham and Jeff Perron of Sasso Vertical Sales, out of Canmore, which represents Gregory in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and Stephane Morin, of Les Agences Stephane Morin, out of Quebec, which represents Gregory in Quebec and the Atlantic Canada region.

“Fully supporting the Gregory brand in Canada means having a program tailored to the Canadian market that incorporates solid distribution, outstanding sales support, and effective brand marketing, and, simply stated, that’s what this is all about,” BoisD’Enghien said.

For more information about Gregory packs, visit GregoryPacks.com or call 877.477.4292.

About Gregory Packs

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2007, Gregory Packs has been the longtime leader in expedition, backpacking and day packs. Gregory is world-renowned for setting durability, comfort and performance standard in backpacks. In recent years, Gregory won awards for its pack designs from such diverse media outlets as Backpacker Magazine, Popular Science, National Geographic Adventure, Consumers Digest and Alpinist Magazine. Responsible for many industry firsts in backpacking fit and design, the Gregory research and design team, including company founder Wayne Gregory, continues to lead the way in innovative backpack technology and performance.

The award, announced on day one of the four-day trade show, was one of 30 given to products with “particularly innovative designs and above-average product quality.” An international jury whittled the winners from a field of 204 entries from 21 countries.

Products in different competition categories were evaluated for innovation, design quality, workmanship, choice of materials, environmental compatibility, functionality, utility, safety, trendsetting character and brand value/branding.

The Palisade 80, a new backpack that shares the name of its predecessor, is one of six new 2008 packs in its backpacking line that Gregory unveiled at the OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen. The pack line will debut in North America at the Outdoor Retailer Show Aug. 9-12 in Salt Lake City.

The Palisade 80 features a reengineered and updated version of Gregory’s award-winning Response suspension system, first unveiled in 2006. The new version, called Response Custom Fit Suspension (CFS) and tailored for packs intended to carry heavier loads, employs an innovative new ratchet system that quickly and easily adjusts the pack’s hip angle to fit its wearer. In addition, it features a thermo-molded back panel that employs newly developed co-molding technology, a new anti-barreling cross stay between the two main stays, clean tone-on-tone design and a variety of other new technology. It is also nearly a quarter pound lighter than its predecessor. As well, all PVC has been eliminated from the Palisade, along with all other packs in the Gregory backpacking line. The same features are found in the new Whitney 95 and women’s specific Deva 85 packs.

Gregory has also released reengineered, lighter-weight versions of its Baltoro 70, Triconi 60 and women’s specific Deva 60 packs for 2008. Those packs employ Response Auto Fit Suspension, a lighter version of Gregory’s Response Suspension more tailored for weekend to five-day trips.

For more information about Gregory packs, visit www.gregorypacks.com.

Gregory Mountain Products has set a Retail Price of $189 for the Z55 Backpack

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Backpacker subscribers ranked between 11 and 14 different brands in each category of the survey, which also concluded that more than 95 percent of its readers own at least one backpack, and that 17 percent plan on purchasing a new pack in the next 12 months.

The survey, conducted for Backpacker by Erdos & Morgan, invited 1,000 paid U.S. Backpacker subscribers, selected on a random basis, to participate. It was mailed to participants and 454 completed surveys were mailed back to Erdos & Morgan.

For more information about Gregory packs, visit www.gregorypacks.com.