We knew our founder Wayne Gregory was something special. But when Shuji Morohashi from Tokyo, Japan flew halfway around the world just to see our founder, we were blown away.
While planning his first trip to the United States, Shuji decided that a part of his adventure would be to visit Gregory headquarters in Sacramento after having met Wayne in Japan. When they met, Shuji told “Mr. Wayne,” as he called him, about his plans to visit to the U.S. to which Wayne offered, “if you’re coming to the West Coast, please come visit our office.”
A short time later, Shuji Morohashi landed on our doorstep. Well, sort of …
To properly understand why someone would travel halfway around the world and make a visit a backpack company part of the trip (albeit, we humbly submit, the best backpack company), you have to understand a little about Gregory and its reputation in Japan. Early in the company’s history, Gregory built a strong reputation among Japanese consumers, who are notoriously selective about buying products of the highest quality.
Over the years, that’s given Gregory the ability to not only to become known as the premier backpack company, but also to build a variety of other more lifestyle oriented products for a more mass-transit oriented culture. The line in Asia, while it shares many common products, is pretty different from the line in North America or Europe. This reputation has also propelled Wayne into something of a legend among Japanese and other Asian market consumers. When Gregory flagship stores opened in Tokyo and Seoul in the last year, Wayne was asked for more than few autographs.
Back to Shuji … so when Wayne heard that one of the brand’s fans wanted to visit Gregory HQ, he not only extended the invite, he picked up Shuji at the airport and took him to lunch.
Shuji then got a personal tour of the Gregory headquarters and said he “fell in love with the working environment which was full of life. Everybody was kind, making jokes, and having fun.”
He regards his time spent at Gregory as a fantastic adventure and noted “I was sure that products that make people happy are born here.”
We sure like to think so.
