Grundéns Moves Global Headquarters To Seattles Historic Pier 54

One hundred years after it was born on the docks of Sweden, the brand that protects the people who work the water comes home to a working pier on Seattle's newly rebuilt waterfront, in partnership with Pier 54 owner A.F. Gilmore Company

SEATTLE, Wash., November 10, 2026. Grundéns, a category leader in protective gear for people who work on and around the water, today announced it will move its global headquarters to Pier 54 at 1001 Alaskan Way on Seattle's central waterfront in April 2027. The company has signed a long-term lease with Pier 54 LLC, an affiliate of the A.F. Gilmore Company, for the second floor of the pier, a heavy-timber space with daylight on three sides that will house the Grundéns team, a working showroom and a gathering space for the customers, partners and community the brand serves.

Grundéns began in 1926 in the Swedish fishing village of Grundsund, where Carl A. Grundén made waterproof oilskins for the fishermen of the North Sea. A century later the company still makes gear that protects people, from commercial crews in the Bering Sea to sport and fly anglers on every coast. Pier 54 brings the company back to the water it was built for: a working pier above Elliott Bay, with the ferry fleet, the fishing boats and the people who wear the gear within sight of the windows.

“Grundéns was built for people whose workplace is the water, so a working pier on the Seattle waterfront is the perfect place for us to call home,” said Andrew Gritzbaugh, CEO of Grundéns. “Pier 54 is where the brand's next chapters will get written, with a working showroom, a room big enough for our whole community, and a front door on a waterfront this city has just rebuilt. For a brand that started on a dock in 1926, it is hard to imagine a better place to begin our second century.”

A waterfront that has been remade. Grundéns arrives on a waterfront that has just completed the largest public transformation in its history. With the Alaskan Way Viaduct gone, the City of Seattle and Friends of Waterfront Park opened Overlook Walk in October 2024, finished Pier 58 in July 2025, and marked the completion of the 20-acre Waterfront Park in September 2025. The district now connects Pike Place Market, the Seattle Aquarium, Colman Dock and downtown on a single walkable promenade, and businesses from neighborhood independents to national brands are choosing the piers for their next chapter. Pier 54 itself, home to Ivar's Acres of Clams and Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, is one of the most recognizable addresses on that promenade.

“Our community already lives on the waterfront, from the fleet and the ferries to the dealers and the people who outfit them,” said Mat Jackson, Head of Community and Board member at Grundéns. “For years we have shown up for the waterfront from across the Sound. Now we get to be a neighbor, host the people who wear our gear in a space built for them, and put the Grundéns name on a pier that the whole city just invested in. That is a responsibility we take seriously.”

A partnership with the owners of Pier 54. The A.F. Gilmore Company, the family company behind The Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles, has owned Pier 54 since 2017 and has invested in restoring the historic pier and in bringing new tenants to the waterfront as the public work was completed. The Grundéns build-out, designed with the landlord's team, preserves the pier's timber structure and opens the floor to the water on three sides.

“Pier 54 has served as a working pier for more than a century so it's critical to make sure that our tenants are the perfect fit for such a remarkable, vital location at the center of Seattle's iconic waterfront. As a brand built for fishermen, Grundéns is exactly that and we are excited and proud to welcome them to their new home,” said Stan Savage, President and CEO of the A.F. Gilmore Company.

What the move means. Grundéns will occupy Pier 54 beginning in April 2027. The company's Poulsbo, Washington office remains open through the transition, and no employees are being asked to relocate; Kitsap-based staff will commute by walk-on ferry to Colman Dock, a five-minute walk from the pier. The new headquarters will host the company's seasonal sales meetings, dealer and partner visits, and community events, with a public open house planned for spring 2027. Grundéns products, service and warranty are unchanged.

Grundéns will be at Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle, November 19 to 21, 2026, where the team will share more about the new home and welcome customers and partners to visit once the doors open.

About Grundéns
Founded in 1926 in Grundsund, Sweden, Grundéns is a category leader in protective gear for people who work on and around the water, from commercial fishermen to sport anglers and everyone whose life is on the water. Guided by the belief that fishing feeds all of us, the company sets relentlessly high standards for gear that protects people and backs every product with the Grundéns Guarantee. Grundéns USA, Ltd. is headquartered in Poulsbo, Washington, and will move to Pier 54 on the Seattle waterfront in April 2027.

About A.F. Gilmore Company
The A.F. Gilmore Company is a 130 year-old multi-faceted, family-owned business and real estate company. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles and it has holdings in California, Washington, and Oregon, including the Seattle Waterfront’s Pier 54. Founded on a legacy of entrepreneurship that fueled the growth of the West, past and present Company operations include many large retail centers, banks, and oil ventures including The Gilmore Oil Company. The Company is privately held and managed by multi-generation family members.