Balsam Brands trades Meridian corporate park for downtown Boise history

Artificial Christmas tree and home décor e-commerce retailer Balsam Brands is moving its administrative offices from the anonymity of Meridian’s Central Valley Corporate Park to the Romanesque-style Union Block building erected in downtown Boise in 1901.

The move fits the corporate culture of the Redwood City, Calif.,-based company. It doesn’t even have a coffee machine because managers want employees to get out and shop nearby, said Jennifer Couch, Balsam’s director of organic marketing.

Balsam Brands will fill much of the second floor of the Union Block with its offices, primarily in the former Rose Room ballroom/event center, which will remain an open office space. The company plans the move next summer.

“We’re a very open environment,” Couch said. “All the employees here are excited to be in the heart of downtown Boise.”

For decades, the Rose Room hosted weddings, concerts, meetings and over events.

“The ballroom has been a memorable gathering place for many Boiseans,” Union Block owner Kenneth Howell said in a release. “Balsam Brands will bring a new chapter, new people, and new memories to this historic ballroom and building.”

Balsam Brands, based in the San Francisco Bay area, was founded in 2006 by Thomas Harman, who first expanded to the Philippines in 2010 and then opened a second administrative office in Meridian in 2011. At that time, the company had only 20 employees.

Balsam Brands has since grown to 120 employees with $100 million in annual revenue and an additional location in Ireland. The Meridian office has 20 employees but that is projected to double in the next two or three years, Couch said.

The company’s vice presidents of finance and operations work out of the Idaho office. Some human resources staff will likely be added in Boise, Couch said.