…the Tulip Tree Studios main office is moving!
It’s crazy to think that after spending our entire tenure in downtown Rochester, MN, we’re ending our rental lease on March 31, 2021 and will officially commence our next chapter in a newly purchased building 8 years to the date of Tulip Tree’s first day in business. How’s that for serendipitous?!
Now you’re probably thinking, “How the hell did this all happen?”
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Here’s the story…
Marketing and Mechanical Under One Roof?!
If you’ve been to our downtown location at all in the past eight years, you’re sure to have noticed that we have our marketing agency and a mechanical company (Valor Mechanical) in the same office. Makes sense, right? Ha. We know it doesn’t at face value. But it should if you know that my father, Ty Bestor, owns and operates Valor Mechanical, and that Tulip Tree Studios started out as a D.B.A. of Valor back in 2013. Still confused? I’ll carry on…
Ty started Valor in September 2012, and whether out of obligation, convenience, or a good judge of talent (haha!), he hired me to establish the brand for his new business. Through the process, many conversations were had that (long story short) resulted in him offering me the opportunity to leave my job as a graphic designer at another marketing agency to start my own. It made sense to us at the time that I could manage his new company’s brand, while also offering marketing and design services to other businesses, and thus Tulip Tree Studios was born as a D.B.A. of Valor Mechanical and we opened our downtown doors on April 1, 2013 (no joke!).
Spoiler alert: Tulip Tree’s success the first year warranted separating from Valor and became its own entity in 2014. But while the businesses have been separated on paper since, we never really entertained the idea of separate offices and have continued to share the space to this day.
Fast Forward a Few Years…
We had recognized as we continued to expand the staff of both companies year after year that outgrowing our downtown space was inevitable (as we had already outgrown the available number of parking spots), so we’ve been looking for property to buy in the Rochester area for a while. In late summer of 2020, a building that seemed to fit the needs of both companies presented itself and it was an opportunity that was too good to pass up. We closed on the purchase in September and the “do-them-ourselves” renovations commenced. My family’s handy – what else were we going to do in the 2020 quarantine?
The building itself is approximately 16,000 square feet, sitting on a 2.6-acre lot on the north end of Stewartville, Minnesota (1001 2nd Ave. NW, Stewartville, MN) – 11 miles straight south from our downtown location.
Now you’re probably thinking, “That’s a huge building! Why do you need that much space?!” Well, Tulip Tree doesn’t (yet!), but our family of businesses fills it up nicely. Remember how we hadn’t entertained the idea of separate offices?
4,000 Sq. Ft. of Offices and 12,000 Sq. Ft. of Warehouse?!
Both Valor and Tulip Tree will continue to coexist in the much larger office space offered by this new building. But not only that, Valor’s field and service operations and warehouse will also be able to be onsite. Previous to this purchase, Valor’s original warehouse was located near the Rochester International Airport, and was a simple lot with approximately twelve hundred square feet of warehouse space. This new facility now offers more than twelve thousand square feet of warehouse space for the growing mechanical company – allowing us all to 100% operate under one roof.
Our downtown location offered about 2,300 sq. ft. of open office space for us, so the increase in square footage is a welcome upgrade as we’ll be able to add two conference rooms to better accommodate both virtual and in-person meetings, as well as a larger entertaining area for future socializing and networking (fingers crossed for the post-COVID era).
Thinking Back on How Far We’ve Come…
If you’d have told me eight years ago – when it was just me and one other employee that I shared with Valor – that Tulip Tree Studios would be a team of 5-going-on-6 (or 7!) moving from downtown Rochester to Stewartville, I’d have scoffed with a hearty, “yeah right!” But as anyone who runs a business knows, things tend not to go quite as planned due to growth requiring constant change which, while potentially painful, usually ends up being for the better. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we’re all capable of pivoting and piloting new chapters.
For us, the next chapter is an exciting one in our new headquartered home as we continue to navigate this virtual world of commerce that 2020 forced us to embrace. I’m thankful for all who’ve played a part in getting us this far: The talented team I’m fortunate to work alongside that continues to learn and create at a level that inspires me every day. Every one of our diverse clients who provides us with new and unique challenges that give purpose to the work we do while pushing us to continually improve. And, of course, our professional networks in the greater Rochester, MN and Kansas City, MO areas that we’ve fostered over the years that have helped grow our business through referrals and word of mouth. Tulip Tree has without a doubt been built on and thrived upon these relationships.
And Looking Towards the Future.
As renovations are well underway, and we continue to outfit this new building to meet our needs, we can’t help ourselves but to think about what the future has in store. While Tulip Tree’s new space will allow room for 2-3 more in-house employees, we’re optimistic that our family of businesses will only continue to grow beyond that. Luckily, this large lot will be able to accommodate that future growth by allowing for further expansions, new buildings, and more than enough parking to go around. Who knows, in 3-4 years, I may be writing a blog about Tulip Tree Studios newly constructed office space in our own corner of the lot?! (If we can get past any separation anxieties of course.)
Stay tuned. The future of Tulip Tree is bright.
A natural-born leader who founded Tulip Tree Marketing with the intention of providing custom solutions to business leaders with unmatched experience, creativity, and passion. Her innate ability to maintain a fast-paced environment brewing with innovation and the highest of standards is one of the many reasons her team is considered the best talent in the industry.
