Life is Good in NH: Iconic Brand Opens New Manufacturing Plant in Hudson

Ribbon cutting on the new Life is Good facility in Hudson (Courtesy of Life is Good)

When people see Life is Good apparel and other products featuring the iconic stick figure mascot Jake and the slogan “Life is Good,” brand loyalty and positivity spring to mind. What most people don’t consider are the robots, direct-to-garment printers and warehousing required to bring this iconic brand to market. Life is Good’s new production and warehouse facility that opened in Hudson in May brings all these things under one roof. 

Life is Good can now produce up to 14,000 units per day and has room for expansion. Its new facility in Hudson is the latest move addressing efficiency issues, says Tom Hassell, president of Life is Good.

“Now we have all of our product that’s picked on one floor,” Hassell says, adding people picking the product stay put in a station while robots bring the racks of merchandise to them one after the other. “It’s incredibly efficient.”

Life is Good employs about 250 people full time between its headquarters in Boston and its NH facility, and has another 50 to 100 temporary employees.

With its new facility, Life is Good can store its back stock all in one place, Hassell says. “We no longer need to send trucks at two o’clock in the morning from one building to the other,” he says. Prior to moving into the new facility, Life is Good had two other facilities in Hudson about four miles away and one in Massachusetts about 25 miles away. “We used to operate seven loading docks and now we’re only operating two.”

Life is Good’s direct-to-garment printing—performed in Hudson—allows the company to be more efficient because it doesn’t need to speculate on past-sales history when buying t-shirts and other apparel.  “We used to buy, say 2,000 units of this shirt and 1,000 units of this graphic, and 400 units of another graphic. Those would be sitting on a shelf as finished goods,” Hassell says. “When a person places an order today on lifeisgood.com at 11 o’clock at night for one t-shirt, unbeknownst to them, that shirt doesn’t yet exist. We’re creating it at 3 o’clock in the morning and shipping it to them the next day.”

These efficiencies, combined with a positive work culture, allow Life is Good to dramatically expand the products it offers and to carry out its mission to spread the power of optimism.

Hassell attributes peoples’ love for the company to its positive messaging and its charitable giving. Life is Good gives 10% of its annual net profits to its nonprofit, the Life Is Good Playmaker Project, which helps over a million children dealing with trauma each year.  Life is Good has a92% net promoter score, which measures customer loyalty,  and Hassell says this is a testament to peoples’ love for the optimism the company encourages. “That score is kind of off the charts,” he says. “The industry average is 34%.”