A former multi-story retail center on the bank of the Manatee River has a new life as the headquarters for a health and beauty company that is projecting $1 billion in annual sales.
It Works! Global, a direct marketer of health supplements, skin care products and body shaping aids, debuted its $10 million headquarters building in a public grand opening. The company remodeled the former Riverside Plaza on Riverside Dr., converting the former mall space into an airy, 50,000-square-foot creative business space.
The company, founded in Michigan in 2001, moved to Bradenton in 2011.
It Works! leased offices on State Road 64, but began looking for more space when the company’s growth called for a larger headquarters. It bought the Riverside Plaza building in December 2012 for $3.125 million. It Works! employees started moving from the old building in May.
“I thought that building would last us at least 10 years,” said It Works! CEO Mark Pentecost during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. “We’ve been going through tremendous growth.”
It Works! currently employs 86 people full time. The new headquarters, which is designed to accommodate up to 150 employees, is the center of a business that sells its products through 90,000 independent distributors in 18 countries. The