Park Tool Celebrating 50 Years, New Oakdale Headquarters

Park Tool, which bills itself as the world's largest bicycle tool manufacturer, is “happy and busy,” according to President Eric Hawkins, and is marking its 50th anniversary at the company’s new Oakdale headquarters.

The company built a new facility in Oakdale at 5115 Hadley Ave. N. and in January completed the move from its former location in Mahtomedi.

Park Tool has grown every year for the last four decades, said President Eric Hawkins. It was running out of space at its former location, prompting the move to Oakdale, and “we expect to keep growing,” he said.

“So far, so good,” Hawkins said.

A few new jobs will be added as Park Tool continues to grow, he said, but none directly related to its new 68,000-square-foot Oakdale location.

“We’re happy to be in and up and running,” Hawkins said, adding that the city did “a great job” helping with the construction process.

Related: Bike Tool Company Plans to Move to Oakdale

Along with increased storage space, the new facility houses a photo studio, a larger research and development area facility and room to expand in-house manufacturing, according to the company’s website.

“We’ve invested heavily over the past few years to bring more production back to our facility,” Hawkins said in a release. “We’re excited to have some breathing room so we can continue to expand and grow that part of our business as well as space to accommodate future growth. I expect we will see significant productivity gains in both the near and distant future.”

As for the delay in nice weather this year, Hawkins noted that Park Tool does business with 70 countries.

“It’s always nice somewhere,” he said.

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