Mesa Safe Profited on Gamble Moving to Bigger Space

Last March, George Vicente stood outside his company’s new 25,000-square-foot Huntington Beach headquarters and wondered if he made the right decision.

Vicente’s business, Mesa Safe Co., a maker of depository and fire safes, outgrew the 5,000-square-foot Tustin building it had operated out of for three years. His business, which generated about $2 million in yearly sales at the time, started to nab bigger customers including Costco, Sam’s Club and Staples.

Vicente thought it was necessary to prepare for growth by moving into something bigger. But as he stood before the giant building, he wondered if he had gone too big.

Looking back on the move now, Vicente said he made the right choice. Sometimes a small-business owner needs to take a risk in order to get big results, he said.

Since moving Mesa Safe’s headquarters, the company now is able to make, package and warehouse more safes. Beefing up production and stock has helped Mesa Safe nab large orders. The company expects to hit $5 million in sales this year. It’s even looking to outgrow its Huntington Beach operation next year, Vicente said.

“I gambled and it paid,” Vicente said.

Mesa Safe employs about 18 workers, with a good chunk of them making small batches of cash boxes and safes out of steel and other materials that are sourced from local vendors.

The rising cost of fuel, energy, labor, insurance and real estate has pushed Mesa Safe to outsource production to South Korea and China to keep costs down on larger orders for customers such as Costco, Vicente said.

“We’re able to manufacture some of our items in Orange County but it’s more cost effective for us to outsource production overseas for the larger orders. It’s just too expensive to do everything here,” Vicente said.

Mesa Safe’s products are packaged and warehoused in Huntington Beach and shipped to retailers through third-party carriers.

The safes sell from $300 to $2,000, Vicente said.

Vicente, who is of Cuban heritage, owned a locksmith business dubbed George’s Lock