(ALBANY) – A company that handles licensing and other business issues related to the lasagna-loving cartoon cat Garfield is moving out of its longtime headquarters in Indiana.
PAWS, Inc., founded by Indiana cartoonist Jim Davis in 1981, is closing its space in Albany, The Ball State Daily News first reported. Its employees will instead work from home.
Technology has changed the way the business operates, but the Garfield brand “is still alive and well,” said PAWS spokeswoman Kim Campbell Beasley. The company is still working on major projects, such as a new movie and television show, the Star Press reported.
“It just became obvious that we did not need that facility to conduct business,” Beasley said. “When you have a 35,000-square-foot (3,250-square-meter) building and just a handful of people in it, it becomes fairly evident that maybe something is wrong with this picture.”
All of the organization’s 24 local employees should be moved out of the headquarters by early summer, Beasley said. The company has several other staff members across the country.
Beasley didn’t provide details about what will happen to the 8.7-acre (35,000-square-meter) campus but noted that Davis plans to remain in Muncie.
“Nothing has changed with Jim,” she said. “He’ll never leave Indiana. He has no plans to make any other major changes that I’m aware of, and he’s happy to be here with his friends and family.”
Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com