Hartford Business Journal

10 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 25, 2025 Timex has moved its headquarters from Middlebury to an office complex at 6 Armstrong Road in Shelton. The new facility emphasizes collaboration and efficiency, with amenities that include scooters that employees can use to move more quickly across the office footprint. HBJ Photo | Steve Laschever Keeping Time Timex stays in Connecticut with move to Fairfield County hot spot building, leasing about 53,000 square feet. It has completely renovated the space in a "mid-century modern" style. The move provides employees with a more contemporary workplace envi- ronment that fosters collaboration and creativity, according to David Payne, Timex Group's vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. "We wanted to avoid the traditional kind of closed-in office feel, where desks are all aligned in a row, and everything is very angular, and you've got low ceilings and carpeted floors," Payne said. "So, we went with polished concrete walking spaces and an open-ceiling concept." A tour of the space shows its outfitted with clockmaking-themed wall murals, areas showcasing the company's history, clock display cases, digital screens and 27 meeting areas. Sofas, casual sitting areas, pantries and a water dispenser — which can add flavors, vitamins, electrolytes and carbonation, depending on the user's preference — contribute to the warm, inviting atmosphere. There's even an archive that contains nearly every Timex watch ever made. Employees use a fleet of scooters to travel across the space. For occasions By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com T imex Group has officially relocated its corporate head- quarters to Shelton, occupying 53,000 square feet in a Class A office building at 6 Armstrong Road, after selling its longtime Middlebury home. The move, completed in April, represents an office-space consolida- tion for the 170-year-old watchmaker, while keeping the company firmly rooted in its home state. Timex departed from its former headquarters at 555 Christian Road in Middlebury, an 85,000-square-foot glass-encased building. It sold the property for $7.5 million to a developer that wants to knock down the building and erect a warehouse on-site. As part of the move, Timex consol- idated an office in Norwalk into the Shelton location, which it leases. Though the relocation marks a signif- icant downsizing from the company's previous footprint, it has not reduced its workforce. Timex currently has 270 employees based in Shelton and about 2,000 globally, the company said. The watchmaker — known for its sturdy, reliable timepieces sold at an affordable price point — was founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Co. Timex was acquired by Boston-based hedge fund Baupost Group in 2020. The company's new home at 6 Armstrong Road was built in 1985 for Black & Decker — which merged with New Britain-based toolmaker The Stanley Works in 2010. The property contains 175,000 square feet of office space and is owned by Marcus Partners, which invested $4.5 million in upgrades after acquiring it 13 years ago. Mid-century modern Timex is the largest tenant in the Timex wins over Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary with affordable E-Line watch The Timex E-Line TW2W70800 watch. Contributed Photo By Andrew Larson alarson@hartfordbusiness.com T imex is known for producing reliable, reasonably-priced watches that are accessible to everyday consumers rather than luxury markets. The company's iconic advertising slogan, used from the 1950s through the 1990s, was: "Takes a licking and keeps on ticking." The ads famously showed Timex watches surviving extreme torture tests. Timex releases new watch models twice a year. Some are new designs; others are reissuances of the brand's heritage. One of its newest offerings is the Marlin Jet Quartz Chronograph, which launched Aug. 12. It's part of a collec- tion that is "straight out of the space age, capturing futuristic design ideals of the '60s with a domed Hesalite crystal that envelops its bezel." Recently, Timex's popular E-Line watch — which has an adjustable bracelet and a 1970s TV-style dial — caught the eyes of Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, a high-end watch collector. He was surprised to learn that the E-Line wasn't a fancy watch that costs thousands of dollars, but a Timex. "Kevin reached out to us directly. I spoke to him," said Michelle Prins, Timex's senior director of global marketing. "He was very interested in the E-Line. He didn't know what it was, but somebody was wearing the watch, and he thought it was a high-end watch. He's a big watch collector. He went over to the guy and was like, 'Oh, I love your watch. What is it?' And the guy was like, 'It's a Timex.' And we were completely sold out, so he called to see if we had any." Timex hooked O'Leary up, and he wore an E-Line on his show, promoting it as a "great entry-level watch for younger people." The watch is priced at about $260. LOWEST OFFICE RENTS IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY SUBMARKET OVERALL AVG. ASKING RENT* Trumbull $19.03 Shelton/Stratford $20.26 Greater Danbury $20.76 Bridgeport $22.36 Norwalk $30.72 Wilton $30.97 Fairfield/Southport $35.90 Darien/New Canaan $36.03 Stamford $40.53 Westport $43.55 Greenwich $50.51 *Includes rents for all classes of buildings. Source: Cushman & Wakefield

• Cover