DISCOVER THE BOX FROM UNION BINDING COMPANY
DISCOVER THE BOX FROM UNION BINDING COMPANY
Before entering “the Box” let’s start with the beginning. Union Bindings was founded by Martino Fumagalli and George Kleckner in Seattle, Washington in 2005. Both guys had huge experience in the industry already as they worked for connected brands like Northwave and Drake. After years in the industry, they decided to join forces to bring something new, something fresh to the table.
More than 15 years later, Union is considered a leader in the snowboard binding industry and always strived to stay at the forefront of everything that’s new, innovative and that could take their product to a whole other level. “The Box” is a prime example of how Union’s putting everything in place to get to that new level.
To dive into the Box spectacular world, we got in touch with the brand’s cofounder George Kleckner, keep scrolling to hear everything you need to know about Union’s impressive new Italian factory.
Hey George! First of all, we’d like to know what motivated you guys to choose Colico Italy for Union's new HQ? What's special about this place? Our original office was also located in Colico, about 100 meters from the new one. More importantly though, this region of northern Italy has a long history with plastic injection. Remember how Italian sunglasses were the thing everyone wanted back in the 80’s and 90’s? That’s because they actually were better than everything else, because the plastic frames were stronger. It was because Italy had the best injection machines, and experts working them. Same goes for ski boots. This region made most of the plastic shells for ski boots. As production shifted (for everything) to Asia, there were a lot of experts with no jobs. So, the short answer to the question is, Colico is a special place with a lot of history in this kind of manufacturing.
What does the new Italy factory offer that other factories don't? We are located in the mountains, with snowboarding right up the road. All aspects of design, production, shipping and everything is located under one roof. We employ snowboarders, and support the culture in our local shred scene.
Will there be any new technologies at The Box that we should be aware of? Union has several new machines for prototyping and production that will not be found at any other binding manufacturing. For example, our new forging machine is designed specifically for producing Forged Carbon.
That’s sick! You guys do everything at The Box, from bindings development to production all the way to testing. Can you give us more details about the process to get to the bindings we buy at the store? It varies from model to model. To get from concept, to ridable prototype can take as little as 24 hours. From there, developing a binding can take another 2 years depending on the binding. I’m sure you’ve seen the new Flite Pro? That new design was completed fairly quick, because it uses existing concepts and materials that have already been proven. With other, more complicated bindings, like the Strata, it took 2 years because of the new materials and new construction.
What are the initiatives you guys plan to establish at The Box on the sustainability/eco-friendly side of things? The most important factor is that everything is under one roof. Other brands have their straps made from one vendor, their buckles from a different vendor, their injection from another vendor, etc. That’s a lot of trucking and cardboard waste. Also, the new building is 100% hydro and solar powered.
If you could describe The Box in 10 words or less, what would they be? The Box is the future in snowboard binding manufacturing, TODAY! Perfect 10.
