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Manufacturing company leaving SLO for Utah

June 18, 2018

San Luis Obispo camera accessories manufacturer Really Right Stuff is relocating to Utah and taking many of its employees with it, as they “can’t afford to buy a home” in SLO. [Cal Coast Times]

Really Right Stuff has operated in San Luis Obispo since the company was founded in 1990. The company’s high-end gear, which includes camera and tripod support items, is designed, built, assembled and shipped in SLO.

This summer, Really Right Stuff is moving its headquarters and manufacturing operations from a location near the San Luis Obispo airport to Lehi, Utah. CEO Joseph Johnson stated in a news release earlier this year that rising costs in California are driving his company out of the state.

“Continually rising costs in California make it tough for a small business to compete in the global economy,” Johnson said. “We love beautiful San Luis Obispo, but our employees can’t afford to buy a home. The business-friendly environment and low cost of living in Lehi, Utah made it a clear choice for us to best serve our customers and employees long-term. I’m happy to see most of our employees coming with us, keeping our RRS family largely intact.”

The city of Lehi, which is located 35 minutes south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front of the Rocky Mountains, is the fifth fastest growing city in the country and the center of the high-tech “Silicon Slopes,” the Really Right Stuff press release states. The location is also within a five-hour drive from six national parks, including Yellowstone and Zion, and close to natural settings for photography and outdoor activities.

Additionally, Really Right Stuff will move into a 2.5 times larger building. That will help enable continued growth and allow the business to better serve its customers, according to the company.

Really Right Stuff remained in SLO over the course of the company’s lone ownership change. From its San Luis Obispo location, Really Right Stuff has shipped its products to more than 120 countries.

The company’s product line has grown from a handful of custom camera body plates to an extensive line of support products, including tripods, custom plates, clamps, flash brackets and studio gear.

Really Right Stuff is currently holding a “Big Move Sale,” which ends Wednesday night. Select gear is 30 percent off on reallyrightstuff.com with the promo code BIGMOVESALE30.


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I worked for a company that worked for this company for a year making tripods and brackets. They make very well design and highly sought after products that photographers feel safe trusting their expensive lenses and cameras on, and they warranty and repair all damaged products shipped back. Its sad to see them leave because its hard to do business here with progressives strangling local business with taxes. And why do we act so welcoming to all to come here, and then not provide enough housing?


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So, SLO loses a great company, tax revenue and productive employed people and the only things said is “Good for them” and “I see a good investment.”? Wow!!!! The investment you seek should be one that best invests in your community, where folks like these can afford to live and work in SLO keeping there tax dollars and purchasing, and that of the RRS’s, in SLO . As usual though it’s better to have the working stiffs, the blue collar workers that this country is built on the backs of, at arms distance as not to soil the wannabe elitist environment of the “Happiest Place on Earth”. Good job SLO!


And the impeccably Gucci dressed SLO choir sang in perfect two part harmony “Another one down, another one down, another one bites the dust! Ha Ha!”


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AmericaTheFree: I’m sure it had more to do with the larger problem of doing business in California, rather than simply being in SLO. The up to 13% state tax here is the problem. Not to mention all the stupid regulations, and the entire anti-business environment.


Yes, it’s tough for employees to find homes here, but it’s the law of supply and demand and coastal communities are in demand. It’s like this anywhere in California that is desirable.


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Sounds like a fiscally smart company, I see a good investment.


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Good for them!


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