Dickies moving its headquarters from Texas to Orange County

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) -- The workwear apparel brand Dickies is moving its headquarters from Texas to California.

The brand was founded in Fort Worth in 1922.

After 102 years its parent company VF Corporation announced it's relocating to an existing brand campus in Costa Mesa.

Dickies parent company, VF Corporation, also manages Costa Mesa-based Vans.

"Headquarter jobs are high-paying jobs," said David Neumark, professor of economics at UC Irvine.

He said the move to California doesn't establish a trend.

"There's 40 million people in California. There's over 20 million employed people. There's hundreds of thousands of companies and we often don't hear anything about them because they're doing fine," Neumark said.

The Dickies move will impact about 120 Fort Worth employees.

In a statement VF Corporation said, "These kinds of decisions are never made lightly. We are deeply grateful for our Dickies associates' dedication and hard work and want to recognize the camaraderie and commitment they have shown to the brand."

"While this was a tough call, we are confident this change will help us revitalize Dickies so we can carry on the brand's heritage for years to come."

Right now it is not known how many jobs it would create in Southern California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the company's move.

"We are pleased to welcome Dickies to the Golden State - the fifth largest economy in the world and a welcoming place to grow and support their ongoing success," Newsom said.

Professor Neumark commented: "The thing you would certainly expect a politician to make the most of is a company coming and maybe try to ignore a company leaving. Take credit for the former and pretend the latter had nothing to do with them."

Neumark said other high profile companies like SpaceX and Chevron have made headlines by announcing they're moving out of California - but that shouldn't have a huge impact.

"There's lots and lots of company headquarters that have neither come here recently nor left recently and there's way more of them than the ones that have left," he said.

Neumark said people should focus on the companies dedicated to calling California home.

"The health of existing businesses and what's going to make a business grow a little faster or stay open or what's going to maybe lead somebody to start a business is so much more important than whether a business comes or goes," Neumark said.

Dickies relocation to California is expected to be completed by May of next year.