ChromeIndustries_PORTLANDHUB_StoreInside.jpg

The interior of Chrome Industries' store in Portland.

((Chrome Industries))

Messenger bag maker Chrome Industries will move its headquarters from San Francisco to Portland, driven from the Bay Area by its high and rising costs.

The company, which also makes apparel and other gear for cyclists, said it would move its 21-employee head office to Portland, where it's looking for space in the Pearl District. It opened a retail store in the West End district of downtown in 2012, and three members of its e-commerce team work in the city.

It would also place the company closer to its contracted "innovation lab," which produces product designs for Chrome and other brands.

The company on Thursday also named a new president, Slate Olson. The Nike alum previously served as the head of marketing for California-based Specialized Bicycles and Rapha, another maker of cycling apparel.

Like so many of Portland's new arrivals, the company found that the Bay Area was growing unaffordable. The rising cost of living was making it difficult to recruit and retain employees, and the company expected a hefty rent increase when its office lease came up for renewal.

"San Francisco is becoming too costly for most people, and certainly for a company of Chrome's size," spokesman Matt Sharkey said.

Portland, where it will move in April, stood out for its talent pool in the footware and apparel sectors and its comparatively lower cost of living.

Chrome, which manufactures about half of its bags domestically, will keep its factory in Chico, California.

The HQ-hopping company was founded in 1996 in Boulder, Colorado, before it moved to San Francisco. It has 74 employees globally.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus