In the year since moving back to Philly, SUMO Heavy had its biggest hiring spree

Just under a year ago, SUMO Heavy, an ecommerce company that had been headquartered in New York City for the last seven years, decided it was time to come home.

Cofounders Bart Mroz and Bob Brodie started the company in a coffee shop in Philly a decade ago, then moved to NYC in 2012. But in early 2019, they headed home.

“It’s personal, but it’s also about work,” Mroz said at the time. “It’s a different pace than New York, but it just feels right for us.”

A mix of nostalgia and affordability drew them home, Mroz said. The ecommerce consultancy had a staff of about 15 at the time, and last April, moved into a 2,000-square-foot space in Old City, the former home of now-shuttered dev shop Interactive Mechanics.

Since that move, Mroz said, the company has added more team members than ever in its decade of operation. The team is now up to about 23 employees across its Philly, New York and Poland offices. Mroz said much of the hiring was adding product and project managers, marketing and development roles.

“It’s definitely the most hiring we’ve ever done at once,” Mroz said. “And it happened that we got to do it in Philly.”

Mroz told Technical.ly that he sees this as organic growth for the company, a response to some larger client work and building a new product. SUMO has worked with brands such as Pitney Bowes, Rogue, Roku and TYR.

“Ecommerce is an ever-changing industry with new trends and technology being introduced all the time,” Mroz said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to help our existing clients and new companies build successful brands and create retail solutions that fit their unique needs in 2020 and beyond.”