Agency.com Closes Dallas Office

Agency.com will close its Dallas office by early next month. In a statement issued today, the company said the move was part of an ongoing effort to streamline U.S. operations at the Omnicom-owned agency, though poaching by rival agency iCrossing may have been an equal factor.

“At the moment it makes sense for us to focus our growth on the three metropolitan offices of New York, Chicago and San Francisco,” the statement said, adding the Dallas staff will be reduced and remaining employees will report to its Chicago office.

Agency.com Dallas employs 23 and handles work for five clients, which will now be serviced by its Chicago and New York teams.

Competitive poaching certainly played a role in the closure. Search-centric digital shop iCrossing, which also has a Dallas office, siphoned off many employees since former Agency.com CEO Don Scales took a job there in 2006. Additionally, Scales, now iCrossing’s president and COO, had been managing director of Agency.com’s Dallas office before being promoted to president there. Shortly after fleeing to iCrossing, he undertook the founding of a Dallas office with several staffers from the ranks of his erstwhile company. Scales himself is based in that office.

An iCrossing spokesperson declined to say how many of its Dallas employees previously worked for Agency.com. Although iCrossing built its reputation in search, whereas Agency.com is known for Web development and display advertising, both agencies have diversified their offerings over time.

The office closing comes after a string of good news for Agency.com, which had struggled to retain staff and win clients in recent years. In addition to winning new work from British Airways and picking up several awards, Agency.com recently filled several vacancies in Chicago and New York.