Jose Tolosa is a man with a plan.
Of course, as the CEO of Santa Fe-based arts company Meow Wolf, he has a team of visionaries helping lead the company into the future.
On Wednesday, Tolosa spoke at Economic Forum of Albuquerque about the steps Meow Wolf is taking with planning for the future.
Meow Wolf is gearing up to open its fourth permanent space — “The Real Unreal” — on July 14 in Grapevine, Texas.
The company has installations in Las Vegas, Nevada, Denver and Santa Fe.
Tolosa said the company is targeting a long-term plan and in the next five years is looking at metropolitan locations — with many of them being coastal — to open new installations. There’s even talks for a graphic novel.
“We feel there’s a big runway for us to continue expanding in the U.S. — maybe 15-20 (more locations),” Tolosa told the audience at The Event Center at Sandia Golf Club. “There’s incredible demand from international. We get calls all the time from Asia to the Middle East and from Europe and Latin America.”
There’s a complexity that comes with expansion, though. Tolosa said each location takes a lot of capital, which the company would take time raising.
With the plans for expansion hitting high gear in the next five years, Tolosa told the group that Santa Fe will remain the creative headquarters of the company.
“We’re certainly going to be expanding,” he said. “I think our uniqueness comes from here. I know that culture is so important for that creativity, I would never risk losing that essence. I do see an amazing future for us here in New Mexico.”
Meow Wolf opens up offices in the cities where its new installations open.
Additionally, the company is opening up offices in New York and Los Angeles to help keep up the personnel needs of the company.
“(Meow Wolf) could be one of the greatest entertainment companies in the world,” Tolosa said.
