Lou Malnati's latest company to move to Buffalo Grove's growing northeast side
In addition to its famous deep dish offerings, Lou Malnati's Pizzeria will be delivering jobs to Buffalo Grove when it opens its new home office in the village next year.
The 50-year-old pizza giant plans to consolidate several properties at 900-950 Busch Parkway in the spring of 2022. It intends to use the space for a national e-commerce manufacturing plant and fulfillment center, as well as a home office.
Lou Malnati's already operates a restaurant in Buffalo Grove at 85 S. Buffalo Grove Road.
The move reflects growth in both the brick-and-mortar restaurants and Malnati's "Tastes of Chicago" e-commerce side. Through Tastes of Chicago, Malnati's partners with other restaurateurs, including Eli's Cheesecake, Vienna Beef, Garrett's Popcorn, Manny's Deli and Long Grove Confectionery, and ships more than 250,000 pizzas each year.
Malnati's, which began shipping its pizzas all over the country in 1987, also is opening new stores and growing its online shipping division.
At the same time, it is experiencing demand for more office and warehouse space and the need for additional employees, expansion of its manufacturing and distribution functions and the need to consolidate and integrate operations. The new 15,000-square-foot location owned by the Missner Group in the Corporate Grove Business Park, with its eight docks and 16-foot ceilings, meets those demands, the company said.
"We're excited to finally unite our entire organization and integrate the Lou Malnati's and Tastes of Chicago brands in one multiuse space," owner Marc Malnati said. "We're committed to providing jobs at our home office, warehouse and stores while supporting the local communities we serve. We feel fortunate to be expanding during these unprecedented times and look forward to connecting, collaborating and growing in our new home in Buffalo Grove."
Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman said the Malnati's move is part of the significant development of the area around Busch Parkway.
"I'm so glad that Lou Malnati's likes Buffalo Grove so much," she said. "They know what Buffalo Grove is like, because they have been here for many, many years. And they think enough of Buffalo Grove where they want to have their corporate store, and that says an awful lot about Buffalo Grove."
"Buffalo Grove has become an advanced manufacturing hub, one of the strongest in the Midwest," Sussman added.
Among Malnati's neighbors on the village's northeast side will be ThermFlo Inc. and Zonatherm Products, which relocated and expanded their headquarters in Buffalo Grove at 875 Busch Parkway, as well as Flex, formerly known as Flextronics, a multinational design, manufacturing and distribution firm.
Next month, groundbreaking will take place at 1305 Busch Parkway for Premier Design + Build Group's corporate headquarters.
Lou Malnati's opened in Lincolnwood in 1971. The chain has grown to more than 60 restaurants in Chicago and the suburbs as well as in Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Phoenix. A new location in Aurora has been under construction and is expected to open later this summer.