It’s official: Big Whiskey is coming to the big city.
Beginning in September, premium spirits company Beam Suntory will gradually move its 450-plus employees and global headquarters from Deerfield to Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, making it the latest company to pull up stakes in the ‘burbs in hopes of attracting a young diverse workforce in the city. Beam Suntory signed a letter intent to sublease 110,000 square feet of office space from Motorola Mobility within the Mart, executives announced Monday.
Beam Suntory CEO Matt Shattock said the company will increasingly focus its resources in cities like Chicago, where consumers and particularly millennials live and work and, increasingly, drink whiskey.
“Chicago’s right at the heart of these trends,” Shattock said.
Beam Suntory’s employees — in departments such as marketing, sales, finance, legal, human resources, IT, supply chain and communications — will gradually move beginning Sept. 1, with the relocation completed by the end of 2017. The announcement confirmed a Tribune story earlier this month that Beam Suntory was considering moving at least some of its suburban employees to the city.
The move will not result in any layoffs, Shattock said. Beam Suntory’s a growing company and has the “soul of a start-up” despite a history that stretches back more than 200 years, he said. The $4 billion company saw mid-single digit percentage growth in its sales last year, driven by the global popularity of bourbon and America’s growing thirst for Japanese whiskey.
Several companies in recent years have left the suburbs for downtown Chicago in hopes of tapping into a younger and more diverse workforce. In January, Kraft Heinz moved 1,500 employees from Northfield to the Aon Center. Hillshire Brands, Walgreens and AT&T have either opened downtown offices or relocated their headquarters to the city.
McDonald’s opened a River North office in April to house digital employees while retaining its longtime Oak Brook headquarters. And this summer, ConAgra Foods will move its headquarters from Omaha, Neb., to the Mart.
On Monday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel called Beam Suntory in Chicago a “perfect fit,” considering the city’s practical advantages, like access to public transportation and workforce, and cultural offerings, such as the annual James Beard Awards and the Chicago Gourmet weekend in September.
“When you look at (Beam Suntory), it fits exactly where Chicago is at today,” Emanuel said.
No tax incentives were part of the deal, said Emanuel, noting that Deputy Mayor Steve Koch was helpful in bringing Beam Suntory to the city. Koch had past dealings with Beam in his previous job as an investment banker with Credit Suisse when Beam was part of the Fortune Brands holding company.
Beam has called a corporate office building at 510 Lake Cook Road in Deerfield home since March 1988, according to Andrew Lichterman, assistant village manager in Deerfield. The affluent northern suburb is also home to corporations such as Walgreens and Mondelez, among others.
Beam Suntory’s departure will have little to no impact on tax revenue, Lichterman said. “We’re always sorry to lose a corporate resident of the village,” Deerfield Mayor Harriet Rosenthal said.
Beam Suntory was created when Japan’s Suntory bought Beam for about $16 billion in April 2014, bringing together American brands such as Jim Beam bourbon and Japan’s Yamazaki single-malt whiskey. Its brands also include Maker’s Mark and Knob Creek bourbon, Canadian Club whiskey and Kakubin, Hakushu and Hibiki whiskeys, and Courvoisier cognac.
Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
