Blaze Pizza will relocate its headquarters from Pasadena, California, to Atlanta by early September, the company told Restaurant Dive on Tuesday.
“California is where this brand was born more than a decade ago, and we have tremendous heart for communities across the state where so many of our restaurants are,” said Beto Guajardo, CEO of Blaze Pizza, in an emailed statement. “Moving our corporate headquarters to Atlanta will help us drive our next wave of growth.”
The fast casual pizza chain has focused on growing through franchising, especially in key metropolitan areas such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, Guajardo previously told Restaurant Dive. The company also wants to have a stronger presence in college towns and suburban areas. The chain currently has over 330 units across 38 states and six countries.
Blaze Pizza has added other changes of late, including revamping its menu. Last month the chain rolled out five new pizzas within its new “Chef Inspires & Fast Fire’d Signature Collection” to improve its value proposition. The company also plans to update its salads, desserts, folded pizza, toppings and drizzles as well.
The company’s operations, business development, marketing, finance, HR and other departments will move to the new Atlanta headquarters. Out of the chain’s 60 corporate employees, the bulk will remain remote. A small percentage of its Southern California employees will be offered relocation opportunities in the new office. The chain’s more than 7,500 restaurant-level employees are not part of this change and won’t be impacted, the company said.
