A Chicago startup that had to lay off two-thirds of its workforce at the beginning of the pandemic is now tripling the size of its office.
Crafty announced plans to relocate to a 12,000-square-foot space in the heart of the Loop, from its 3,500-square-foot headquarters at 917 West Washington Boulevard, the Chicago Business Journal reported.
The price paid per square foot was not disclosed.
The company’s new space, a full floor at 205 West Wacker Drive, is just over a mile from its previous office location. Crafty, which delivers supplies to local offices, is standing by its philosophy that in-person offices aren’t going extinct.
“We’ve doubled down on the in-person employee experience overall and want a workplace that represents what we do as a business,” Chris Ritter, Crafty co-founder, told the outlet.
The company provides office supplies like coffee and snacks as well as stocking office pantries. It uses a single platform to manage client demand and partners with local coffee and catering providers to avoid carrying its own inventory. It also makes deliveries to remote workers.
“Fewer people are going into the office on a daily basis than they were in 2019, but we still see a growing market for Crafty when layering in the remote and hybrid needs of the employees that our clients have,” Ritter told the outlet.
“We’ve hired aggressively and we’re focused on Chicago. That’s where our HQ is, and that’s where we expect it to remain,” he added.
Read more
Commercial
Chicago
John Buck tests Loop waters with listing on LaSalle
— Victoria Pruitt