Pabst Moving Corporate Headquarters from Woodridge to Los Angeles
By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 12, 2011 6:00PM
A source forwarded us an e-mail from Pabst CEO John Cochran announcing the relocation of the beer company's corporate headquarters from suburban Woodridge to Los Angeles by the end of summer.
Pabst relocated to Woodridge from San Antonio five years ago as part of an incentive-laden deal with the state. But there's been speculation for a while about the fate of Pabst in Woodridge ever since food industry magnate C. Dean Metropoulos bought the company last June and installed himself as president, and sons Daren and Evan into positions within the company. In one of Pabst's first moves of the Metropoulos era, they launched a flavored line of Colt 45 malt liquors intended to fill the Four Loko void. What's particularly troubling about the e-mail is that the e-mail seems to leave the transfer of staff at Woodridge in their laps.
We're waiting for a request for comment from Cochran. Pabst's Woodridge office said they cannot comment as of post time. The complete e-mail from Cochran follows.
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From: John Cochran
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 6:00 PM
To: All Pabst Employees
Subject: Chicago Office and The Move West
To all Pabst employees,
There has been much transition over the past few months for the entire Pabst’ leadership team and the departments that continue to support our on-going efforts to build a stronger and more profitable company. Along the way, and particularly since my start as CEO, there has also been much speculation and rumors about a move of the Woodridge office to Los Angeles . After much contemplation and several thorough reviews of the current Pabst’ corporate structure and capabilities, I have decided that we will be moving the headquarters to Los Angeles this summer and closing the Woodridge office. As we build a strong leadership team, it is imperative that we are all together and in one location. This is not an easy decision and we have a wonderful group of employees in Woodridge but I believe it is what is best for Pabst.
The timing of our re-location has not been finalized but we are working towards a move for end of Summer 2011. We will have more details to follow as soon as a solid plan is formulated in detail. Sandy Rose and I will have that completed and communicated to everyone in the next 2 weeks.
There will be no re-location changes for the departments in the San Antonio or Milwaukee offices and some of the people and/or jobs currently located in Woodridge may in fact end up there instead of LA. I am of course hoping that some of the folks in Woodridge will make the move west. I’ve covered a lot of ground in the past 6 weeks and I am very pleased with and confident in the quality of our talent in the field Sales Team, San Antonio and Milwaukee. There is a lot of work to do and the opportunities to grow Pabst are completely energizing for me and hopefully you. Ultimately the business, our brands and our team will be better for the changes we are and will make in the future.
Travel safe and sell well,
John Cochran
Chief Executive Officer
9777 Wilshire Blvd
Suite 1004
Beverly Hills, CA 90212