“We have a tremendous opportunity at Chipotle to shape the future of our organization and drive growth through our new strategy,” Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol said in a statement. “In order to align the structure around our strategic priorities, we are transforming our culture and building world-class teams to revitalize the brand and enable our long-term success.”
Chipotle will transition its Denver and New York office functions to Newport Beach and Columbus, Ohio, over the next six months. The company’s operations, business development, marketing, communications, finance, supply chain, food safety, technology, human resources and other corporate functions will be based in Newport Beach. Support functions will be in the Shared Services Center in Columbus.
The company expects the reorganization to grow its workforce to more than 250 employees at the Shared Services Center in Columbus. The company said consolidating support function in Columbus gives Chipotle cost savings and access to high-quality talent.
“The standardization and consolidation of systems and processes into one location will greatly benefit our company and our shareholders,” CFO Jack Hartung said in a statement. “Through technology and the consolidation of talent, we'll create a world class Shared Services Center with increased productivity and quality services supporting our employees and our restaurants.”
Chipotle said it will close its Denver and New York City offices upon completion of the transition. The company said 400 employees in Denver and New York will be affected by the move. Some employees will be offered relocation and retention packages. The move will not impact the company’s 70,000 field operations and restaurant employees.
“We’ll always be proud of our Denver roots where we opened our first restaurant 25 years ago,” Niccol said. “The consolidation of offices and the move to California will help us drive sustainable growth while continuing to position us well in the competition for top talent.”
The company will have a special investor call on June 27 to provide more details about the organizational changes stemming from the relocation.
