Applebee's Services, Inc. announced that it has entered into a lease agreement with EHD Holdings and will move the company's headquarters and restaurant support center to 8140 Ward Parkway in Kansas City, Missouri. The move is scheduled to take place by September 30, 2011.
"We've been a strong corporate partner in the metro area for 25 years and we're looking forward to continuing that partnership in our new home," says Mike Archer, president of Applebee's Services. "We're happy to have found a building that meets the unique business needs of our company."
The company currently has approximately 350 Kansas City metro-based team members at its restaurant support center. Also moving to the same building will be the 38 team members of Centralized Supply Chain Services (CSCS), an independent purchasing cooperative for Applebee's and IHOP restaurants.
"Our company has unique space and office needs, including the ability to build a state-of-the-art culinary center, collaborative workspaces, and large meeting rooms," Archer says. "We're really pleased with the new location and the benefits it offers our team members and the organization."
In April, Applebee's announced it was searching for a new space more appropriately sized for its needs.
In 1986, Abe Gustin and John Hamra opened the first Kansas City Applebee's near 103rd and State Line. From that beginning, they went on to form Applebee's International, growing a system that would become the world's largest casual dining chain, with 2,000 restaurants in 49 states and 15 countries and one U.S. territory. Bill Palmer opened the first restaurant—T.J. Applebee's Rx for Edibles & Elixirs—in Atlanta in 1980.
"We have a rich, longstanding relationship with the metro area," Archer says. "We're happy to launch the next chapter of our business so close to the first Applebee's in the Kansas City area."
