Blaze Pizza is moving its headquarters to Atlanta

Nearly a third of Blaze Pizza locations are in California. | Photo: Shutterstock.

Fast-casual franchise Blaze Pizza is moving its headquarters from Pasadena, Calif., to Atlanta, the company announced Tuesday, joining a growing number of companies hoping new digs will reignite their growth.

The company said it expects the move to be completed by September. The city will be the headquarters for operations, business development, marketing, finance, human resources and other departments.

Most of the Blaze company’s 60 employees will remain remote, with a “small percentage” of Southern California-based workers having the option to relocate to Atlanta.

“California is where this brand was born more than a decade ago, and we have a huge heart for the communities across the state where many of our restaurants are located,” said CEO Beto Guajardo in a press release. “Moving our headquarters to Atlanta will help us fuel our next wave of growth. »

Several restaurant chains have chosen in recent years to relocate their headquarters, often to Southeastern states where population growth is strongest. Drive-thru coffee chain Dutch Bros is opening a support center in Arizona, which is expected to house 40% of support operations by January.

Papa Johns, the pizza chain, has opened a second headquarters in Atlanta. Subway has opened a second headquarters in Miami. Chipotle has moved its headquarters from Denver to Southern California.

In Blaze’s case, the move will move its headquarters out of the state where nearly a third of its restaurants operate. At the end of 2023, Blaze operated 295 units in the United States, including 93 in California, according to data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic.

The chain operates five locations in Georgia. It operates 28 restaurants in neighboring Florida.

Blaze sales stagnated last year, in part due to declining unit counts. Global system sales increased 0.3%, according to Technomic data. The number of units decreased by 4%, largely due to the closure of international restaurants. But the chain shrank by seven restaurants last year, according to Technomic.

It ended 2023 with 314 restaurants, including 295 in the United States. All but 12 of these restaurants are franchised.

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