CHICAGO — Eli’s Cheesecake, a third-generation family-owned business that delivers Chicago-style cheesecake and other desserts nationwide, recently completed a $10 million, 42,000-square-foot expansion at its Chicago facility. A total of 50 new jobs have been added as part of the expansion.
The expansion is the facility’s first in nearly 30 years and almost doubles the size of the baking plant to 104,000 square feet. The company said the expansion allows for increased bakery operations, including additional production and packaging lines, warehousing and welfare areas.
“My dad, Eli M. Schulman, started in the restaurant business in Chicago in 1940, and every night of his career, he wore a lapel pin that said ‘Chicago ... we’re glad you’re here,’” said Marc Schulman, president of Eli’s Cheesecake. “Four decades later, he decided that cheesecake would be the signature dessert at his legendary restaurant, Eli’s the Place for Steak. It was there that he dreamed up Chicago-style cheesecake and debuted it at the first Taste of Chicago. Today we are one of the largest specialty cheesecake and dessert companies in the country. The ability to find a talented workforce, educational partners and access to transportation make Illinois a great place to do business. We attribute our success to following my dad’s pearls of wisdom: ‘Charity will never bust you’ and, ‘Treat others as if you were the other.’ We are delighted to have this additional space to expand our dessert selection and create more jobs here in the city and state we love.”
