Considered by many to be the oldest name in Chicago pizza, Lou Malnati’s is a 50-year-old family-owned company famous for its legendary deep-dish pizza. But executives and employees say it’s the culture, people and commitment to excellence that really sets the company apart.
Lou Malnati’s, which serves pizza in four states with over 60 locations, ranks 19th among large employers on the Tribune’s list of Top Workplaces, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania.
In an era where job hopping is the new normal, Lou Malnati’s employees say they have developed a sense of belonging at a company that was built on family values, a strong work ethic and teamwork.
Jim D’Angelo jumped plenty of hurdles as he worked his way up at Lou Malnati’s. He started as a dishwasher and table busser when he was 15 and is now chief operating officer.
“I’m in a company that’s like a family,” he said. “What better two things could you ask for: a place that’s like home and a place where you’re continually growing and having the opportunity to become more.”
“What we fully understand is the path to our guests and in turn to our success is through our people,” D’Angelo said. “Many of us didn’t start off by thinking this was our career path,” he said. “But there’s something you find here, which is usually a team you’re working on, the family you start to become. And you combine it with opportunity and it becomes a viable option for you.”
“I like to say that we are really a people business and we just happen to sell pizza because people are really our differentiator. They are definitely at the center of our world,” D’Angelo said. “And we’re in the hospitality business, so obviously the guest voice is critical to us also. Our employees are No. 1 because they are the ones who actually take care of our guests.”
D’Angelo sees the company, which recently had its 50th Lou Malnati’s cancer benefit, as a place that’s making a difference in its community. “We’re trying to do more than just be a pizza company or even be a people company, but also support something as big as cancer research, which has affected so many. Once a quarter, we are working in the community for greater causes. We do that as a team to make sure our team knows those things matter to us and we have the voice of our employees.”
Mindy Kaplan, senior director of communications and leadership, has been with the Northbrook company for 18 years. “The first 15 years of that I was the senior director of marketing,” she said. “We really believe in growth and different opportunities within the company. I started to pursue leadership development for our team members, internal communication and things that I was way more passionate about than crunching numbers and analytics.”
Sally Glunz, who has been the director of sales for about 10 years, started working 36 years ago as a server at Lou Malnalti’s Lincolnwood location when her kids were young and she wanted something to do. About five years later, she wanted to work full time.
“So I started working where we ship our pizzas anywhere in the country,” she said. “I started as a customer service rep, answering phones and taking customer orders. I became a manager pretty quickly and eventually became the director of our e-commerce and catering and then oversaw the field team as well.”
Glunz managed the company’s e-commerce for 20 years before shifting to sales, private events and customer service. “I still am heavily involved in our e-commerce where I work with all of our vendors featured on our Taste of Chicago website, where we ship our pizzas anywhere in the country along with other Chicago iconic foods,” she said.
“I love the people and have developed relationships over the years,” Glunz said. “We work hard, but we also like to have fun. Lou Malnati’s is like my family, having been there for so long. I love developing new people and making customers happy.”
In addition to managing the sales team, Glunz sells and develops relationships with catering customers. “Our catering is a drop-off catering business,” she said. “I travel downtown to River North, Gold Coast, South Loop, West Loop and Michigan Avenue, which is our newest location in the city.”
Glunz sometimes rides along with a driver to assist with a delivery. “Doing this allows me to understand what it’s like for the store to prepare the food for a large catering order and get the delivery out the door in a timely manner,” she said. “Accompanying a delivery driver on an order helps me see what our drivers have to deal with when parking downtown, entering a building and bringing the food up to a high-rise within a 30-minute delivery window. I also work with our catering clients. I go on sales calls and meet with the customers.”
Town hall meetings are an important element of communication for the office staff, and the company offers a variety of opportunities for employees to gather for fun and service. Lou Malnati’s hosts an employee picnic each year that now takes place at six different locations. Before COVID, the event was one big picnic.
“During Thanksgiving, we assemble 1,500 baskets of food for the homeless in our warehouse the week before Thanksgiving,” said Debbi Archbold, who has been with Lou Malnati’s for 45 years and works on the finance team. “Sometimes there could be up to 100 people helping out.”
She added, “We have a big celebration in January for the whole office, which includes our catering department, Taste of Chicago team, marketing department and finance. I had my 40-year anniversary five years ago. There was a big celebration, it was pretty cool.”
Dawn Schwab, who has been with Malnati’s for 32 years, is a server in Buffalo Grove and recently joined the sales team in the corporate office. As a working mother of four kids, she said she is beyond grateful that Malnati’s has never made her feel like she had to choose between her family or career.
“Malnati’s let me have flexibility in scheduling when somebody got sick, somebody was born, somebody needed to be moved to college,” she said. “I was very fortunate in that aspect as well as in the flexibility that I’m offered when my family needs it.”
Schwab also appreciates the family atmosphere. “It just gives you that warm feeling that you know you always have someone to go to,” she said. “And I like that we always come together when there’s a need, whether it be a benefit or a fellow employee needs something. We’re always there as a family to support and help out.”
Lou Malnati’s offers employee benefits that go beyond the usual health insurance and 401(k) plans. Perks range from group dental plans, a vision reimbursement program and paid holidays and vacation days to workplace wellness programs and rewards, safety rewards, and a college tuition benefit and scholarship.
Brenda Richardson is a freelance writer.
