News

Pei Wei moving HQ to Texas

August 24, 2017

Pei Wei Asian Diner is moving its corporate headquarters from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Las Colinas, Texas.

"We are very excited to relocate to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is home to some of our most loyal guests and highest-performing restaurants," CEO John J. Hedrick, said in a press release.  

The chain, which has 200 restaurants in 21 states, has 28 locations in the North Texas area, its most-concentrated market.

"We didn't make this decision lightly. Scottsdale is an extraordinary city that has been our hometown since the brand's inception in 2000," Hedrick said. "But our new leadership team felt that the timing was right to make this move, as we chart a new direction for the brand, its operations and our corporate culture."

Pei Wei is in the process of separating both geographically and operationally from parent company P.F. Chang's China Bistro. In addition, economic incentives from the state of Texas and the city of Irving were instrumental in the decision to choose Las Colinas, said Hedrick, who took over as CEO in February. 

"We are very grateful to officials at the state and local level for their support, and in particular Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer and Beth Bowman, president/CEO of the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, for their leadership throughout this process," he said. "We chose North Texas for many reasons, including its business-friendly climate, strong transportation infrastructure and deep talent pool. We look forward to bringing many well-paying new jobs to the area in the months and years ahead.”

Jobs moving to Texas

Although Hedrick said it was too soon to say precisely how many employees will be moving from Scottsdale to North Texas, he and his executive team plan to relocate to temporary office space in the area by early September with the entire headquarters moving to the Las Colinas Highlands office tower by year's end.

Hiring for positions at the company's Texas home office will begin shortly with plans to employ at least 30 team members at headquarters by the end of 2017. Given expectations for the brand's continued growth across the country, Hedrick anticipated reaching 100 within five years.

The new headquarters will include a state-of-the-art test kitchen, where Hedrick and his team will test on-going menu refinements, according to the release.