ELMHURST – Retail paint company JC Licht will soon build a new 38,000-square-foot distribution center and company headquarters in Addison.
JC Licht announced Feb. 17 that it was purchased from Benjamin Moore by experienced private inspectors who will pursue an expansion of the business. In addition to the new Addison distribution center and headquarters, they will open the 31st JC Licht Chicago retail store, a JC Licht news release stated.
The upgrades are expected to generate about 45 new full-time jobs by the end of 2016, according to the news release.
The Addison facility is scheduled to be complete by the end of February and will provide distribution to the company’s other area locations.
Addison Mayor Rich Veenstra applauded the move.
“Addison is honored that JC Licht chose our village as the new location for its headquarters and operations,” Veenstra said in the release. “We are a strategically located, business-friendly town with ready access to a quality workforce.”
State Rep. Deb Conroy, whose 46th District includes the village of Addison, also spoke highly of the move.
“JC Licht has been an exemplary business for decades,” she said in the release. “I want to congratulate them on their expansion in our community. I look forward to working with them and other local businesses to continue to attract job growth to the area.”
Elliot Greenberg is now the owner, president and CEO of JC Licht. He has been in the paint industry for 36 years, since he graduated from Colgate University in 1979 and joined his family's paint business, according to the release.
“Our mission is to offer the finest paint and paint-related products, along with advice at the highest levels, to create an unmatched resource within the painting and decorating industry,” Greenberg said in the release. “We are announcing the purchase today simultaneous with our move into new facilities that allows us to better serve the Chicago market.”
Greenberg bought the JC Licht chain with a minority partner for an undisclosed price last year. JC Licht was founded in 1907 by Jacob Licht. It was bought by Benjamin Moore in 2000.