Company News
Mars to Move U.S. HQ to Chicago
A Skittles Remix machine at the Sweets & Snacks Expo, Indianapolis, May 2024.
Chocolatier and snack maker Mars says it will close its U.S. headquarters in Newark, New Jersey by the end of October, moving all corporate business to Chicago.
According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with New Jersey in July, 307 employees will be impacted by the move. The company has had a presence in Newark since the 1940s, and its current HQ opened in 2020.
The move will not have an impact on the Mars Chocolate factory in Hackettstown, says Real Estate NJ, noting that Mars will completely shift all of its corporate operations to Chicago by December 2027. The Newark hub previously handled corporate functions like sales and marketing for the snacking division, but the global HQ for Mars Wrigley and Mars Inc. is located in Chicago.
The downsizing of its New Jersey HQ news comes a few months after the snacking giant announced a $100 million expansion of its Chicago snacking HQ.
Mars originally announced in December 2017 that it would move its U.S. HQ to New Jersey.
"Mars is proud to have a strong legacy and future across both New Jersey and Illinois," Berta de Pablos Barbier, president, Mars Wrigley U.S, said at the time. "Creating U.S. offices in New Jersey will allow us to keep driving growth, while also positioning us to retain and attract the future talent needed for our continued success.”
According to NJ.com, Mars's M&M’s were invented in Newark in 1941, with "company executive Forrest Mars Sr. [developing] the candy after seeing British soldiers eat chocolate pellets during the Spanish Civil War."
Looking for a reprint of this article?
From high-res PDFs to custom plaques, order your copy today!
