A massive fire in 2023 destroyed Morgan Li’s warehouse in Chicago Heights, right as the company was eyeing an expansion.
Now, more than two years later, the retail fixtures and furniture manufacturer is celebrating the grand opening of its new facility. The larger, 240,000-square-foot warehouse brings much of the manufacturer’s operations under one roof.
Morgan Li held a ribbon-cutting at the new facility Tuesday, alongside project partners and city officials. The Chicago Heights firefighters who put out the blaze also attended.
The path to the new facility has been a “wild ride,” Andy Rosenband, Morgan Li’s CEO, said.
The investigation into how the 2023 fire started was inconclusive. Morgan Li initially targeted a January opening date, with the warehouse fully operational by March.
The company experienced construction material and power delays, but received its certificate of occupancy in recent weeks, President Jonathan Rosenband said. It has started moving products and placing pallets in the new rack shelving, he said.
Morgan Li built the warehouse on a 14-acre site at 1001 Washington Ave. It features advanced technology and comprehensive metal and cardboard recycling capabilities. Some employees from other warehouses have already moved to the new facility, as the company consolidates its operations.
There are 24 loading docks between the new warehouse and a smaller, 40,000-square-foot facility that will house Morgan Li’s paint line. The number of docks is significant, as it will improve Morgan Li’s shipping and receiving times, Andy Rosenband said. The smaller facility will be operational in mid-July, he said.
It’s still early, but the manufacturer anticipates achieving greater efficiency at the new warehouse. Instead of operations siloed at different facilities, Morgan Li will be able to house manufacturing and warehousing under one roof, greatly reducing its trucking use. The manufacturer will also be able to process its product on-site when it comes in, Andy Rosenband said.
“We’ll have a lot of different supervisors working together to just be more efficient, learning from each other,” Jonathan Rosenband said. “Everyone’s been so separated. Now, they’re all going to be together and working as a team in one building, accomplishing everything as a group, as opposed to just individual customers or individual warehouses.”
Morgan Li will also be hiring more employees, which likely won’t happen until the opening of its paint line facility, Andy Rosenband said. He said when ready, Morgan Li anticipates hiring 20-25 people “out of the gate” for jobs on the paint line, assembly and general labor.
Its headquarters, at 383 E. 16th St., is near the facility, which can be expanded if needed.
Morgan Li’s focus is servicing its existing clients and adding new ones as its capacity grows. Its clients include Gap, Vans and Walmart. And it has already added new clients, including grocery chain Sprouts.
The family-owned business has operated in Chicago Heights for three generations.
“When the fire happened, we felt like we were just starting to click and really see those operational advantages and benefits,” Jonathan Rosenband said. “We really wanted to do it again. Once we knew we could build on top of it, we didn’t really feel like there was another choice.”
