Marc Malnati, owner of Lou Malnati’s restaurant chain, has his own take on the business his father started 40 years ago. To Malnati, his employees and his customers are family too.
“It’s not really a family business in relational sense,” said Marc, whose father died in 1978. “There aren’t a lot of (Malnati) family members running around here. There are a few, but the beauty of it is that from a customer’s standpoint, we’ve been serving the same families for three generations.”
Malnati’s employees echoed their boss’ sentiments in the Tribune’s Top Workplaces Survey, conducted by Exton, Pa.-based consultancy WorkplaceDynamics. Employee responses resulted in Malnati’s ranking No. 5 on the list of large companies and earning an award for direction, meaning that respondents feel the company is on the right track.