Evanston foodstuffer Wiri is expanding into Chicago.
The company is adding two new stores, one in Evanston, and one in Indiana.
Wiri’s founder and CEO, Evanston resident Jason Riggs, is a former CEO of Wiri and co-founded the company in 2015.
The two stores will open in Evanstone on Monday and in Indiana on Friday, Riggs said.
“It’s kind of the natural progression from Chicago, and Chicago is a great location for us,” he said.
“It’s a really good market, a great market for us.”
Wiri’s new stores in Evan and Indiana will be more than 10,000 square feet, including a large outdoor patio and outdoor seating area, Rigs said.
He added that the company will continue to focus on local and local-produced products.
The first two stores, in Evanstons historic St. Paul building, will be in the rear of the building.
Wiris stores will be located at the north end of the store.
Riggs said he was excited to open up Wiri stores in Chicago and in Indianapolis.
“We’re really excited to be in a good location and a good market in Chicago,” he told Recode.
“We really appreciate that they have so much respect for our craft, we really appreciate it.”
Wiris has more than 40 locations nationwide, including in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Austin, Denver, Seattle, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. It also has locations in Los Angeles and Denver.
In addition to Evanston and Indiana, Wiris has locations at the University of Minnesota, the University at Buffalo, the Texas A&M University campus, and at the Iowa State University campus in Ames.
The brand started out in New York City in 2010, where Riggs worked at Wiri.
He and Wiri founder and COO Kevin Jee also are co-founders of Wiris.
Rigs said Wiri currently has six locations in Illinois, and three in Minnesota.
Rigs added that Wiris is considering opening two more locations in Indiana in the next couple of years.
“Indiana is probably a little bit of a tougher market,” Rigs told Recopublica.
“But we are committed to continuing to expand.”
He added that he hopes to open stores in Indiana, Illinois, Illinois West, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Wiris is also expanding into Austin, Texas, and in the Chicago area.
In November, the company opened a new store at Wiris first brick-and-mortar location in Evan, where it has since expanded into the outdoor patio.
Wirs newest store is also located in the same building as the existing one, and it will open this week.
Wirises new stores will also be open in Chicago in February.
“Chicago is a good place for us, so we are excited to continue expanding into that market,” he added.