Throwback Thursday – Edward Don & Company

Were taking a trip back to November 1970 for this weeks Epstein Throwback Thursday for the opening of the 300,000 sf Edward Don & Company National Headquarters Building located in North Riverside, Illinois. This facility, located on a 20-acre site at 2500 South Harlem Avenue, served as the central hub for Edward Don, who in the early 70s was the largest distributor of food service equipment and supplies.

This building featured a computerized order taking and processing system in which all product requests were delivered via a central conveyor which mechanically sorted each item according to destination.

In addition, the 56,000 sf office component included a 6,000 sf showroom that had a representative selection of the nearly 50,000 Edward Don items available for purchase.

Interestingly, the Edward Don story closely mimics that of Epsteins. Both were founded in Chicago in 1921 and both provided a service that has since evolved dramatically, in Dons case it was just a janitorial supply company and in our case, we were just structural engineers. Also, both firms have grown beyond their Chicago-roots and have multiple office locations.

Lastly, this particular facility still stands and, in fact, remained the home for Edward Don & Company for over 40 years until their recent move to Woodridge, Illinois.