Andy’s Frozen Custard mulls options for new headquarters

Andy’s Frozen Custard on May 26 filed a building project permit with the city of Springfield for a new headquarters building at 3837 E. Division St. that would be valued at $12 million, according to Springfield online permit records. 

But the company may not build a new headquarters at that location, a 10-acre plot off East Division Street and North LeCompte Road, CEO Andy Kuntz told Springfield Business Journal this morning.  

“Right now, our goal is to build a new headquarters in Springfield,” Kuntz said. “That’s our preference.” 

But, Kuntz said, “This thing has just gotten to be a lot more expensive than what we originally thought it was going to be.” 

Planning for a new headquarters began roughly three years ago, Kuntz said. 

The current Andy’s headquarters has been in downtown Springfield since 2016. Andy’s has rented a 103-year-old, three-story building with 18,000 square feet of office space located at 211 E. Water St., according to past SBJ reporting. The company leases the space, known for its 14-foot ice cream cone hanging in an atrium, from Clan MacQuarrie LLC, which is owned by the McQueary family. Renovations to the building a decade ago were estimated to cost roughly $3.75 million, according to past reporting.

Kuntz said increasing costs for construction in the current economy – as much as 40% – are prompting him to consider multiple options for the company’s new headquarters. 

Kuntz added, “Just being transparent, it’s just become a lot. And at that point, we’ve just said, hey, we need to see if we can get this done, and, if we can’t, then those are other options that we’re looking at.” 

Kuntz confirmed three options Andy’s is considering: 

• The company could move its headquarters to Kansas City.
• Andy’s might opt to purchase an existing building in Republic or another nearby community. 
• Or the company might relocate to an existing building elsewhere in Springfield.

“I don’t have anybody working in those other areas,” Kuntz said, adding that “we talk to people and talk to brokers and that sort of thing.” 

Kuntz stressed that the company’s overall growth is strong and its hope is to figure out a solution for building a new Springfield headquarters; for example, by reducing the facility design to a one-story building from a two-story plan. He added that the company also wants something “unique” like its existing downtown headquarters. 

“It’s important for me to have, I’ll call it a cool space, a fun working environment where people want to come to work every day,” Kuntz said. “We’re not just here to have another office building that’s generic.” 

Kuntz said Andy’s downtown headquarters has been “great,” with great landlords, but the company is outgrowing the space.  

“It’s just that we’re at capacity, and there’s some different things that we want to incorporate in a new design, a test kitchen and all that stuff,” he said. 

Andy’s bills itself as the world’s largest dessert-only franchise on its website and counts more than 170 locations across 15 states. It originated in 1986 with an Osage Beach store before expanding to Springfield and elsewhere.