Tuesday, Dec 13, 2011    Text size: 

CHICAGO — Playboy Enterprises Inc. says the bulk of its publishing operations will be moving to Los Angeles from its chief home in Chicago.

In an announcement late Tuesday, Playboy said the magazine’s editorial, art and photo departments will be based out of its Los Angeles office starting in May.

“No final decisions have been made yet regarding the future of other departments currently based in Chicago,” the company said in a statement.

Some human resources, legal, accounting and other staff will remain in Chicago, while some employees have been asked to relocate to Los Angeles.

But “open key positions” will be hired out of Los Angeles, Playboy said. The company already has 216 workers in Los Angeles.

Playboy has 177 editorial, digital, human resources and accounting employees at its Chicago office at 680 N. Lake Shore Drive, according to Chicago Business.  

A New York office set up in July to handle its licensing business has a handful of employees and is expanding, CEO Scott Flanders said in August.  

The move is not a surprise for industry observers particularly after Playboy announced a lease earlier this year for 45,000 square feet in an office park adjacent to  Beverly Hills' City Hall called The Office at Beverly Hills.

Flanders, who has been Playboy Enterprises' CEO since 2009, also lives in Southern California, while Playboy magazine Editor Jimmy Jellinek moved to Los Angeles in August.

Playboy will occupy a floor and a half at the complex when it starts occupying the building in May.

Playboy's founder, Hugh Hefner, lives just two miles away at his mansion in Holmby Hills.