Wheeling novelty sock company growing to produce 20,000 pairs daily

Apparently, the sock business is good.

Every day, Living Royal Inc. in Wheeling manufactures about 10,000 pairs of novelty socks, each decorated with designs of kittens wearing cowboy hats, pepperoni pizzas, celebrity caricatures and even blank ones to be colored with Crayola markers. The list goes on.

The company counts numerous celebrities among its fans, including Chicago Cubs player Ben Zobrist and his wife Julianna, reality TV stars Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi and Khloe Kardashian, and pop singer Miley Cyrus, to name just a few.

Now, owners have plans to move to a larger building at 333 W. Hintz Road, just a half mile south of its current facility on Wheeling Road, and double production to 20,000 pairs daily.

The company intends to complete more than $200,000 in upgrades to the approximately 17,000-square-foot facility that will serve as a hub for manufacturing, warehousing and distributing socks. Eventually, Living Royal wants to increase its workforce to 122 full-time employees from its current 47.

To help with the expansion, Wheeling officials this week recommended approval of a 6b property tax classification, which is a Cook County tax break intended to spur growth in industrial areas.

The incentive allows the property to be taxed at an assessed rate of 10 percent for 10 years, 15 percent in the eleventh year and 20 percent in the twelfth year. After the 12-year period, the property will be assessed at the standard 25 percent rate.

Cook County commissioners have the final decision on the tax incentive.

“We are delighted to assist Living Royal in the expansion of their business in Wheeling,” Director of Economic Development John Melaniphy said in an email. “This is a textbook example of how the class 6b facilitates occupancy of a vacant industrial building and assists a Wheeling business grow in the process.”

Village board members also recommend approval of a 6b tax break for Venture One Real Estate to buy an approximately 80,000-square-foot vacant building at 500-502 Glenn Ave. The real estate firm intends to complete more than $400,000 in improvements to the aging facility built in 1960 and lease the property to WORLDPAC, a subsidiary of Advance Auto Parts.

WORLDPAC imports and delivers equipment and replacement parts to service centers. It's expanding in the U.S. and Canada to increase its distribution capabilities, officials said.