At that time, some of the Bolton & Hay restaurants were still in operation.  However,   due to the expansion of the downtown Des Moines area, all of the Bolton & Hay restaurants were sold by the late 1960s.  Over 50 million customers were served over the lifetime of the restaurants.  Upon their closing, the focus shifted to the foodservice supply and equipment part of the business.

With full concentration on the foodservice equipment aspect of the company came a complicated decision.  In 1962 the Federal Government chose the location of Bolton & Hay headquarters in downtown Des Moines to build a new office building.  The company had to move, but the question was whether to simply relocate to a different location or build an entirely new facility. 

Due to their sheet metal shop and cabinet shop operations Bolton & Hay was classified under industrial zoning, limiting the amount of possible locations.  After examining many buildings, the decision was made to build a new Bolton & Hay building at 2701 Delaware Avenue.  This new 30,000 square foot building featured a showroom, warehouse, offices, cabinet shop, sheet metal shop, and butcher shop, and was very modern for its time.  

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