In-N-Out isn\u2019t your typical burger joint, and it insists expanding its footprint won\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n
For nearly eight decades, the West Coast restaurant chain has remained a private, family-owned company that has cultivated fiercely loyal customers and a quirky identity despite being located in just a handful of states. But recently it\u2019s been on a growing spree that will soon extend as far east as Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Since Lynsi Snyder took over as the California-based company\u2019s president in 2010, its size has nearly doubled, from 230 stores in four states to 402 in eight. In-N-Out Burger is opening in Washington, its ninth state, with New Mexico and Tennessee to follow.<\/p>\n
Snyder said she\u2019s still cautious about expanding too far or too fast and remains focused on keeping prices lower than competitors\u2019. Even before taking the reins, she said she \u201cfelt such an obligation to look out for our customer. When everyone else was taking these jumps, we weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynsi Snyder, the president of In-N-Out Burger, with employees at a Redding, Calif., location in 2019.<\/span>Mike Chapman \/ USA Today Network <\/span><\/p>\n That could be an advantage as the burger wars adapt to an economy still fitfully coming down from a historic run-up of inflation.<\/p>\n Some major fast-food franchises saw underwhelming sales late last year as many diners veered away from drive-thrus to seek better value in grocery aisles. In February, Wendy\u2019s hastened to \u201cclarify\u201d its plan to roll out \u201cdynamic pricing\u201d after customers complained it would mean pricier burgers and fries during busier times.<\/p>\n At In-N-Out, a Double Double \u2014 two beef patties with two slices of cheese \u2014 sells for anywhere from $5.90 to $6.05 in California, the company said.<\/p>\n Unlike In-N-Out, bigger fast-food rivals are franchised, allowing individual store operators to set their own prices, which can often run higher for similarly sized sandwiches. When NBC News recently placed online pickup orders at the closest McDonald\u2019s, Wendy\u2019s and Burger King locations to the same central Los Angeles address, a Big Mac cost $6.59, a Dave\u2019s Single $6.29, and a Whopper $6.49, respectively.<\/p>\n In-N-Out still uses many of the same wholesalers Snyder\u2019s grandfather used in the 1940s and \u201950s, she said. It\u2019s one reason the company has expanded so deliberately; moving into a new region can require striking up new relationships with untested vendors, which risks compromising on quality, price or both.<\/p>\n The company isn\u2019t bucking industry trends with its growth plans. Major quick-service restaurants are also expanding, with McDonald\u2019s, the Chicago sandwich chain Portillo\u2019s and others chasing sales growth by shifting their geographical footprints. But while some larger brands are targeting the Sun Belt, where the populations of several states and cities have swelled since the pandemic, Snyder said In-N-Out is keeping its center of gravity on the West Coast.<\/p>\n That could pose some business challenges, especially in California, where restaurant operators say a new minimum wage for fast-food workers makes it harder to keep menu items affordable. The requirements, which took effect this month, mean companies with at least 60 national locations must pay workers at least $20 an hour. Some have responded by slashing their workforces in the state and warning they\u2019ll pass higher labor costs to diners.<\/p>\n In-N-Out, however, was already paying associates about $20 to $21 an hour. Since the mandated hike, the company said it has increased that range to $23 to $24.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want them to go the extra mile to take care of our customers, so we want to pay them well,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cI\u2019m going to take care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n In-N-Out Burger, founded in 1948, has been a fast-food mainstay in Los Angeles for decades.<\/span>Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n Still, In-N-Out Burger joined a restaurant industry coalition that opposed the California pay law. The company contributed over $12.8 million to Save Local Restaurants, a group that sought to overturn the fast-food minimum wage, according to disclosures the company filed with state authorities. That effort was mooted, though, after the restaurant industry brokered a deal with labor leaders last fall, clearing the way for the pay hike to take effect.<\/p>\n Snyder declined to comment on the campaign against the wage law. A spokesperson for the company said: \u201cIn-N-Out Burger takes pride in offering all associates competitive salaries and wages, bonuses for managers and consideration for promotion from within the organization for qualified associates.\u201d<\/p>\n Snyder\u2019s grandparents founded In-N-Out Burger in 1948 as a tiny stand with a pioneering drive-thru speaker system on what were then the rural outskirts of Los Angeles. The company expanded regionally in the decades that followed, but by the time Lynsi was 17, a series of family tragedies had left In-N-Out without a Snyder at the helm. She started at the company by working the register at a new location in Redding, California, and ascended through various departments \u2014 including meat and merchandising \u2014 before taking control a decade later.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a stigma that can come with being the owner\u2019s kid,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cI think that wanting to be respected, doing it the right way and not having this special treatment is where my mind was.\u201d<\/p>\n She credits that experience with helping her gain confidence to do things her way \u2014 like proudly displaying Bible verses on In-N-Out packaging, or passing up certain tech trends. She has said \u201cno to mobile ordering,\u201d for instance, \u201cbecause that greatly impacts the customer service experience.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that could be cheaper, easier, but that\u2019s not the system we go through,\u201d Snyder explained.<\/p>\n She expects the company to stay private, adding that she\u2019s turned down many would-be buyers. Franchising? Also not going to happen. Snyder said she wants the family legacy to continue, especially now that her eldest son has jumped into the business.<\/p>\n \u201cJust seeing him in his uniform, it\u2019s hard to not be a little bit emotional and wish that my dad or my uncle could see him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n And despite the eastward expansion plans, she said hungry New Yorkers shouldn\u2019t hold out for an In-N-Out in Times Square.<\/p>\n Asked whether the East Coast is on the table, Snyder said, \u201cAs long as I\u2019m around, I\u2019m probably saying never.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In-N-Out isn\u2019t your typical burger joint, and it insists expanding its footprint won\u2019t change that. For nearly eight decades, the West Coast restaurant chain has remained a private, family-owned company that has cultivated fiercely loyal customers and a quirky identity despite being located in just a handful of states. But recently it\u2019s been on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}