US RESTAURANT chains are well known all across the globe and In-N-Out is no different to the rest.
But where did it all start?
Harry Snyder, a Canadian-born businessman, and his wife Esther, founded the company back in 1948 in sunny California, Los Angeles.
While they didn’t run the restaurant out of their own home, in the suburb of Baldwin Park, Esther handled all the accounting for the business from there.
The restaurant itself was run from a 10-foot-wide hamburger stand around the corner from them and Harry would visit all the local meat and produce markets to hand-pick fresh ingredients each morning.
In the same year that the restaurant opened, Harry came up with the idea of a two-way speaker system from his own garage.
It allowed customers to place orders without ever leaving their vehicles or speaking to an employee face-to-face, making it increasingly convenient for them to get their order quickly and without a hassle.
Now, In-N-Out is described as California’s first ever drive-through, paving the way for others.
By the mid-1950s, people caught on to the quality of Harry’s burgers and the brand grew, expanding to six stores across Los Angeles.
And it only got bigger from there. By the time Harry passed away in 1976 from lung cancer at the age of 63, the company had expanded to 18 stores.
At this time, Harry’s son Rich took over and carried on his father’s legacy.
Rich introduced the first customer service line, ensuring they always had a direct line with people. It meant they could always keep tabs on what people did and didn’t like and what they thought would do well on the menu.
Under his reign, the group grew to 93 stores across America.
Unfortunately, following this opening, Rich and four other passengers died in a plane crash. After this, Rich’s brother Guy took over the company.
Guy opened the 100th restaurant in the chain before passing away in 1999, prompting his mother Esther to take the reins.
Following Esther’s death in 2006, Harry and Esther’s only living grandchild, Lynsi, took over the company.
Lynsi is still the owner and president today.
According to Forbes, as of April 2023 her net worth is $4.2 billion (£3.38 billion). And in 2018, the same publication estimated that the company is valued at $3 billion (2.41 billion).
As of March 2023, there are 389 In-N-Out locations in the US.
