In-N-Out Burger was founded way back in 1948 in Baldwin Park, California. It marked the
very first drive-thru restaurant in that state. But as popular as it is, it isn't very likely
that you'll be seeing one of these locations pop up near you, and we've got some pretty
interesting reasons as to why. Here are the 10 Sad Truths Why In-N-Out Isn't Coming to
a City Near You.
The In-N-Out Menu May Be Too Simple
With a plethora of restaurants offering countless items on their menus, perhaps one of the biggest
issues with In-N-Out is the size of their tiny menu. Definitely quaint, this menu offers
very little in terms of change, rarely venturing away from the classic menu they have always
offered since their inception. A few items were added over the years, like the lemonade
and the hot cocoa, but these items appeared only every so often and with a lot of years
in between. The reason for this is quite simple to get to, as the owners of the past, and
the current owners and administration, are all about keeping this restaurant quaint and
homey. Of course also added to this are the many standards they have. And we all know
that the less you have to do, the better you can uphold your standards of operation and
service. This tiny menu might be a definite drawback to many diners and possible consumers
out there, as a wide variety of choice is a huge selling point for many restaurants
like this. The In-N-Out family seems to recognize this, thus the decision to refrain from serious
global expansion.
Standards Are Quite High at In-N-Out
And as we touched on earlier, it's the standards that seem to make expansion quite difficult.
With too many locations to oversee, these standards can suffer quite severely, and it's
this reason specifically why you won't be seeing many In-N-Out locations opening up
near you. You are likely to see fifty more McDonald's locations before seeing a single
In-N-Out, as the standards at McDonald's are considerably lower, as is to be expected of
such a huge chain. With so many locations under their corporation, it's hard to keep
an eye on everything. But here, with In-N-Out, the smaller the reach, the better it is to
manage appropriately.
In-N-Out Doesn't Have Healthy Options
They don't really offer much in terms of healthy food options. Even McDonald's offers some
healthy options on their vast menu: like their grilled chicken and fruit smoothies.
These products do well; especially for locations set up near gyms and other athletic business-oriented
places. Also, healthy food is quite popular in general these days. With everyone counting
macros and calories, this is to be expected. But if health buffs such as this decide to
go to In-N-Out, it better be a cheat day altogether, because they won't be able to stay on the
old diet there. The menu hasn't changed much over the years as we've said, and the regular
burgers and fries are pretty much all that you can expect to find there. This too is
a reason not to expand that far out of their range, as they cannot cater to the health
buffs out there. In-N-Out is more of a place to treat yourself, and the fewer locations
there are, the better. And there's a certain appeal to that.
In-N-Out Staff Is Paid Really Well
This sure isn't a negative thing, as who doesn't want to be paid well? This is obviously a
rhetorical question, as everybody wants to be paid well. Duh. The reason that In-N-Out
pays their employees so well is quite simple. Each employee in the restaurant brigade has
a specific task that they are required to learn in training, and after said training,
they apply what they've learned specifically to their given positions, ranks and job title,
rarely wavering away from their position. This enables them to work effectively as a
team and as a machine, as a kitchen brigade should. Does this mean that their service
is better than the next place? Probably so, as they essentially become specialists of
their own domain. And it doesn't stop at the pay. The salary is just the tip of the iceberg,
as they are all taken care of quite well in terms of health packages and other benefits,
and that goes from the fry cook, all the way up the corporate ladder. So as it turns out,
it's a pretty decent place to work, if you so choose to enter the food industry. But
one other question remains in terms of this point: do you think they'd be able to afford
to take care of their employees as well as they do if they had as many locations as McDonald's?
We didn't think so.
In-N-Out Supply Delivery
This too can be attributed to why you don't see that many locations around the States,
as it makes a lot of sense: everything in their restaurants is made fresh and daily.
Like, the buns are baked fresh and are prepared to satisfy one and all. This is of course
a great thing, as clients can expect to have the best bang for their buck, so to speak,
and trust us when we say that these burgers do create quite the explosive bang when eaten.
The ingredients and items of food preparation are actually made daily at distribution centers
set up near the locations. But this is where the trick is ... they can't be further than
500 miles from the particular restaurant or restaurants they cater to, as the deliveries
must arrive fresh and ready to serve. So, with that said, can you imagine how many distribution
centers there would have to be if the company would expand and set up locations on every
street corner like so many other fast food chains? It would be pandemonium, and of course
their precious standards would no doubt plummet. They seem to have really thought about everything,
haven't they?
In-N-Out Holds the Expansion
Lynsi Snyder, the current president of In-N-Out, hasn't tried to deter the minimalist approach
set up by her ancestors and founding members of the company. She isn't at all hiding the
fact that they will not expand to incredible lengths and levels of approach. A little at
a time seems to be their corporate policy, and it seems to be working quite well for
them, especially seeing that they made an approximate $600 million dollars in 2017,
or thereabouts. So no, they aren't suffering in terms of profits, we'd say. What's the
old expression...? Slow and steady wins the race, right? It seems that this company lives
by that policy. Snyder recently stated that she doesn't think that In-N-Out will be expanding
further than East Texas anytime soon, and that's a serious statement that proves our
point beautifully. Just think of how many Subway, KFC and McDonald's locations will
open in that time (and probably even close)! A minimalist approach indeed.
Being Exclusive Has Appeal
Like a rare gemstone or rare piece of art, being exclusive sure has its appeal. One of
a kind art can sell for millions, and In-N-Out sure isn't the cheapest place to get a burger
if you're so lucky to have one in and around where you live. But yet people still flock
to the locations like they're going out of business, and never mind style! This is because
people in general understand when something is good and of course a bit rare. We're leaving
this up to conjecture here, but please humor us ... if something is too commonplace, readily
available, and offered, as we said before, at every street corner in the center of many
towns across America, then it wouldn't be as sought after. It's called taking things
for granted, It's human nature friends, and it's been happening since the dawn of time.
We take our sources, natural and non, and our products way too lightly. What follows
is waste, over-waste, and of course the dropping of sales for many companies that provide these
resources and of course products. The corporate policy set up by the good people at In-N-Out
prevents this from ever happening. So next time you find yourself raising your fist to
the sky and screaming that you haven't had an In-N-Out burger in ages and can't afford
a trip to where you can get your fix, remember that they approach their business and reach
with a keen and sage mind. You've got to hand it to them, folks.
In-N-Out Plays it Close to the Chest
And yet another big reason as to why you don't see so many of these out there, is that they
will never sell franchises to the general public, meaning that they will never go public.
Places like McDonald's offer out franchises where business people can go out there and
purchase a location and work within the parameters of the McDonald’s corporation to some degree
and earn profits off of the name and the product. But this lowers standards considerably, as
many business people have been known to cut corners every now and again. With so many
franchise locations, salaries differ from place to place, and of course the end result,
being the food, differs from place to place. How many times have you gone to one McDonald’s
location and had a Big Mac, only to see that the middle piece of bread was missing! A travesty,
indeed, but it happens. And why does this happen? Because of a lack of standards. One
owner cannot be like the next, and this reflects badly on the McDonald's corporation as a whole.
Things such as this wouldn't happen with In-N-Out, as they have set up the standard at which
they apply their business and service and can keep an eye on all products and service
at every single location. Not many fast food chains can claim this or even promise this.
Too Much Competition
And with the mention of all of these other franchises out there, the next reason why
you won't see very many In-N-Outs lies in that point as well. There is just so much
competition out there. And not just in the fast food domain alone. These days most restaurants
are fast food oriented, and you as a consumer can pretty much get your burgers and fries
just about anywhere. And although the standards of In-N-Out are so high, the fact that you
have a wide range of options can hurt a place in the long run, even with a place where the
quality is so high. At the end of the day, the price of a certain product speaks volumes,
especially in this fast-paced time and place in our economy and our society. The cheapest
burger probably speaks volumes to the average consumer, and yes, quality starts to climb
down the so-called ladder on our list of priorities. Perhaps the people at In-N-Out see this and
understand it quite well. If they were to open up locations near other places like McDonald's,
KFC, and even Burger King, perhaps they would do well for a time, but the average consumer
that hits the line at the local fast food joint, let's say four times a week, there
is no way they'll be going to In-N-Out as often as they can go to McDonald's, with with
the famed McValue menu at the back of their minds.
Grand Openings Are Too Big Of A Deal
When it comes to the old Grand Opening, nobody does it bigger than In-N-Out. The president
herself comes out and they have to call in star employees to get the new employees trained
and make sure that all openings go off without a hitch. This means flying in employees from
other locations, which obviously costs money. Plane tickets aren't free, right? No sir,
they absolutely aren't! And what’s more, they need security and police present to direct
traffic in the take-out lines and monitors indoors to make sure everything goes smoothly.
If you don't believe this, try to imagine an In-N-Out location opening near you.
The logistics involved in making an opening like this go off without a hitch takes careful
planning, and the people at In-N-Out definitely know what they're doing in that regard. But
this can't happen every other weekend. In fact, this can't even happen every other year.
It takes a lot of money and planning, and after everything we've just uncovered, it
seems like In-N-Out themselves have no intentions to change their minimalistic approach anyways.
It’s been working nicely for them and all the more power to them. Now if you'll excuse
us, we have a plane to catch. Seems as though we can't seem to get over a craving for a
Double Double. Want to join us? You're more than welcome.
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