In-N-Out Moving Out

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The head of a California institution calls it quits to living in California. In-N-Out Burger, one of the best burgers in the world and an icon of California, is moving its buns to another state.

Lynsi Snyder, the heiress to the burger company, has decided that she is relocating her family from California to Tennessee, months after the popular burger chain broke ground in its eastern expansion.

This is just another example of how California is making things hard for businesses to want to stay here. Thanks again, Democrats. The good news is that they're not closing up their California stores (at least not yet). Still, the head of the company is getting out. She has been the company's president since 2010 and lived in California all the time.

"There's a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here," Snyder shared on Allie Beth Stuckey's "Relatable" podcast. "Doing business is not easy here. We're building an office in Franklin, so I'm actually moving out there," Snyder added. Franklin, Tennessee is just a bit south of Nashville.

The In-N-Out company is family owned, founded by Snyder's grandparents Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948. Lynsi is their granddaughter. The Snyder's started California's first "drive-thru" hamburger stand. They're known for their authenticity, thanks to its focus on quality and consistency since their inception. The simple and straightforward menu features fresh, never-frozen beef patties, hand-cut fries, and real ice cream shakes. This "quality you can taste" philosophy has helped the brand stand out in an industry where many competitors follow trends.

In-N-Out values are deeper than the food. They support charities like the In-N-Out Burger Foundation, which helps abused and at risk children. They're values are authentic too, rooted in their Christian faith and are reflected in the fact that they are not open on religious holidays so that their employees can spend time with their families.

Snyder mentioned several problems with doing business in the state of California ranging from crime to the San Francisco Department of Public Health's requirement to make restaurants check customers' vaccine cards during the Coronavirus pandemic. "There were so many pressures and just hoops we were having to jump through," Snyder said.

"You've got to do this, you have to wear a mask, you gotta put this plastic thing up between us and our customers and it was really terrible you know. And I look back and I'm like, ‘Man, maybe we should have just pushed [back] even harder on some of that stuff and dealt with all of the legal backlash.'"

In-N-Out's refusal to check vaccine cards shut down stores in San Francisco for a "brief moment, but it's worth it," Snyder added. Snyder also closed a store in Oakland because it was in an "absolutely dangerous" area. Gunshots went through the store and there was a stabbing, she said.

So In-N-Out joins the list of businesses that have said bye-bye to California in recent years. Tesla, Oracle, Chevron, and Hewlett Packard to name a few. More than 350 businesses have left the not-so golden state.

When a state loses the big companies it's bad enough, but when the best hamburger joint in the west leaves, well, you know you've really got a problem.

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