In-N-Out president and CEO Lynsi Snyder responded to backlash about moving her family to Tennessee as the restaurant company opens an “eastern territory office” in Franklin.
Snyder made the announcement last week on Blaze Media’s Relatable podcast. The clip stirred up controversy to the point that Snyder issued a subsequent announcement on Instagram on Monday to clarify that In-N-Out’s corporate headquarters will remain in Baldwin Park, California.
“Where I raise my family has nothing to do with my love and appreciation for our customers in California,” Snyder said.
Snyder is a third-generation owner of the chain that opened in California in 1948. However, she began as a low-level employee when she was 17 after her father, Harry, died, leaving her the only blood relative. Ten years later, she came into the business as its president.
“I’m very proud of where In-N-Out started, and anyone who knows me, they know how often I talk about where we started and how our customers here in California brought us to where we are today,” Snyder said.
It wasn’t until 1992 that In-N-Out opened its first location outside California. An In-N-Out meat distribution center in Texas is expected to bring future expansion of the chain into Tennessee, which currently does not have any In-N-Out locations. Texas, meanwhile, has boasted a handful of locations since 2011.
Snyder stood by her previous comments that “raising a family is not easy” in California, adding that “doing business is not easy [there] now.”
“There’s so many opportunities for people to own homes in Tennessee and even some of the surrounding states that we could possibly end up in,” Snyder said. “It’s tough here in California, and this doesn’t have to do with my love or loyalty to the state and our customers, but I love our associates, and I would love to offer them this.”
According to Snyder, Tennessee is the farthest east in which the burger chain is willing to franchise.
IN-N-OUT CEO TO LEAVE CALIFORNIA: ‘DOING BUSINESS IS NOT EASY HERE’
The announcement came over a year after In-N-Out closed its Oakland location due to crime. At the time of its closure, the company claimed the location was still profitable.
As California has raised the minimum wage, In-N-Out has raised its prices in the state to keep up.