In-N-Out Burger

by Stacy Perman

  “When Richard was killed”: Myrna Oliver, “Esther Snyder,” Los Angeles Times, August 6, 2006.

  CHAPTER 18

  “Every year, since she was two years old, he had made a special date”: Comments made by Esther Snyder during her eulogy at memorial for Rich Snyder, Phil West, and Jack Sims, held at the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, December 23, 1993 (videotape).

  “Without a legal arrangement in place removing Guy Snyder”: Esther L. Snyder Trust–1989, pages 3–4 and paragraph 5.6, page 10.

  “Among the many tragedies and pieces of unfinished business”: Esther L. Snyder Trust–1989, paragraph 10.1.1, page 19.

  “When Rich took it on, it was a nice little place with a ’50s style,”: Stacy Perman, “Fat Burgers,” Los Angeles, February 2004.

  “My life has changed quite a bit.”: Comments made by Guy Snyder during his eulogy at memorial for Rich Snyder, Phil West, and Jack Sims, held at the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, December 23, 1993 (videotape).

  “Guy believes we need to have the time to train people properly”: Greg Johnson, “More than Fare,” Los Angeles Times, August 15, 1997.

  “Puzder went on to work for Carl’s Jr.”: Jim Keohane, “Fat Profits,” Conde Nast Portfolio, January 1, 2008; “Karcher Executive Indicted,” Associated Press, February 20, 1989; John Emshwiller, “Carl Karcher Head and 15 Others Charged by SEC,” Wall Street Journal, April 15, 1988; “Settlement in Carl’s Jr. Case,” Associated Press, July 26, 1989.

  “the law firm’s trust work resulted in ‘significant confusion, ambiguity and expense’”: Greg Johnson, “4 In-N-Out Burger Execs Sue Over Trust Language,” Los Angeles Times, July 17, 1996.

  CHAPTER 19

  “the chain was generating an estimated $133 million in sales.”: Sales figure estimate from Technomic Inc.

  “$74.3 billion fast-food industrial complex”: Charlene C. Price, “Foodservice Sales Reflect the Prosperous, Time-Pressed 1990’s,” Food Review, September–December 2000.

  “McDonald’s had swelled to thirteen thousand stores”: Technomic Inc.

  “McDonald’s opened new stores in Kuwait and Egypt.”: McDonald’s corporate history, http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/about/mcd_history_pg1/mcd_history_pg5.html.

  “Burger King, which had opened its first international franchise”: Excerpt from an S–1 SEC filing, filed by Burger King Holdings Inc. on February 16, 2006.

  “opening of store number ten thousand”: “Burger King Corporation Announces the Opening of the Company’s 10,000th Restaurant,” Burger King Corporation press release, November 6, 1998.

  “He had taken his Southern California chain”: Carl Karcher Enterprises corporate history, http://www.ckr.com/about_history.html#80s.

  “Six years later, of the 561 Carl’s Jr. restaurants,”: Anne Michaud, “New Franchise Strategy Unveiled by Carl Karcher Fast-Food Industry,” Los Angeles Times, November 17, 1990.

  “the chain was earning $575 million annually.”: Sales figure from Technomic Inc.

  “He invested heavily in real estate in Anaheim”: Eric Malnic, “Carl Karcher, 90; Entrepreneur Turned Hot Dog Stand into a Fast-Food Empire,” Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2008; Joe Keohane, “Fat Profits,” Conde Nast, February 2008; Kelly Barron, “A New Burger Combo Deal,” Orange County Register, April 29, 1997; Mark Schoifet, “Carl Karcher, Founder of Carl’s Jr. Chain, Dies at 90,” Bloomberg, January 12, 2008.

  “After Taco Bell introduced the concept of value pricing”: “55-cent Big Macs May Ignite Fast-Food Price War,” San Jose Mercury News, February 27, 1997; “Taco Bell Restarts Value Wars in Fast Food Industry,” PR Newswire, June 28, 1996.

  “By 1997, the fast-food industry reached $109.5 billion”: Mark D. Jekanowski, “Causes and Consequences of Fast Food Sales Growth,” Food Review, January–April 1999; Barnaby J. Feder, “McDonald’s Still Finds There’s Still Plenty of Room to Grow,” New York Times, January 9, 1994; “Bigger Portions Being Thrown as Global Fast-Food Fight Heats Up,” Press-Telegram, March 8, 1996.

  “in 1996 McDonald’s introduced the Arch Deluxe,”: Arthur Lubow, “Steal This Burger,” New York Times, April 19, 1998; Stuart Elliott, “Another Agency Creates Ads for McDonald’s Adult Burger,” New York Times, August 16, 1996.

  “there were 116 In-N-Out Burger drive-throughs”: Sales figures estimated by Technomic Inc.

  “Taylor began working at In-N-Out Burger in 1984”: Ex Parte Application to Compel Richard Boyd to Surrender Trust Property to Mark J. Taylor, BP 0956395 (S.C. Calif.), 12.

  “police officers in Claremont”: The People of the State of California v. Defendant Harry Guy Snyder, 6PM00465 (M.C. Pomona 1999).

  “On January 23, 1997, Guy and Lynda Snyder’s divorce became final.”: Los Angeles Supreme Court Civil Court summary.

  CHAPTER 20

  “On October 27, 1997, Tom Wright was stopped at the San Ysidro Port”: United States of America v. William Thomas Wright, 3:97cr–03353-RBB–1 (U.S. D.C. Calif. 1997).

  “In December, two months after his arrest, Tom Wright”: Ibid.

  “The disease, often cited as the source of King George III”: T. Cox, N. Jack, S. Lofthouse, J. Watling, J. Haines, M. Warren, “King George III and Porphyria: An Elemental Hypothesis and Investigation,” The Lancet, vol. 366, issue 9482 (July 23–29, 2005), 332–335.

  “Guy made arrangements to obtain a legal order”: Order Approving Trustee’s Petition Re Construction of Trust Instrument…In Re the Matter of Esther L. Snyder Trust—1989, KP005531 (S.C. Calif. 1997).

  “Three cotrustees were named:”: Ibid., 2.

  “The new agreement was set up in such a way that no new successor”: Ibid.

  “Others concluded that it was Lynsi’s mother, Lynda,”: In-N-Out v. Richard Boyd and Michael Anthony Concrete and Richard Boyd v. INO et al., BC345657 (S.C. Calif 2006), paragraph 5, page 4.

  “In February 1997, the chain unseated Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers”: Daniel Puzo, “17th Annual Choice in Chains,” Restaurants & Institutions, February 1997.

  “Wendy’s had about 4,757 stores across the United States,”: Number of stores compiled by Technomic Inc.

  “was competing with all of the large national chains,”: Daniel Puzo, “17th Annual Choice in Chains,” Restaurants & Institutions, February 1997.

  “At seventy-seven, she was inducted into the California Restaurant Association’s Hall of Fame.”: California Restaurant Association.

  “In the spring of 1999, he came down with pneumonia,”: Described in the investigator’s report, County of Los Angeles Department of Coroner, case #99–087274; information source Lynda Snyder ex-wife of decedent, Deputy Brooks Lancaster Police station report #99–50153–1126–491, and Antelope Valley Hospital, December 5, 1999.

  “throughout 1999, Lynda was involved in Guy’s hospitalizations”: Ibid.

  “Sheriff’s deputies, who had arrived on the scene”: Andrew Bluth and Chris Knap, “Life of Fast Food, Cars Came to an Early Halt,” Orange County Register, February 6, 2000.

  “He was a hell of a guy.”: Stacy Perman, “Fat Burgers,” Los Angeles, February 2004.

  “The Los Angeles County Coroner’s office performed an autopsy”: County of Los Angeles Department of Coroner, case # 99–08274, December 5, 1999.

  “On February 6, 2000, two months after Guy died, the story of his arrest”: Andrew Bluth and Chris Knap, “Life of Fast Food, Cars Came to an Early Halt,” Orange County Register, February 6, 2000.

  “At the time of Guy Snyder’s death, In-N-Out Burger had grown”: Ibid.

  “It was earning an estimated $212 million”: Sales figures estimated by Technomic; growth percentages averaged taken from Technomic sales figures.

  CHAPTER 21

  “Don’t let her age fool you,”: Greg Hernandez, “In-N-Out to Stay Private GM Says,” Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1999.

  “Esther is very, very tired.”: Greg Hernandez, “Family-Owned In-N-Out at a Crossroads,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2000.

  “I
’m sure there would be no shortage of potential buyers,”: Greg Hernandez, “In-N-Out Exec’s Death Raises Succession Questions,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1999.

  “only 30 percent of all family businesses”: The Family Business Forum at the University of North Carolina.

  “the $107.1 billion fast-food industry.”: National Restaurant Association.

  “Johnny Rockets, a successful chain of retro diners.”: Johnny Rockets corporate history; Amy Spector and Richard Martin, “Ronn Teitelbaum, Johnny Rockets Founder, Dies at 61,” Nation’s Restaurant News, September 25, 2000.

  “But in 1995, with about sixty shops, Teitelbaum sold”: Amy Spector and Richard Martin, “Ronn Teitelbaum, Johnny Rockets Founder; Dies at 61,” Nation’s Restaurant News, September 25, 2000.

  “Twelve years later Red Zone Capital Fund II”: David Cho, “Snyder Buys Johnny Rockets Diner Chain,” Washington Post, February 10, 2007.

  “By then there were 213 stores across the United States”: “Johnny Rockets Names Lee Sanders New President and CEO,” Johnny Rockets press release, May 24, 2007, http://www.johnnyrockets.com/aboutus/press.php?id=160.

  “news of the ‘new economy’ propelled by technology.”: The newspaper proclaimed that the Internet was a “gold mine,” and headlines trumpeted “Rally Heard Round the World, Dow Jones Industrial Average Skyrockets as Bull Market Continues,” and “Strong Job, Pay Figures Fuel Stock Market Rise.” All headlines from the Los Angeles Times, week of December 4, 1999.

  “We have a team of people out in our stores that are all similarly committed,”: Greg Hernandez, “Family-Owned In-N-Out at a Crossroads,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2000.

  “(Ammerman later went on to serve on the boards of Carl Karcher Enterprises”: Company information, Carl Karcher Enterprises and Quicksilver.

  “Lynsi would not begin to receive shares”: Declaration of the Esther L. Snyder Trust–1989, paragraph 5.9, page 11; Declaration of Lynsi Snyder Trust–1989, paragraph 3.2, page 2.

  “Lynsi also became the sole beneficiary of the Harry Guy Snyder Testamentary Trust.”: In Re the Estate of Harry Guy Snyder, BP066610 (S.C. Calif. 2003), paragraph 4, page 2.

  “Its primary assets were a 70 percent interest”: Ibid., 2–10.

  “Guy put in a stipulation that his daughter not receive any of his Porsches”: Will of Harry Guy Snyder, May 18, 1999, 3.

  “Lynsi was entitled to a third of this trust upon turning thirty,”: In Re the Estate of Harry Guy Snyder, BP066610 (S.C. Calif. 2003), paragraph B, page 5.

  “Guy’s thirteen-page last will and testament,”: Will of Harry Guy Snyder, May 18, 1999, 8–13.

  “Guy did bequeath gifts to a select few.”: Ibid., 2.

  “Perhaps underlining just how close the two men had become,”: Ibid., paragraph 5.1, page 9.

  “Since breaking her hip while in Redding for the store opening”: In-N-Out v. Richard Boyd and Michael Anthony Concrete and Richard Boyd v. INO et al., BC345657 (S.C. Calif 2006), paragraph 30, page 8.

  “Years earlier she had undergone heart surgery,”: “Opposition to Motion to Compel Compliance with Subpoena for Deposition of Esther Snyder,” In Re the Matter of Esther L. Snyder Trust–1989; declarations of James P. Larsen, MD, and Kenneth R. Jutzy, MD, BP095380, April 4, 2006; signed letter from Dr. Larsen to Esther’s attorney James Morris, February 22, 2006.

  “Owing to her failing health, in February 2000, Esther bowed out”: Greg Hernandez, “Family-Owned In-N-Out at a Crossroads,” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2000.

  “She’s wonderful. She’s so into the people of the company.”: Ibid.

  “mature and had sufficient experience to successfully manage the company.”: In-N-Out v. Richard Boyd and Michael Anthony Concrete and Richard Boyd v. INO et al., BC345657 (S.C. Calif 2006).

  “it was Lynda who telephoned Esther to inform her that Guy had died.”: As described in the investigator’s report, County of Los Angeles Department of Coroner, case #99–087274; information source Lynda Snyder ex-wife of decedent, Deputy Brooks Lancaster Police station report #99–50153–1126–491, and Antelope Valley Hospital, December 5, 1999.

  “Lynda was said to have become deeply involved”: In-N-Out v. Richard Boyd and Michael Anthony Concrete and Richard Boyd v. INO et al., BC345657 (S.C. Calif 2006), paragraph 5, page 4.

  “The church’s founder Steven A. Radich,”: Description comes from the Successful Christian Living Church’s website, http://www.scliamc.com/(last accessed July 2008, site now discontinued).

  “all assets of trusts—including all of the shares of In-N-Out stock”: Declaration of the Lynsi Snyder Trust–1989, paragraphs 3.3, 3.4, pages 3,4; In-N-Out v. Richard Boyd and Michael Anthony Concrete and Richard Boyd v. INO et al., BC345657 (S.C. Calif 2006), paragraph 28, page 8; “Petition of Co-Trustee Richard Boyd,” In Re the Matter of Esther L. Snyder Trust–1989, BP095380 (S.C. Calif 2005), paragraph 9 (a), (b), (c), (d), pages 8–9.

  “Soon, the couple were said to have become deeply involved in the Successful Christian Living Church.”: In-N-Out v. Richard Boyd and Michael Anthony Concrete and Richard Boyd v. INO et al., BC345657 (S.C. Calif 2006), paragraph 49, page 13.

  CHAPTER 22

  “By 2000, the chain had grown to 142 stores,”: Sales figures estimated by Technomic Inc.

  “there were nine hundred applicants for seventy positions.”: Holly Skla, “Raw Deal for Workers on Minimum Wage Anniversary,” June 25, 2003, http://www.commondreams.org.

  “Fast-food sales in the United States, well on their way to approaching $150 billion,”: National Restaurant Association.

  “McDonald’s, which was at one time considered such an American icon”: David Grainger, “Can McDonald’s Cook Again?” Fortune, April 14, 2003.

  “In 2002, fast food ranked dead last on the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index”: University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2002/Feb02/chr021902.

  “Schlosser’s best-selling Fast Food Nation was published in 2001.”: Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books, 2001).

  “Three years later, Morgan Spurlock released his documentary”: Super Size Me, released May 7, 2004.

  “Outbreaks of E. coli”: Numerous reports linked fast food with E. coli in the early 1990s, including B. P. Bell, et al., “A Multistate Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7-Associated Bloody Diarrhea and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome from Hamburgers. The Washington Experience,” Journal of the American Medical Association, November 2, 1994.

  “mad cow disease”: Among the many reports about the impact of mad cow disease on fast food was Matt Kranz, “Mad Cow Socks Fast-Food,” USA Today, May 20, 2003.

  “connections to obesity”: “TV, Lots of Fast Food Triple Obesity Risk,” http://www.cnn.com/Health, March 10, 2003.

  “In January 2003, McDonald’s posted its first ever quarterly loss”: “Cowed to Change,” Economist, April 8, 2003.

  “CEO Jim Cantalupo oversaw the company’s comeback strategy,”: Ibid.

  “In 2002, McDonald’s established its ‘Dollar Menu.’”: Melanie Warner, “Salads or No, Cheap Burgers Revive McDonald’s,” New York Times, April 19, 2006.

  “McDonald’s poached four-star chef Dan Coudreaut”: “Big Mac: Inside the McDonald’s Empire,” CNBC, July 25, 2007.

  “In 2004, the company announced a complete store redesign”: Pallavi Gogoi, et al., “Mickey D’s McMakeover,” Businessweek, May 15, 2005.

  “In 2003, sales reached an estimated $302 million,”: Sales estimates from Technomic Inc. and percentage growth rate based on those figures.

  “In May 2003, the company quietly settled a lawsuit”: Andrew Galvin, “Irvine, Calif.-Based In-N-Out Burger Settles E. Coli Lawsuit,” Knight-Ridder Tribune, May 6, 2003.

  “Vegetarians In Paradise, staged a protest”: “Say no to In-N-Out Burger,” March 1, 2003, http://www.vegparadise.com/news28.html.


  “their earnest protest was ‘greeted with a giant wave of indifference.’”: “Check Out a Burger at Your Local Library,” April 2, 2003, http://www.vegparadise.com/news29.html.

  “Becoming literate may help our youth learn about healthy eating,”: Ibid.

  “The French are jealous”: John Tierney, “The Big City; French Chefs Cast an Eye on Le Big Mac,” New York Times, July 18, 2000.

  “Boulud’s entry the ‘debut of the gourmet hamburger.’”: John Kessler, “Highfalutin Hamburgers,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 7, 2005.

  “The Old Homestead, reputedly the oldest steakhouse in Manhattan,”: Greg Morago, “Burger Boom,” Hartford Courant, August 29, 2006.

  “And the French came to embrace the hamburger too”: Jane Sigal, “In Paris, Burgers Turn Chic,” New York Times, July 16, 2008.

  “a great California institution.”: Patrick McGeehan, “The Red Carpet Leads to Drive-Through,” New York Times, March 7, 2004.

  “a ‘sprinkling of magic dust’”: Josh Sens, “Prix Fixe to the People Thomas Keller Goes Populist with His New Restaurant, Ad Hoc,” San Francisco, January 2007.

  “Did just that at In-N-Out Burger/No pickles, no onions, no playin,’”: Andre Nickatina, “Cadillac Girl,” Hell’s Kitchen (Million Dollar Dream, 2002).

  “The Big Lebowski,”: directed by Joel and Ethan Coen (Polygram and Working Title Films, 1998).

  “heading straight to an In-N-Out”: Patrick McGeehan, “The Red Carpet Leads to Drive-Through,” New York Times, March 7, 2004.

  “a sixty-two-year-old Texas businessman named James Van Blaricum”: David Wethe, “Burger Dreams Toppled in In-N-Out Court Clash,” Dallas Business Journal, March 22, 2002.

  “Van Blaricum allegedly set out to reproduce In-N-Out’s extraordinary success”: Ibid.; Steve McLinden, “Irving Man Denies He Copied Chain’s Burgers,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 19, 2002; (U.S. D.C. Calif.), 8:01-cv-00944-DOC-An.

  “The suit was settled on February 14, 2002.”: In-N-Out Burgers v. Lightning Burgers, et al. (U.S. D.C. Calif. 2000).

  “couldn’t prove anything.”: Steve McLinden, “Irving Man Denies He Copied Chain’s Burgers,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, April 19, 2002.