In n Out Burger coming to Tennessee (Memphis, Knoxville: closing, price)

[Adamson865]

An opinion column from the LA Times about In-N-Out expanding into Tennessee.

"A Hoover Institution report released last fall showed that 31 California companies moved to Tennessee from 2018 to 2021, trailing only Texas."

https://www.latimes.com/california/s...mpanies-moving

[shinestx]

Tennessee has been 'discovered' (for all the good and bad that implies). The last year saw a net migration of 81,000 inbound residents. This does not include estimated births. The USCB has also given their assessments of all the census counts in the states/territories and TN is one of the five states the Bureau believes was undercounted by more than 200,000 people.

[jabogitlu]

Originally Posted by dontbelievehim

In n out in nashville before portland and seattle. Yeah Right this move is about 'all the californians in Tennessee'. Im sure taxes played a much bigger part in this move. Wonder how much of a tax break they got picking Tennessee over some other eastern states.

Portland and Seattle are difficult to grow into:

1. Existing local chains with dedicated followings (Dick's, Burgermaster, Kidd Valley, etc.)

2. Satisfactory worker retention relies on less net profit to the company's bottom line (Dick's: https://www.ddir.com/employment-2/)

3. I-5 isn't the worst supply chain corridor, but I-40 etc. likely lines up with the company's future expansion plans in the growing southeast US.

4. Acquisition costs (land, materials) in the PNW are very high so a net-lease structure would need very high feasibility rents.


I don't know that states give "tax breaks" to burger companies, but perhaps TN did that? Is there any evidence?

The company does seem to be tracking Californians, at least on the surface. Their move into Medford and Salem underscores this idea.

[N.Cal]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

I don't know that states give "tax breaks" to burger companies, but perhaps TN did that? Is there any evidence?

From the LA Times:


He’s (Bill Lee) not completely wrong. Tennessee has no income tax and fewer regulations than California. There’s also the billions of dollars the state has spent to entice companies to set up shop there.


Nissan got over $200 million to ditch Gardena. Oracle — which left Silicon Valley for Austin in 2020 — will get $240 million for its new Nashville campus via state grants and local reimbursements.


Lee’s press secretary passed me off to someone with the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development when I asked whether the state will offer the same largesse to In-N-Out. That person didn’t get back to me.



I'm guessing yes they did get some kind of tax break.

[jabogitlu]

How odd. A drive through restaurant chain is not quite the same impact as something like Nissan or Oracle.

[N.Cal]

Originally Posted by jabogitlu

How odd. A drive through restaurant chain is not quite the same impact as something like Nissan or Oracle.

They are first opening an eastern corporate office before opening any restaurants. So it's more the "just a drive through restaurant chain".

[JMT]

Originally Posted by N.Cal

They are first opening an eastern corporate office before opening any restaurants. So it's more the "just a drive through restaurant chain".

Exactly. Before they even open up restaurants, they're spending $125 million to build a 100,000 sq ft office building in Franklin with 275 corporate jobs.

[jabogitlu]

Oh, okay. Totally different. I missed that part completely. Thanks!

[Serious Conversation]

It's probably an eastern HQ for further expansion.

I don't know how well it will play. Those burgers look greasy as can be. At least in my neck of the woods, there is plenty of this kind of thing already.

North and east of Knoxville, there is a regional fast food chain called Pal's that makes very good burgers, fries, shakes, and hot dogs. I've never had In and Out, but I had Whataburger for the first time in Florida back in the fall. I felt queasy after eating that and going to the beach. No competition for Pal's. This doesn't look any more appetizing.

[jabogitlu]

Pal's is infinitely superior to In-n-Out. I've never had Whataburger though.

I like that Pal's has intentionally decided to remain a regional business. They focus and invest heavily in ownership and management of their locations and as far as I can tell they bring up their best workers into shift/staff and store management positions.