Every so often — not as often as I'd like, of course — I allow myself an In-n-Out Burger. In case you live outside the few states where one can get such a thing, In-n-Out Burger is a chain of fast food burger shrines that does a small menu but does it right. It's hamburgers, fries, soft drinks, milk shakes, milk, coffee and nothing else. No turkey burgers, no chicken sandwiches or nuggets, no salads…you can't even get hot tea at an In-n-Out. What you can get is a hamburger done right. The beef is never frozen, the potatoes for the fries are cut fresh on the premises (you can watch them do this) and everything is done with more expertise than you see in a place that hires minimum-wage teens to crank out pre-fab food. There's something almost inspirational to see that it's possible to build a business without anything artificial and still make a real profit.
One reason for the quality control is that In-n-Out does not franchise — every one is company-owned, company-operated — and they do not expand too fast. So it's unnerving to hear that there is strife and open warfare within the family that owns this fine chain and that it may lead to serious expansion. According to this article in the L.A. Times (which may make you register), a power struggle is in progress and those never end well. The folks who will probably win it sooner or later want to bring in new management that will grow the chain and maximize income…something the old management has never done since the first stand was opened in 1948.
Is this beginning of the end for In-n-Out Burger? Probably not. Fatburger went from a couple of outlets to many without seriously compromising their product. Of course, I do recall that a brief attempt some years ago to expand my once-favorite local burger joint, Cassell's, into a chain was a disaster. All the new ones they opened closed rapidly because as was quite evident to all of those who flocked to them, they'd abandoned the basic principles and standards that had made the first one work. Today, only that first, original outlet of Cassell's remains…with new ownership and reduced quality. So I'm just the tiniest bit worried.