Californians are very exquisite with their hamburgers. Whether based on market surveys, from Internet or popular on the street, the response of the majority is overwhelming: In-N-Out is their favorite burger restaurant. Far from the name and numbers of global companies such as McDonald's, Five Guys or Burger King, this chain has only 400 restaurants in eight of the country's 50 states, most of them in the West, and serves barely a dozen unchanged products. In its 75 years of life, its success has been slow but resounding and, without leaving family hands, it has never closed any restaurant (with one curious exception: the first, the original, was demolished for the construction of a highway, but was moved very close). However, now neither its burgers and shakes nor the wonderful profits they generate have managed to stop the closure, for the first time, of one of its establishments. Crime in Northern California, in the Bay Area, has caused Oakland's only restaurant to say goodbye.
In-N-Out is so popular in California (as well as in Texas, Arizona, Nevada… and soon in New Mexico and Tennessee) that reports of this first closure opened local newscasts and newspapers. It was known at the end of January, but it was not confirmed until the end of March, when its Oakland location said goodbye on the 25th at one in the morning, after an unstoppable day serving its famous double hamburgers and its Animal Fries, fries fried with fried onion, melted cheese and their secret and delicious Animal sauce. On the 31st, its yellow sign and decorative elements had already disappeared. Only a white building remained.
The famous hamburger restaurant has been forced to close due to the increase in robberies, especially violent ones. Its success is resounding, but it has not stood up to the crime in the area. With more than 27,000 employees nationwide – it is considered one of the best companies to work for – and around 20% margin on its products (at very popular prices, especially since California is one of the most expensive places in the world). planet), it is estimated that last year the company had revenues of 575 million dollars. Their establishments are not franchisees: since they were founded by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948, they have been owned by the Snyder family, whose only heir, their granddaughter, Lynsi Snyder, amasses a fortune that is close to $7 billion, according to Forbes. The increase in the minimum wage in the restaurant sector in California, which became $20 an hour on April 1, has also not affected the chain's income, for the moment.
The Oakland establishment, next to San Francisco, continued to make profits and that is why it was the first to close (in these 75 years several of them have relocated, but never disappeared). “We have realized that the frequency and severity of the crimes faced by our customers and workers leave us no alternatives,” lamented the chain's chief operating officer, Denny Warnick, in a statement reported by the AP agency. “Despite taking repeated steps to create safer conditions, our customers and employees are routine victims of vehicle theft, property damage, robberies and armed robberies,” lamented Warnick, who stated that they could no longer ask no one who went to the establishment, nor “eat or work in an unsafe environment.” The employees have been relocated to nearby establishments or, those who preferred, have been able to leave with compensation.
Although the US has had the violent crime rate falling for more than two years (more than 8.3% in 2023, according to data from cnn, citing the FBI), Oakland has seen an increase in violent crime, as much as 21% last year compared to 2022. In addition, fentanyl is rampant in the area. The terrible opioid, 50 times more powerful than heroin, whose consumption has already been declared an epidemic, runs rampant through the city. It is fast and cheap, and it is estimated that in the country one person dies every five minutes due to its consumption; It has already killed more Americans than the Vietnam and Afghanistan wars combined. In Oakland, news about seizures and overdoses is constant, and assaults and robberies are related to all of this.
Something that has caused companies such as the Starbucks coffee shop or the Target supermarket to close in the area; another fast food chain, Denny's, has announced that they are the next to go. Its mayor, Sheng Thao, has stated on local television that they have added more police officers to patrols, but that they know they must do more. In addition to being the only one in the city, this extinct In-N-Out was very close to the Oakland airport, a key point in the bay area, as it is just 20 minutes from the center of San Francisco and has a volume of around 11 million passengers annually. Upon landing, they will no longer eat hamburgers.
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#Crime #fentanyl #damage #California39s #burger #king