Crime and fentanyl hit California’s king of burgers

Californians are pretty particular when it comes to their burgers. Whether it is based on the market, internet or random street surveys, the answer from the majority is overwhelming: In-N-Out is their favorite burger joint. A far cry from the household names and numbers of global companies like McDonald’s, Five Guys or Burger King, this chain operates only 400 restaurants in eight of the country’s 50 states, mostly in the West, and only serves a dozen or so regular products. In its 75 years of existence, its success has been slow but steady and, without leaving family hands, it has never closed any restaurants (with one curious exception: the first, the original one, was demolished for the construction of a highway, but was relocated very close by). However, now neither its burgers and shakes nor the handsome profits they generate have managed to stall the closure of one of its establishments for the first time. Crime in Northern California’s Bay Area has forced Oakland’s only restaurant to call it a day.

In-N-Out is so popular in California (also in Texas, Arizona, Nevada and it soon will be in New Mexico and Tennessee) that reports of this first shutdown have made headlines in the local news. Rumors surfaced in late January, but were not confirmed until late March, when their Oakland location bid farewell on the 25th at 1 a.m., after a non-stop day of serving their famous double burgers and Animal Fries, French fries with fried onions, melted cheese and their secret and delicious Animal Sauce. By March 31, the famous yellow sign and decorative elements were gone. Only a white building remained.

The famous hamburger restaurant has been forced to close following a surge in robberies, especially violent ones. Despite its tremendous success, it has not been able to endure the rampant crime in the area. With more than 27,000 employees nationwide — it is believed to be one of the best companies to work for — and around 20% margin on its products (at highly affordable prices, especially as California is one of the most expensive places on the planet), the company had an estimated revenue of $575 million last year. Its stores are not franchised: since being founded by Harry and Esther Snyder in 1948, they have been owned by the Snyder family, whose sole heiress, granddaughter Lynsi Snyder, has amassed a fortune of nearly $7 billion, according to Forbes. The increase in the minimum wage in the restaurant industry in California, which was raised to $20 an hour on April 1, has also not affected the chain’s revenues for the time being.

The Oakland establishment, near San Francisco, was still making a profit and was therefore the first to close (in these 75 years many of them have been relocated, but have never closed). “We feel the frequency and severity of the crimes being encountered by our customers and associates leave us no alternative,” regretted the chain’s chief operating officer, Denny Warnick, in a statement published by Associated Press. “Despite taking repeated steps to create safer conditions, our customers and associates are regularly victimized by car break-ins, property damage, theft, and armed robberies,” bemoaned Warnick, who said they could no longer ask anyone to come to the establishment, not even “to visit or work in an unsafe environment.” Employees have been relocated to nearby establishments or, for those who preferred, have had the opportunity to depart with a severance payment.

Despite the fact that the U.S. has seen violent crime rates falling for more than two years (down more than 8.3% in 2023, according to CNN data, which cites the FBI), Oakland has experienced an uptick in violent crime, up as much as 21% last year over 2022. In addition, fentanyl is on the loose in the area. The terrible opiate, 50 times more powerful than heroin, whose use has now been declared an epidemic, is rampant in the city. The drug is fast acting and cheap, and it is estimated that one person in the country dies every five minutes from its use. It has already killed more Americans than the Vietnam War and Afghanistan combined. In Oakland, news of seizures and overdoses is continuous, and muggings and robberies have been linked to the drug.

This has prompted businesses such as Starbucks and the supermarket Target to close in the area; another fast-food chain, Denny’s, has announced that it will be the next to leave. The mayor of Oakland, Sheng Thao, said on local television that they have placed more police on patrol, but they understand that more needs to be done. In addition to being the only one in the city, this shut-down In-N-Out site was very close to Oakland Airport, a key Bay Area hub, as it is just 20 minutes from downtown San Francisco and has a throughput of about 11 million passengers annually. When landing, visitors will no longer be grabbing burgers on their way in.

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