In-N-Out Burger (37 page)

“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.

“Led by the company's longtime general counsel Arnold Wensinger,”:
Stephen Gregory, “Lessons and Insight on Southland Businesses, Outsized; Small Firms Feel Pinch of More Aggressive Trademark Policing,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 7, 1998.

“In December 2000, In-N-Out Burger filed a federal lawsuit”:
Caleb Correa, “Double Double Talk,”
Phoenix New Times
, December 21, 2000; “Lawsuit Claims Burger Infringement,” Associated Press, June 1, 2001;
In-N-Out Burger v. Whataburger Inc.
(U.S. D.C. Ariz. 2000), 2:00-cv-02285-JAT.

“In-N-Out took its trademarks very seriously.”:
Ibid.

“In-N-Out sued them in September 2003, days after the Rizzas opened an In & Go Burger”:
Edward Russo, “Burger Chain Says ‘In & Go' Is Out of Line,”
Register-Guard
, September 12, 2003.

“Rather than fight it out in court, the Rizzas settled with In-N-Out.”:
Edward Russo, “After In-N-Out Feud, Owner Sticks with & Burger,”
Register-Guard,
October 13, 2003.

“But shortly after Chadder's opened, In-N-Out began receiving inquiries from customers”:
“Memorandum Decision and Order Granting in Part Plaintiff's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order,”
In-N-Out Burger v. Chadders Restaurant…and Chad Stubbs
, 2:07-CV–394 TS (C.D. Utah 2007); Sara Israelsen, “Chadder's Eatery in American Fork Denies Imitating In-N-Out Burgers,”
Deseret Morning News
, June 26, 2007.

“Once there, In-N-Out's attorney stood in line and ordered”:
“Memorandum Decision and Order Granting in Part Plaintiff's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order,”
In-N-Out Burger v. Chadders Restaurant…and Chad Stubbs
, 2:07-CV–394 TS (C.D. Utah 2007), 3.

“News of the lawsuit spread quickly.”:
“Memorandum Decision and Order Granting in Part Plaintiff's Motion for Temporary Restraining Order,”
In-N-Out Burger v. Chadders Restaurant…and Chad Stubbs
, 2:07-CV–394 TS (C.D. Utah 2007); Grace Leong, “A.F. Chadder's Restaurant Sued,”
Daily Herald
, June 20, 2007.

“We don't want to be known as a bully, especially in the legal field.”:
Stephen Gregory, “Lessons and Insight on Southland Businesses, Outsized; Small Firms Feel Pinch of More Aggressive Trademark Policing,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 7, 1998.

CHAPTER
23

“Among those gathered at the pre-opening party was Harry Snyder's nephew”:
Deirdre Newman, “In-N-Out Reaches Milestone in Temecula: 200th Store,”
North County Times
, December 30, 2005.