Lynsi Snyder of In-N-Out Announces Move from California to Tennessee

In-N-Out’s billionaire owner, Lynsi Snyder, is moving her family out of California — the state where her grandparents founded the cult burger chain.

Speaking on the “Relatable” podcast released Friday, Snyder said she was moving to Tennessee as the chain plans a southeastern expansion.

“There’s a lot of great things about California, but raising a family is not easy here. Doing business is not easy here,” Snyder said.

While In-N-Out is opening an office in Tennessee as it plots an eastern expansion, Snyder clarified on Tuesday that the company’s main headquarters would remain in Baldwin, California, near where the first location opened in 1948.

“We’re not moving In-N-Out Burger’s corporate headquarters. In addition to our Baldwin Park office, we’re expanding with an Eastern Territory office in Tennessee to support our growth,” Snyder said at the beginning of a video titled “An update from Lynsi Snyder.”

Throughout the video, Snyder said she is proud of the chain’s California roots. “Where I raise my family has nothing to do with my love and appreciation for our customers in California,” Snyder said.

During her podcast appearance with Allie Beth Stuckey, however, Snyder said she had some frustrations with California. She cited COVID-era business restrictions, such as mask mandates and vaccine requirements, as particular elements of California policy that made it difficult to operate in the state.

In 2021, health officials temporarily shut down several In-N-Out locations in California because the chain refused to require proof of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Snyder didn’t expand upon her current business challenges or the challenges she’d faced raising her four children in the state.

In-N-Out is consolidating its corporate presence in California, centralizing its West Coast operations out of offices in Baldwin Park and phasing out its Irvine headquarters by 2030. Its new office in Franklin, Tennessee, is set to open in 2026.

“Now the bulk of our stores are still going to be here in California, but it will be wonderful having an office out there, growing out there, and being able to have the family and other people’s families out there,” Snyder said.

While the chain is planning to expand in the Southeast with its operations in Tennessee, Snyder said she was “still saying no” to opening locations in Florida and other East Coast states.

In-N-Out has more than 400 locations across eight states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho. Snyder said the company would continue to grow, but she’s prioritizing sustainable expansion that maintains the quality of its products and service.

“No. 1 priority is really keeping the company the same company that my grandparents started,” Snyder said. “We don’t want to be in every state, and we don’t want to ever compromise our values and standards and the cornerstones that my grandparents laid down, so it’s really just keeping those priorities at the forefront when we make decisions.”