The staging lot for In-N-Out Burger’s grand opening crowd was full of anticipation and excitement. Some arrived to try In-N-Out Burger for the first time while others were no stranger to the cultural phenomena that opened in Ridgefield on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Among the hundreds of eager burger eaters in the initial line was Vancouver resident Ron Burby, who brought with him a historical item. Burby happened to be the 1992 In-N-Out Burger bumpersticker sweepstakes winner and had saved his 100th and final free burger certificate for the day the burger chain opened in Washington state.
Burby also decided to drive his classic 1946 Ford to In-N-Out since the vehicle correlates to around the time the burger chain got its start in 1949, as the Ford body style remained the same for those three years at the end of the 1940s.
“I was driving a semi truck and actually stopped at their location in Palm Springs,” Burby said. “It was always hard to find a place to park a truck and get something to eat, and I was able to do it there. They were having the sweepstakes and I said, ‘Sign me up!’ And they came out and one of their employees came out, wrote your license plate number down and then put the bumper sticker on your vehicle. And, luckily, I won.”
After In-N-Out opened roughly two hours ahead of regular business hours, the drive thru line and foot traffic began pumping through around 9 a.m.
As the smiles and “Double-Double Animal Style” cheers filled the air, excitement was also voiced from In-N-Out Burger officials.
“We’re excited. This has been a day that we’ve been working toward and looking forward to for a long time,” said Denny Warnick, In-N-Out Burger chief operations officer, who has been with the company since age 16. “We’ve been getting ready and hiring the new associates from this community, and so when this day finally comes. It’s always really exciting.”
Burby ordered shortly after 9 a.m. and drew reactions from the crowd and workers as the classic vehicle rolled through the line.
In order to get roughly 30th in line for the drive thru, Burby said he arrived at 6 a.m., but he said if there was more clarity on when people could arrive, he would have shown up the night before and made it an overnight camping experience in the old Ford.
