Operations
'We're all in it together': White Castle a family affair
White Castle is a 350-unit family owned company. The brand best known for its sliders now has third-, fourth- and fifth-generation family members at the helm.
June 28, 2023 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
White Castle is a family owned business out of Ohio. Today, third- and fourth-generation family members are at the helm, including fourth-generation leader Lisa Ingram who serves as CEO and board chair.
In 2022, White Castle sold more than 697 million sliders and has sold more than 28 billion since its start in 1921. The brand was the first hamburger chain to reach the one-billion sold mark, hitting that milestone in 1961.
So what's it like working for family? QSRweb talked to fourth-generation family member Jamie Richardson, who serves as vice president of marketing, to learn all about the brand best known for its sliders.
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Jamie Richardson, fourth-generation family member and vice president of marketing. Provided. |
White Castle started when Walt Anderson, who owned a couple of hamburger stands, met Billy Ingram, who was in insurance and real estate, and together they started the White Castle chain in Wichita, Kansas in 1921.
"At the time, hamburger was not anything that self-respecting parents would feed their kids because it didn't have a good reputation," Richardson said. "They insisted on 100% beef with no additives and no fillers, and hot and fresh and great quality.
"Billy really believed that every family deserved a night out. They should be able to go to a restaurant, and he thought if they had hot and tasty, affordable food, that would meet a real need, and it turns out he was right."
White Castle sold its hamburgers for 5 cents until 1929 and 10 cents until 1949.
Anderson eventually exited the business to pursue an interest in aviation, and White Castle moved its headquarters to Columbus, Ohio in 1934. Today, the 102-year-old brand is still family owned and operated. Aside from its 350 units, White Castle also operates a retail line of sliders in grocery stores.
The brand is a C-corporation in how it's organized, but its still owned by descendants of the Ingram family. There's a commitment to staying family owned. Fifth-generation family members are now doing internships with White Castle, and there's a family meeting every year.
"We get together and meet as a larger family, so the third, fourth and fifth generations are represented," Richardson said. "There are updates about how the business is doing, but it's also a great chance to spend time together. It gives people some shared experiences and a chance to reinforce the values that have allowed us to be family owned all these many years."
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Being family owned, White Castle is mission driven, "which is to feed the soul of Craver generations everywhere," Richardson said, adding that they're putting a lot of emphasis on the grocery freezer aisle where the brand's sliders are sold by the box. At the same time, they're putting time and money into reimaging, remodeling and updating the existing restaurants in addition to adding some new sites. Next up is a location in Tempe, Arizona, which will be its second in the state after Scottsdale.
Richardson said the executive team is made up of both family members and leaders from outside the family, offering a good balance.
"I think the best part (of working with family) is that you have a shared purpose in mind," he added. "Because it's value driven, it allows us to take the long view on many things and to make great decisions for the long haul versus outside pressures. Let's just say a Wall Street analyst wanted us to do something or there was pressure from an investment community that might be good in the short term but not necessarily great in the long term. So, we feel that's really helped us be certified as a 'Great Place to Work' for the last three years in a row for our 10,000 people who are not necessarily descendants of Billy Ingram, but they're every bit as much as part of this White Castle family as the direct descendants of Billy are."
It keeps work fun, Richardson added, saying it gives the brand a different view, helps them make better decisions and offers a shared vision for White Castle.
Disagreements are handled respectfully, thoughtfully and grounded in keeping the company strong. There's a strategic plan in place with three goals: to reach more than $1 billion in revenue (it hit $897 million in 2022); be a great place to work and increase profitability and enterprise excellence.
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"Those three categories keep us focused so we can have a framework to have discussions. Sometimes, those can be in conflict. The biggest priority is being a great place to work, so we believe that helps us understand if we do it through the lens of what's best for our team members who are relying on us not just for their paycheck but for potentially their retirement savings and definitely for their healthcare," Richardson added. "It's not just the individual who works for us. It's their whole family who benefits from that, too."
Is it hard to separate work and family at times? Richardson affirms, adding that White Castle is a 24-hour business. People are able to separate, but there's always that sharing of time in different ways both during work and outside the workplace. While there are family members who work at corporate, there are many more who don't work in the business. This brings a range of relevant outside experiences that contribute to the decision-making process.
Hiring and working with family members
Richardson offers some tips when it comes to the recruitment and training of family members.
"You (hire) through the lens of shared purpose and the more clarity around where you want to be as time goes on, the better choices you'll make and the better decisions you'll make," he said. "We have a lot in common. We also have unique perspectives that help make us stronger."
Richardson suggests leaning toward what helps the business overall, and sometimes that's being family owned while also being results driven. That's not contradictory, he said, but you want to make sure you have clarity around what's most important now and deciding the timeline.
Now on its fourth generation, is there added pressure to keep up the White Castle legacy? Richardson says yes, but every generation of family members wants to see the business succeed whether they're in the business or not.
"It is a tremendous gift to have this legacy that brought us to this moment in time, so for us I think we call it the three Rs: being reverent of where we've been, making sure we do everything we can to remain relevant by asking good questions and listening to what our consumers and team members tell us, and then looking through the lens of our communications and our programs and our efforts to make sure they resonate," Richardson said.
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
