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With the anticipation of the doors opening at 10:30 a.m. at In-N-Out Burger’s first Washington state location in Ridgefield, the early birds received a special treat as the ribbon was cut and the doors opened right at 8:36 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Traffic remained minimal on nearby roadways for the first few hours and the staging lot was slowly starting to fill up by 11 a.m. as lunchtime approached. The first customers to the location at 5801 N. Pioneer Canyon Drive in Ridgefield received their burgers just before 9 a.m. Some eager customers began lining up in the staging area the night prior around 9 p.m.
As the smiles and “Double-Double Animal Style” cheers filled the air from soon-to-be customers, excitement was voiced from In-N-Out Burger officials, as well.
“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.”
Quite a few workers on opening day for the next week or so are what In-N-Out calls “All-Stars” who have been with the company for multiple years and lead locations elsewhere. The all-stars were on site in Ridgefield packed with smiles assisting the Ridgefield associates with the opening day crowd. A lot of them have never been to the area, just like In-N-Out Burger itself.
“When we go to a new market like this, it’s always, you know, you don’t know quite what to expect, but I’ll tell you, the community has been so welcoming and wonderful,” Warnick said. “We have wonderful new associates working here from this community. It felt great this morning at 6:30 a.m. as we had customers already coming and ready to have a burger for breakfast.”
In-N-Out Burger will employ 80 associates upon opening in Ridgefield, with wages starting at $18.75 per hour. Clint Ford, a 26-year veteran of In-N-Out, will manage the Ridgefield restaurant, a press release by In-N-Out stated.
The location will be open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. and until 1:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Signs along Ridgefield city streets will lead customers to the drive-thru and walk-in parking staging area for the time being.
