For 43 years, Bill Ingham has been CEO of one of America's most iconic burger chains, one of just three bosses to take charge of the company since it began in Kansas 1921. White Castle originated in Wichita. Walt Anderson. There are now 400 restaurants in 13 states. The Impossible slider began popping up on White Castle menus at 140 locations in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago, and was an instant hit. At least as far as romantics who like to spend February 14 dining over fast food are concerned. In the subsequent years, White Castle experienced significant growth, becoming a beloved fast . ", MEET THE AMERICAN WHO COOKED UP FROZEN FOODS: ADVENTURER AND INNOVATOR CLARENCE BIRDSEYE. In 1978, representing the third generation of the Ingram's, Bill Ingram III became the president of the company. It was the company's speedy service of feeding customers with sacks of five-cent hamburgers cooked to an exact specification at each location that led to the creation of fast food, according to the company's own historical records. Hooray! How fitting! Richardson: So much of our investment these days is in growing sales of consumer packaged goods. White Castle did $847 million in sales in 2021. White Castle hamburger Sliders move down a conveyor belt before being frozen, packaged and shipped to grocery stores at the new White Castle Co. Left to die alone like an animal: Parents who left 23-stone disabled daughter to die in her own filth are Holiday home owners in Scotland face new SNP tax hike under plans from front-runner to be new First Scotland should just self-identify as an independent country, one SNP member proposed. He "parlayed a 5-cent hamburger into a $36 million chain." The one . Grinning and bearing it? All they had to do was visit their website and print off or download the free slider coupon to their phone. Members include rock n roll icon Alice Cooper, "Man vs. Food" host Adam Richman and the late titan of the comic-book genre, Stan Lee. Since its inception, the Ingram-White Castle Foundation has provided $1.5 million in scholarship support to deserving team members and their dependents. Late comic book legend Stan Lee (1922-2018) a writer, editor, publisher and producer was a member of the White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame. The group is named after Britain's Thomas Newcomen, the inventor of the steam engine.) Jan. 11, 2021. Ingram Jr. After one school says it is families' responsibility to police their children's social media spats, Jenni White Castle CEO passes reins to fourth generation | The Columbus Dispatch, White Castle: A Cult Classic Searching For New Sizzle, [(Selling 'Em by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of American Food )] [Author: David Gerard Hogan] [Nov-1999]: David Gerard Hogan: Amazon.com: Books, Do not sell or share my personal information. Elaine Miseta and White Castle's second president E. W. Ingram, Jr. Its classic white castle buildings adorned cities starting in 1921 when it was started by Billy Ingram. Today our family-owned business sells the same humble . Other imitators like White Tower, Royal Castle, and White Palace have come and gone. "W e first opened our doors in Wichita, Kansas, in March of 1921. La direccin ha pasado posteriormente al hijo E.W. The original Craver, Billy Ingram, founded White Castle in 1921 and created an American icon that is still family-owned today. The only other time White Castle units close is on Christmas. An original slider in Newark, New Jersey, will run you about 88 cents though promotions put them in hungry customers' hands for about 50 cents each if bought in bulk. Theyre still hungry for more sliders and that keeps them happy. In some ways, White Caslte is stuck in limbo. Or was it six? All full-time Team Members with at least six months of service are eligible to apply online each spring. By the time his son, Edgar, took over in 1966, White Castle had sold a billion burgers. Were also looking into returning to Manhattan, not too far from Times Square, but no lease has been signed. Its known in company lore as White Castle No. It called Ingram "the man who parlayed a 5-cent hamburger into a $36 million chain.". 10% of White Castle employees are Black or African American. McClendon planned that a subject would eat only White Castle hamburgers and water for thirteen weeks. There, he became active in the Rotary Club and met local businessman and burger-shop owner Walter Anderson. Were still family-owned and dont seek the limelight as much, but social media has been a place where our followers are bigger than our footprint. At White Castle, the most compensated executive makes $700,000, annually, and the lowest compensated makes $50,000. The White Castle Story: The Birth Of Fast Food & The Burger Revolution (consumerist.com). (Courtesy White Castle). We seek to make a difference in our communities by feeding hunger, hopes and dreams, Ingram said. The outsiders brought new ideas, fresh perspectives and asked tough questions. Hartman is having a special brick mason from Texas tackle the restoration job. Nation's Restaurant News is part of the Informa Connect Division of Informa PLC. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. With Lisa in charge from the start of next year, the company appears to be in good hands. The mobile app showed that an impressive 21 percent of the chain's business happens during that late night six-hour block. Desperate fans have even go so far as launching numerous petitions, begging the company to come to their slider-free part of the country. Richardson: Were smaller than our bigger competitors so we have to be smarter. He completely righted the ship with quality standards, cleanliness and all of it out in the open. White Castle is located mostly in the East Coast, Midwest and Florida, though it has expanded out west to Scottsdale, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. From tacos to Caribbean fare and of course, plain old burgers, we have numerous choices with both national and regional fast food chains. You might be shocked to learn that White Castle has a certain degree of appeal to romantics. The company also switched from grilling to steaming their burgers, which allows for a faster cook with no need to flip. Distributing Plant in Vandalia, Ohio, on April 30, 2014. 4 the first shop the partners opened together. Ingram was forced to not only mass-market his new concept, but to do so against the cultural headwinds of the time. Meanwhile, White Castle continues to expand its Craver Nation. The company likes to keep its fast food empire within the family and doesn't sell its business locations. White Castle Contact Info. Way back in 1933, the company packed up and moved its main headquarters to Columbus, Ohio where it has remained ever since. "His hamburger sandwich proved popular enough for Anderson to open three hamburger stands in Wichita between 1916 and 1920.". In celebration of their 90th anniversary or perhaps just to taunt Kansas fans the company did set up a pop-up shop for a single day in Wichita in 2011. Bill Ingram is retiring after 43 years with White Castle, however he will still remain on the chain's board, White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. One man volunteered to help, and eat just his burgers for 13 weeks straight. Responsible for the strategic direction of a 90+ year old restaurant and retail brand. World hot-dog eating champion and food legend Joey Chestnut is a White Castle enthusiast. The price has certainly changed since 1921 and over the years so did the cooking process. "Billy" Ingram, launched the brand in 1921 with $700 and 5-cent sliders, innovating such platforms as carry-out with the tagline "Buy 'Em by the Sack . Ingram, 65, grandson of White Castle's founder, E.W. Even its burger cooking process is a little strange. In just the past 20 years, sales have more than doubled to $675 million, Throughout its existence, White Castle has been a private company and relied on company-owned stores. White Castle Systems, Inc. P.O. The pans holding onions and other fixings were all within arm's reach. It remains privately held today, and its restaurants, all in the U.S., are all company owned; none is franchised. Civic engagement was also highlighted in 2020 when White Castle closed all of its 24-hour restaurants between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Election Day in November to give team members time to vote in the presidential contest. People looked at hamburgers as being greasy health hazards on par with eating arsenic. Market data provided by Factset. Reply. Were there as an oasis for late-night travelers. The Beastie Boys. The original slider provides a certain comfort and source of good memory that creates a feeling of affinity and coming home, whether thats at the drive-thru or freezer aisle. Billy Ingram, launched the brand in 1921 with $700 and 5-cent sliders, innovating such platforms as carry-out with the tagline Buy Em by the Sack newspaper coupons and patented five-hole beef patties for faster cooking. White Castle president Lisa Ingram will take over for CEO Bill Ingram, her father, who will be retiring at the end of the year, The first White Castle restaurant in the Western U.S. opened in Las Vegas earlier this year. . Why not? With White Castle investing nearly $100 million in replacing and re-modeling their aging restaurants, it's clear the fast-food chain is focused on doing things the only way they know how - with growth slow and steady - and keeping it in the family. Anderson eventually sold his share of the business to Ingram in 1933 and continued to live in Kansas working in several different companies, including the Swift airplane factory, which he helped start in 1927. This level of focus on cleanliness and appearance has carried over to the modern day White Castle as well. Boy who 'accidentally dropped a copy of the Quran at Wakefield school' receives death threats: Teenager is Nightmare! "Castle to indicate permanence and stability. White Castle made rock icon Alice Cooper a throne of White Castle burgers to celebrate his ascension into the brand's Cravers Hall of Fame. In the 1980s, KFC had their Chicken Littles sliders and Burger King tried its own version of the slider called the Burger Bundle. Roughly half of its 401 outlets were built before 1960; the average manager has put in 21 years. While it probably won't become a White Castle restaurant again, Hartman is hopeful that he can find a long-term tenant that sees the value in the history of the building that only had room for five stools in its early years. For example, at a White Castle in Brooklyn, New York, its classic burger, really a slider, costs 85 each, its small French . STEPHEN 'What sentimental tosh!' Billy Ingram founded White Castle, the world's first fast-food chain, in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921. He "parlayed a 5-cent hamburger into a $36 million chain.". The first White Castle location. White Castle supplements its in-store product with a vast fast-food business. White Castle offers benefits to go with those wages. the Ingram-White Castle Foundation will be awarding $100,000 in scholarships to team members and their dependents. As it should be! Moment woman pedestrian, 49, swore at 77-year-old cycling on the pavement who then veered into road and was Are you allowing your bank to rip you off? Were adding about three locations a year, including three or five in 2020. White Castle hamburger Sliders move down a conveyor belt before being frozen, packaged and shipped to grocery stores at the new White Castle Co. Actors Kal Penn and John Cho pose for a portrait while promoting their movie "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" at Pop's Burger in downtown New York City on July 19, 2004. Shutterstock. The small white brick building was even listed as a historic landmark by the National Park Service in 2011. Not so fast, buddy! White Castle, the family chain still going strong. That statement wouldn't be so odd, if not for the fact that White Castle doesn't have a single restaurant in the Lone Star state. In the first few decades of the 20th century, burgers weren't just considered an unrefined food, but downright dangerous. "Billy" Ingram and Walt Anderson, who sold his interest to Ingram a few years later. Perhaps even more groundbreaking than the fast food idea are White Castle's claims of popularizing the hamburger. The 1940s ended bleakly for White Castle. The 1950s brought competition in the form of new hamburger chains. How Rich Is The White Castle CEO And What's The Average Pay Of Its Employees. Many years before the movie, Super Size Me (2004), Ingram persuaded biochemist Jesse McClendon to conduct a scientific experiment. Elizabeth Ingram Net Worth Elizabeth Ingram biography. Walter Anderson and Edgar Waldo "Billy" Ingram, Sr., formed the White Castle System of Eating Houses Corporation in Wichita, Kansas, in 1921. Ingram then went to work perfecting ways to turn out Andersons burgers as quickly as possible in a sparking, sanitary space to reassure a wary public. In just the past 20 years, sales have more than doubled to $675 million and the chain added about 100 stores. Columbus CEO reported that 98.6 percent of all of White Castle's 450 employees in general management or higher roles worked their way up from behind a White Castle restaurant counter. Yet, price changes were inevitable. The fourth White Castle, with the now familiar castle motif, in Wichita. On average, employees at White Castle stay with the company for 3.0 years. "I chill at White Castle cause its the best." "Bill" Ingram III, who served for over 40 years before his daughter Lisa Ingram took . When this reporter played in a roller hockey league in Bayside, Queens many years ago, he and his teammates would dine at a local White Castle. According to Forbes, Ingram's net worth is now $4.2 billion, up from $3.9 billion last year. Legal Statement. It's a real catch-22 and one that White Castle super-fan Martin Kessman knows all too well. The modern cooking process might not adhere to tradition, but rules were made to be broken and we're all getting our sliders a lot faster because of Howell's idea. The brand, which was founded by Billy Ingram in 1921, turned 100 last year, and it was indeed the first American fast-food joint to celebrate a centennial anniversary. "I am not only in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but Im also in the White Castle Cravers Hall of Fame," Cooper boasted to Fox News Digital. We're talking about fans of marijuana and White Castle's time in the Hollywood spotlight with the 2004 movie Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle. The store offered a special in the early days selling five hamburgers for 10 cents. Bill Ingram helped start the company's successful consumer packaged goods business in 1986, which supplies grocery stores all over the United States. Richardson: It covers a range. All rights reserved. Fast-food founder Ingram inspired a cult phenomenon, in addition to an industry. . Photo . It is considered the world's first fast-food eatery. This refusal to franchise hasn't come without a cost, of course. Indiana Landmarks then put it on the market for $70,000, where it sat for two years before it was finally purchased with a few stipulations, of course. Toan H./Yelp. It probably didn't hurt though that his manager is friends with the company's CEO Bill Ingram. Elaine Miseta and retiring White Castle CEO Bill Ingram III pictured in 1982. The company is slowly changing. Bee around 1900, before moving to Wichita to pursue his career in real estate and insurance. 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