In-N-Out Burger will be departing its Orange County headquarters to return to its roots in the San Gabriel Valley and build a new future in Tennessee.

The fast food chain will leave its Irvine offices at 4199 Campus Drive and consolidate in Baldwin Park by the end of 2029, according to a news release dated Feb. 10.

Baldwin Park is where the chain was founded in 1948, and it will become In-N-Out’s headquarters in “western territory.” In-N-Out is building an “eastern territory office” near Nashville and is expected begin opening restaurants in the state by the end of this year.

Some of In-N-Out’s staff will be relocating to Tennessee, owner and president Lynsi Snyder said in the news release. She is the grandaughter of founders Harry and Esther Snyder. The company is family-owned.

“Some of our Associates will be relocating to Tennessee, which makes it even more important to centralize our western headquarters in one location, and our company’s deepest roots are in Baldwin Park,” Snyder said in the news release. “Our West Coast family will be together in one place, where In-N-Out Burger began.”

News media in Tennessee were abuzz with In-N-Out coverage over the weekend after Snyder spoke at a business breakfast presented by Lipscomb University, a faith-based institution in Nashville, on Feb. 4. Some outlets predicted the chain could open as many 35 restaurants in the state.

Nashville Business Journal quoted Snyder as saying she has fallen in love with the whole state.

Lynsi’s father Guy Snyder oversaw the move of In-N-Out’s corporate headquarters from Baldwin Park to the 10-story University Tower in Irvine in 1994 when he and Esther Snyder were running the company. The move had been initiated by Guy’s brother Rich, who died in a plane crash in 1993, according to Lynsi Snyder’s 1993 book, “The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger.”

Real estate websites describe the 175,475-square foot University Tower as Class A office space, meaning that it’s high quality. It is located near UC Irvine, the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Bren Events Center  and John Wayne Airport.

In-N-Out has maintained a presence in Baldwin Park, where it has a company store selling branded merchandise and holds training classes for its employees.

In-N-Out has 418 restaurants in eight states. More than half, 281 locations, are in California. The rest are in Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. It has more than 42,000 employees in those states, according to the news release.

Restaurants are planned for New Mexico and Washington State as well as Tennessee.

“In every decision about the future of In-N-Out Burger, I give strong consideration to what my family would think is best for the company,” Lynsi Snyder wrote. “I know my family would be in support of this move because it brings our In-N-Out family back together in a way that helps us better serve our customers, who are our most important priority.”

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