In 1921, White Castle became the country’s first fast-food restaurant chain, according to its website.
Billy Ingram and Walter Anderson started a business selling small square hamburgers for 5 cents each.
Today, the burger chain employs 10,000 people across the country and continues to expand “craver nation.”
“I think it’s about being a family owned business and staying true to our values,” Jamie Richardson, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for White Castle, said.
White Castle joins several other central Ohio companies turning 100 this year.
The Conway Center for Family Business provided a list of its members marking a century of business this year: Atlas Butler Heating and Cooling, Anderson Concrete Corporation and Accelerated Laboratory logistics.
The Conway Center is a resource for family businesses with hundreds of family-owned businesses as members.
“What started as a few little hamburger stands has turned into a successful family-owned fast-food hamburger chain and retail brand that has withstood the test of time,” said Lisa Ingram, president and CEO of White Castle and the great-granddaughter of Billy Ingram. “We’re so proud of this achievement and grateful to everyone who helped us get here, especially our team members and our craving fans around the country.”
Richardson also says the pandemic taught White Castle how to reevaluate and reinvent itself to weather adversity.
“It’s been a chance for us to reassess and to see – hey, who are we and where do we want to take this?” Richardson explains. “We realized that feeding the souls is something we really care about.”
He also offers advice for families just starting out with their own business on how to maintain staying power in a competitive world.
“I think the biggest part of that is asking the right questions, and not being afraid to ask good questions and listening really intently to what our customers tell us, what our team members tell us,” Richardson said. “And using that information to shape our ideas about what comes next.”