People spent hours queueing, but In-N-Out's Aussie pop-up is more about business than burgers
It's not often you'll see people queue up to enter a pub before 9am on a weekday, but on Wednesday, Sydney's Coogee Bay Hotel was no ordinary pub. It was, for those who had at least $8 and time to spare, perhaps their only chance to taste American chain In-N-Out Burger for themselves.
Should the fast food franchise decide to bolster its fleet of 418 United States stores with a permanent outpost on Australian shores, it's clear that decision would be warmly received by foodies. But the suits behind the cult brand have been sitting on that knowledge, without acting on it, for more than a decade.
Last year, hundreds of Canberrans waited more than two hours in the blazing February sun for a chance to taste the signature 'Animal Style' burger. A week later, the same thing happened in Brisbane; the year before, all menu items sold out in Melbourne within half an hour, and in 2016, Sydneysiders were turned away 30 minutes before a Surry Hills pop-up even opened because it had already sold out.
In-N-Out Burger − which has held various trademarks in Australia since 1993 − has known demand is present Down Under since its first Australian pop-up in 2012. Unlike compatriots Five Guys, Wahlburgers, Hungry Jack's (FKA Burger King) and Wendy's, however, a bricks-and-mortar store lasting more than six hours has yet to materialise on our boundless plains.
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