COLUMBUS, Ohio – The quick-service chain, White Castle Systems Inc., will be run by new leadership at the end of the year – but the company will remain in the family. Bill Ingram, longtime CEO at White Castle, is retiring after 35 years; his daughter Lisa Ingram will take over, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Lisa Ingram will become the fourth generation of her family to lead the 94-year-old company. Bill Ingram has been in the family business for 43 years.
Bill Ingram’s grandfather, E.W. “Billy” Ingram, founded White Castle in 1921. The chain currently has just under 400 locations. White Castle is the 80th largest restaurant in the country, according to Nation’s Restaurant News Top 100 data, with $528.3 million in domestic system sales.
Under Bill Ingram, White Castle added 100 locations. It was during his tenure that the company also started selling frozen White Castle Sliders at grocery stores, which represent 25 percent of company sales, according to the Dispatch.