[sirkingwilliam]

Web Posted: 11/21/2008 4:19 CST

What a move! Whataburger headed to S.A.

By Creighton Welch - Express-News

Fast food chain Whataburger announced Friday it is moving its corporate headquarters from Corpus Christi to San Antonio.

About 250 employees will be asked to make the move, which will likely begin sometime in early 2009. Whataburger has more than 21,000 total employees.

The current headquarters in Corpus Christi will remain open indefinitely to help smooth the transition, said Pam Cox, corporate communications director. The company is still looking for its space in San Antonio.

"Whataburger has always made decisions based on what's best for our business and our family members," Preston Atkinson, Whataburger Restaurants LP president and COO, said in a news release. "We feel it's our responsibility to prepare our company for long term stability and growth opportunities."

The family-owned restaurant has more than 700 locations in 10 states, and crossed the $1 billion annual sales mark in 2007.

"San Antonio is a very centrally-located city to those states and we felt like it would be a good place for us to travel in and out of," Cox said. "We liked the fact that we’d be moving further inland and away from the coast and the threat of hurricanes."

Founder Harmon Dobson opened the first Whataburger in Corpus Christi in 1950 as a roadside stand where he sold hamburgers for 25 cents each.

"This was a very difficult and emotional decision for us. Corpus Christi, the Dobson family and Whataburger have grown together over the last 58 years and we're immensely grateful for the city of Corpus Christi and the community here that has helped us become who we are today," Tom Dobson, Whataburger Restaurants LP Chairman and CEO, said in a news release.

Cox said the move shouldn’t affect the restaurants or food in any way.