Welcome to In-N-Out Burger, may I take your order?

Arizona Daily Star business editor Tim Steller explained Friday on a blog why the paper covered the opening of In-N-Out Burger so thoroughly.

Steller wrote, “There’s a pretty simple answer: Many readers care.

“Yes, it seems irrational. But we’ve discovered from writing about In-N-Out’s plans for Tucson that a sizable group of readers cares intensely about the joint. Most importantly, they’ve wanted to know: When will it open and where? So, we did our best to tell them, and then to cover it when it happened.

“When In-N-Out opened, hundreds of cars were waiting in the drive-thru line (even running out of gas!), while hundreds more people stood in line. That supported our decision to cover the opening intensely. We’re not in a position to ignore business news that people care so intensely about. We must cover it, even if it is an irrational phenomenon.

“Some readers have also questioned why we don’t cover local small businesses as intensely. The fact of the matter is, we do cover local small business frequently and deeply. Look at today’s Business for one example. Look at Sunday’s main story for another example, or go to our small business resource page for more examples. Keep reading Business and see.”

Read more here.