[en] Effect of the initial as-cast structure on the microstructure–texture evolution during thermomechanical processing of 409L grade ferritic stainless steel was studied. Samples from the regions of cast slab having ‘columnar,’ ‘equiaxed,’ and a mixture of ‘columnar’ and ‘equiaxed’ grains were subjected to two different processing schedules: one with intermediate hot-band annealing before cold-rolling followed by final annealing, and another without any hot-band annealing. EBSD study reveals that large columnar crystals with cube orientation are very difficult to deform and recrystallize uniformly. Resultant variations in ferrite grain structure and retention of cube-textured band in cold-rolled and annealed sheet contribute to ridging behavior during stretch forming. Initial equiaxed grain structure is certainly beneficial to reduce or even eliminate ridging defect by producing uniform ferrite grain structure, free from any texture banding. Application of hot-band annealing treatment is also advantageous as it can maximize the evolution of beneficial gamma-fiber texture and eliminate the ridging defect in case of completely ‘equiaxed’ starting structure. Such treatment reduces the severity of ridging even if the initial structure contains typically mixed ‘columnar-equiaxed’ grains.