At the end of the day, what these people have done to Cracker Barrel is indefensible.
They’ve taken a successful national brand and applied the “if it ain’t broke, make it woke” business model to it, losing $100 million in value the first week.
It’s not sustainable and it’s not defensible, no matter what excuses the left applies.

Again, the left ruins anything and everything the touch.

It’s that simple.

(08-25-2025 05:27 PM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-25-2025 05:16 PM)TripleA Wrote:  That didn't say a thing. They still don't get it. We don't want white walls. We don't want booths. We don't want new menu items.

We want the one place we can go that serves what we grew up on, and reminds us of the old days. There are a million restaurants that do the other things.

Frickin' Waffle House. When was the last time they did a full renovation? A big menu change? A new logo?

NEVER. Why? People like what they have. It works.

Okay, maybe sales were flat. I bet everybody's sales are slow to recover from Covid. But if you're going to make changes, why not do a few test runs in a few stores, rather than just redoing the whole thing without testing first?

You people are morons.

You knew they had to be libs, b/c they run their businesses like they run their cities. Into the ground.

Their clientele is old and dying off. Their sales are flat due to menu hikes but their customer count is down; as are most in foodservice these days.
I’ve never seen a company remodel meet with this level of backlash, particularly given the relatively modest changes. Geez, go look at McDonald’s remodels & changes… no more Grimace, no more Hamburgular, complete footprint rebuild of their outlets, few if any counter servers. Businesses update or they die.

People have complained about mcdonalds too. Its only hopd for ghetto fights nowdays anyway

I didn't know people who weren't traveling on vacation or out of town to see grandma went to Cracker Barrels. Not sure I've ever seen one that wasn't next to a gas station at the first parking lot off of an interstate exit ramp.

It's one of those national stories that I don't pay much attention to since I haven't been in one in 30 years.

(08-26-2025 04:41 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I didn't know people who weren't traveling on vacation or out of town to see grandma went to Cracker Barrels. Not sure I've ever seen one that wasn't next to a gas station at the first parking lot off of an interstate exit ramp.

It's one of those national stories that I don't pay much attention to since I haven't been in one in 30 years.

I go once or twice a month. My wife can no longer cook, I hate cooking, and I love Southern cuisine.

I don't think CB is that great, but there are few other similar choices around here.

Their breakfasts are really good. The other two meals are average, at best.

Plus, my wife has dementia and goes out almost never, but when we do eat out, she prefers either Waffle House or Cracker Barrel. See a pattern there, lol?

(08-26-2025 04:41 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I didn't know people who weren't traveling on vacation or out of town to see grandma went to Cracker Barrels. Not sure I've ever seen one that wasn't next to a gas station at the first parking lot off of an interstate exit ramp.

It's one of those national stories that I don't pay much attention to since I haven't been in one in 30 years.

Here's another little tidbit. The CB I frequent sits on a bypass not usually taken by road trippers. It also sits across from a large shopping center and close to many other restaurants.

I travel a lot, so I notice license plates. Almost all at my CB are local.

There is another CB close to me in the other direction. It sits directly on a major N/S interstate, and has much more typical traffic that one would expect.

Fox reporting CB is now down $143M in cap value.

Marcus Lemonis just said he thinks CB should back off the new logo and announce they're keeping the old one. Today.

He says all businesses need to evolve to stay viable, but when your customer base tells you that you messed up, don't double down and ignore them.

He also said CB's financial issues have to do with their retail sales business, not the food business. But what they did was change the food business, the logo and the decor, and ignored retail sales.

(08-26-2025 06:39 AM)TripleA Wrote:  Marcus Lemonis just said he thinks CB should back off the new logo and announce they're keeping the old one. Today.

He says all businesses need to evolve to stay viable, but when your customer base tells you that you messed up, don't double down and ignore them.

He also said CB's financial issues have to do with their retail sales business, not the food business. But what they did was change the food business, the logo and the decor, and ignored retail sales.

Most of their retail was overpriced stuff you would get off Amazon if you really wanted it

As mentioned earlier, CB was a great restaurant to go to while you were traveling on vacation. We didnt have one in Wilmington for the longest time and it was always fun stopping at one going out of town for a trip. In that pre amazon era, the retail store made sense. Now, the retail side doesn't really fit. Sell your rocking chairs and whatever else is bulky online and shrink the store space.

(08-25-2025 08:45 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-25-2025 07:01 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  You couldn't pay me $1 million to spend an hour eating at Cracker Barrel. But I fully understand what the classic-era Cracker Barrel was all about and the brand's target audience (i.e., folks vastly unlike Bill Dazzle).

It's one thing to rebrand a, for example, Taco Bell. There is little, if any, need to consider cultural, socio-political and ethnic factors in doing so. But Cracker Barrel is a vastly different animal than Taco Bell. It's appeal, in large part, is that it represents middle America values with its vibe, menu, etc.

A hypothetical comparison would be a hipster craft beer bar located in Asheville that is suffering sinking sales overhauling its decor, beer menu and logo to appeal to Don Trump-loving bro-country listening Bud Lite fans.

Hey Dazzle, you got confused in that last sentence. Bro-country listening DJT fans most certainly no longer drink Bud Light. Dylan Mulvaney ring a bell?

I used Bud Lite as a general reference to low-priced American-made lagers, T-A. I could have used, for example, Busch, Coors, Miller (which I like), PBR (which I strongly like).

Many bro-country music fans are young and on a tight budget. So they understandably drink mass-produced beers, which are far less expensive than craft beers.

Interestingly, some of the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway here in Nashville will offer some local craft beers in cans (from what I understand).

(08-26-2025 08:35 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(08-25-2025 08:45 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-25-2025 07:01 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  You couldn't pay me $1 million to spend an hour eating at Cracker Barrel. But I fully understand what the classic-era Cracker Barrel was all about and the brand's target audience (i.e., folks vastly unlike Bill Dazzle).

It's one thing to rebrand a, for example, Taco Bell. There is little, if any, need to consider cultural, socio-political and ethnic factors in doing so. But Cracker Barrel is a vastly different animal than Taco Bell. It's appeal, in large part, is that it represents middle America values with its vibe, menu, etc.

A hypothetical comparison would be a hipster craft beer bar located in Asheville that is suffering sinking sales overhauling its decor, beer menu and logo to appeal to Don Trump-loving bro-country listening Bud Lite fans.

Hey Dazzle, you got confused in that last sentence. Bro-country listening DJT fans most certainly no longer drink Bud Light. Dylan Mulvaney ring a bell?

I used Bud Lite as a general reference to low-priced American-made lagers, T-A. I could have used, for example, Busch, Coors, Miller (which I like), PBR (which I strongly like).

Many bro-country music fans are young and on a tight budget. So they understandably drink mass-produced beers, which are far less expensive than craft beers.

Interestingly, some of the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway here in Nashville will offer some local craft beers in cans (from what I understand).

I'm not a bro-country music fan. (Of course not. I like prog rock, classic rock, hard rock, and heavy metal. lol I do respect old country and I certainly do relate to it even though that kind of music isn't really my cup of tea.) That said, the only massed produced light beer I would enjoy (when I did drink, of course) was Michelob Ultra. It was the only one that didn't taste like I was drinking canned or bottled backwash. (I know, I know. Most beer drinkers drink to get drunk, not because of the taste. lol) Then again, my favorite beers were Guinness, Heineken, and a beer made by a local craft brewer called St. Arnold Amber Ale. I also liked Crawford Bock (named after the Crawford Boxes at Daikin Park) by Karbach Brewing Co. (Again, made b local craft brewer, but separate from St. Arnold Brewing Co.)

(08-26-2025 05:21 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 04:41 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I didn't know people who weren't traveling on vacation or out of town to see grandma went to Cracker Barrels. Not sure I've ever seen one that wasn't next to a gas station at the first parking lot off of an interstate exit ramp.

It's one of those national stories that I don't pay much attention to since I haven't been in one in 30 years.

I go once or twice a month. My wife can no longer cook, I hate cooking, and I love Southern cuisine.

I don't think CB is that great, but there are few other similar choices around here.

Their breakfasts are really good. The other two meals are average, at best.

Plus, my wife has dementia and goes out almost never, but when we do eat out, she prefers either Waffle House or Cracker Barrel. See a pattern there, lol?

Southern cooking is really hard to find even in a place like Atlanta. You have to go out in the country.

310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)fsquid Wrote:  310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

Nah. Quite a lot of posts in this thread are about cooking at home and drinking beer.

(08-26-2025 09:29 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)fsquid Wrote:  310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

Nah. Quite a lot of posts in this thread are about cooking at home and drinking beer.

I'm a fan of both.

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)bullet Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 05:21 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 04:41 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  I didn't know people who weren't traveling on vacation or out of town to see grandma went to Cracker Barrels. Not sure I've ever seen one that wasn't next to a gas station at the first parking lot off of an interstate exit ramp.

It's one of those national stories that I don't pay much attention to since I haven't been in one in 30 years.

I go once or twice a month. My wife can no longer cook, I hate cooking, and I love Southern cuisine.

I don't think CB is that great, but there are few other similar choices around here.

Their breakfasts are really good. The other two meals are average, at best.

Plus, my wife has dementia and goes out almost never, but when we do eat out, she prefers either Waffle House or Cracker Barrel. See a pattern there, lol?

Southern cooking is really hard to find even in a place like Atlanta. You have to go out in the country.

I do love Waffle House, IHOP, and Denny's, too. But you should probably find a way to move back here, if you can. I say that because if you ever get a chance to make your way back this direction even for a visit, there's a place on the northern outskirts of Liberty (on the way to Holly Grove Cemetery near Livingston to visit the graves of several relatives and ancestors on my dad's side, particularly my dad and paternal grandparents) called Simply Country Cafe. It's technically in Moss Hill, but it has a Liberty address. Anyway, I'd stop in from time to time and get some of their food. Oh, and they make phenomenal cakes, pies, and cobblers. They even have a salad bar!

Here's the website!

fsquid: I love cooking. The drinking, not so much anymore. lol

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)fsquid Wrote:  310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

Marching orders? From whom? I only take those from the voices in my head.

I like CB. But I was a business consultant most of my working career, including working with turnaround situations and brand refreshments.

So this is an interesting subject to me.

They screwed up, plain and simple. It's not complicated.

If retail sales are truly the issue (Marcus Lemonis said so), they changed everything but that. How dumb do you have to be to react like that?

(08-26-2025 09:21 AM)GeminiCoog Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 08:35 AM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(08-25-2025 08:45 PM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-25-2025 07:01 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  You couldn't pay me $1 million to spend an hour eating at Cracker Barrel. But I fully understand what the classic-era Cracker Barrel was all about and the brand's target audience (i.e., folks vastly unlike Bill Dazzle).

It's one thing to rebrand a, for example, Taco Bell. There is little, if any, need to consider cultural, socio-political and ethnic factors in doing so. But Cracker Barrel is a vastly different animal than Taco Bell. It's appeal, in large part, is that it represents middle America values with its vibe, menu, etc.

A hypothetical comparison would be a hipster craft beer bar located in Asheville that is suffering sinking sales overhauling its decor, beer menu and logo to appeal to Don Trump-loving bro-country listening Bud Lite fans.

Hey Dazzle, you got confused in that last sentence. Bro-country listening DJT fans most certainly no longer drink Bud Light. Dylan Mulvaney ring a bell?

I used Bud Lite as a general reference to low-priced American-made lagers, T-A. I could have used, for example, Busch, Coors, Miller (which I like), PBR (which I strongly like).

Many bro-country music fans are young and on a tight budget. So they understandably drink mass-produced beers, which are far less expensive than craft beers.

Interestingly, some of the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway here in Nashville will offer some local craft beers in cans (from what I understand).

I'm not a bro-country music fan. (Of course not. I like prog rock, classic rock, hard rock, and heavy metal. lol I do respect old country and I certainly do relate to it even though that kind of music isn't really my cup of tea.) That said, the only massed produced light beer I would enjoy (when I did drink, of course) was Michelob Ultra. It was the only one that didn't taste like I was drinking canned or bottled backwash. (I know, I know. Most beer drinkers drink to get drunk, not because of the taste. lol) Then again, my favorite beers were Guinness, Heineken, and a beer made by a local craft brewer called St. Arnold Amber Ale. I also liked Crawford Bock (named after the Crawford Boxes at Daikin Park) by Karbach Brewing Co. (Again, made b local craft brewer, but separate from St. Arnold Brewing Co.)

You and I definitely share some music interests.

I respect old-school country (but don't listen to it). I do like some Americana music.

Crawford Bock rates a very respectable 3.49 on Beer Advocate.

(08-26-2025 09:48 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)fsquid Wrote:  310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

Marching orders? From whom? I only take those from the voices in my head.

I like CB. But I was a business consultant most of my working career, including working with turnaround situations and brand refreshments.

So this is an interesting subject to me.

They screwed up, plain and simple. It's not complicated.

If retail sales are truly the issue (Marcus Lemonis said so), they changed everything but that. How dumb do you have to be to react like that?

This was no issue until Donald Trump Jr posted on the topic on X & MAGA influencers picked it up.

(08-26-2025 10:25 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:48 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)fsquid Wrote:  310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

Marching orders? From whom? I only take those from the voices in my head.

I like CB. But I was a business consultant most of my working career, including working with turnaround situations and brand refreshments.

So this is an interesting subject to me.

They screwed up, plain and simple. It's not complicated.

If retail sales are truly the issue (Marcus Lemonis said so), they changed everything but that. How dumb do you have to be to react like that?

This was no issue until Donald Trump Jr posted on the topic on X & MAGA influencers picked it up.

Ha, yea that's the reason..... tard for brains.

(08-26-2025 10:25 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:48 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 09:24 AM)fsquid Wrote:  310 posts about a restaurant that was stagnant. Man you guys take you marching orders

Marching orders? From whom? I only take those from the voices in my head.

I like CB. But I was a business consultant most of my working career, including working with turnaround situations and brand refreshments.

So this is an interesting subject to me.

They screwed up, plain and simple. It's not complicated.

If retail sales are truly the issue (Marcus Lemonis said so), they changed everything but that. How dumb do you have to be to react like that?

This was no issue until Donald Trump Jr posted on the topic on X & MAGA influencers picked it up.

I had no clue about that. And you seriously think if Jr. hadn't mentioned it, that there would have been zero uproar?

You're not really in Mensa, are you?