(08-26-2025 10:39 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(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?

You would have never known had it not been on Twitter.

(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.

The logo change announcement took place on 8-18-25.
There was quite a bit of chatter that particular night about it raising eyebrows.

Don jr. responded to the chatter with a post on 8-20.

So no, wrong as usual Marc. The entire Cracker Barrel thing began right after their announcement on August 18.

(08-26-2025 10:43 AM)Marc Mensa Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 10:39 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(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?

You would have never known had it not been on Twitter.

Wrong again. I saw it on Fox.

But even then, I'm a regular customer, so you don't think I would have seen the logo at some point?

Not that IGAD about that, but it's been known since May that they were changing their menu and their decor, which I haven't been happy about, so your entire theory has holes in it.

(08-26-2025 10:48 AM)450bench Wrote:  

(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.

The logo change announcement took place on 8-18-25.
There was quite a bit of chatter that particular night about it raising eyebrows.

Don jr. responded to the chatter with a post on 8-20.

So no, wrong as usual Marc. The entire Cracker Barrel thing began right after their announcement on August 18.

Got a link the chatter…
this thread was started on 8/22. Had someone in this forum been “outraged” prior, then this would have been their 1st stop.

(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.

wrong

Robby Starbuck has hit these woke corporations like Tractor Supply over the head. Don Jr probably got it from him.

How can one poster be so consistently wrong all the time?

While the CEO may be woke and CB is supporting various "woke" endeavors like parades and the like, it seems like the rebrand is not pushing hot button political issues in everyone's faces. The biggest gripe seems to be it took something that had a certain character and made it generic and soulless.

I think there is a bigger picture here that is affecting CB and many other stores more so than these smaller rebranding attempts. The food is pricier and it sucks. The rebrand just raised the other issues up the flagpole...but the same issues will still sink the chain in the long run. Do people feel like they are getting what they pay for? Do people believe that the prices are justified? For more and more people - the answer to both these questions is 'NO'. COVID changed the restaurant industry a lot. The biggest effect for all these chains is the overall market is smaller. More people are cooking at home...at least that's what the empirical evidence tells me based on feedback from people I know. Maybe this is inaccurate and the reality is more people are eating out than ever. IDK, doesn't seem like it to me so I'll stick with what I believe is going on in general for most restaurants: 1) Food costs too much, 2) Quality degraded too much and 3) Service is slower.

^^ Actually their food sales were fine. Retail sales are costing them money, and they don't know how to manage it.

All the changes were to the restaurant, which didn't need it. Now they've pissed off their base. And it was happening before the logo deal. They changed the menu which regular customers didn't like, and they started painting the walls white in May.

I mean, who buys their overpriced retail garbage in the first place? Make the food better and they will come.

(08-26-2025 11:41 AM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  I mean, who buys their overpriced retail garbage in the first place? Make the food better and they will come.

The chicken & dumplings, biscuits, fried porkchops, etc are all pretty darn good.

Although I've recently discovered I make a better pork chop. No big deal.

Their stores sell overpriced crap that probably went thru the same problems - prices surged while quality degraded at the same time. People question why buy this overpriced garbage. I know you say the food is fine but not in my opinion. Virtually all of these mid-chain restaurants are getting the food premade and they are reheating it. Not all of their food I'd guess but I think a good portion of it. No one is cutting chicken and breading it by hand before frying it.

331

(08-26-2025 11:44 AM)miko33 Wrote:  Their stores sell overpriced crap that probably went thru the same problems - prices surged while quality degraded at the same time. People question why buy this overpriced garbage. I know you say the food is fine but not in my opinion. Virtually all of these mid-chain restaurants are getting the food premade and they are reheating it. Not all of their food I'd guess but I think a good portion of it. No one is cutting chicken and breading it by hand before frying it.

I'm not saying the food is fine. That's a matter of personal taste. I'm saying food SALES were fine. Again, they're making money there, better than many. Their retail crap is the problem. Period.

(08-26-2025 11:49 AM)TripleA Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 11:44 AM)miko33 Wrote:  Their stores sell overpriced crap that probably went thru the same problems - prices surged while quality degraded at the same time. People question why buy this overpriced garbage. I know you say the food is fine but not in my opinion. Virtually all of these mid-chain restaurants are getting the food premade and they are reheating it. Not all of their food I'd guess but I think a good portion of it. No one is cutting chicken and breading it by hand before frying it.

I'm not saying the food is fine. That's a matter of personal taste. I'm saying food SALES were fine. Again, they're making money there, better than many. Their retail crap is the problem. Period.

I'm sure the store is performing way worse than the restaurant. But when you compare the stock price to what it was 5 years ago it's insane. From Aug 2020 thru 2021 the stock price ranged from $130 to $171. Even in Jan 2024 the stock was roughly $75. No doubt the stores have gotten steadily worse as inflation ramped up during that time frame. I still think the food is part of the issue too but I get it that numbers are solid. But how much of that revenue is due to cost increases on the supply side vs legitimate market growth? IDK - but logic says that higher revenues from 2020 to 2025 can be explained by inflation across the board over several years.

(08-26-2025 11:44 AM)miko33 Wrote:  Virtually all of these mid-chain restaurants are getting the food premade and they are reheating it. Not all of their food I'd guess but I think a good portion of it. No one is cutting chicken and breading it by hand before frying it.

Yep, and as I've said before, Cracker Barrel microwaves virtually all the meals you buy there. They don't cook much. I have that on very good authority.

(08-26-2025 12:02 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 11:44 AM)miko33 Wrote:  Virtually all of these mid-chain restaurants are getting the food premade and they are reheating it. Not all of their food I'd guess but I think a good portion of it. No one is cutting chicken and breading it by hand before frying it.

Yep, and as I've said before, Cracker Barrel microwaves virtually all the meals you buy there. They don't cook much. I have that on very good authority.

That's becoming the demise of these chains. You can suspend belief if you feel the price is fair. Given the past several years with all of the price increases due to inflation and (IMHO) price gouging by all restaurants people will start to ask what are they really getting when they eat out anymore.

When you can rival the quality of restaurant meals by buying frozen foods from the grocery store and baking/frying them at home...

(08-26-2025 12:02 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  

(08-26-2025 11:44 AM)miko33 Wrote:  Virtually all of these mid-chain restaurants are getting the food premade and they are reheating it. Not all of their food I'd guess but I think a good portion of it. No one is cutting chicken and breading it by hand before frying it.

Yep, and as I've said before, Cracker Barrel microwaves virtually all the meals you buy there. They don't cook much. I have that on very good authority.

Probably a side-effect of Biden*s initial trillion dollar boondoggle bill. Up here where I live, several really good restaurants had to close, not due to a lack of customers, but a lack of employees. When you pay people not to work, and they get used to it, its hard to get them back to work.

If CB went through the same issue, then they may have went to mass cooking/microwaving when serving in order to make do with the number of employees they could get.

I definitely noticed a down trend in food quality since covid. Prior to that, they were very good. Someone mentioned their breakfast was still good, and that would be understandable because breakfast items are all likely cooked on demand.

They were microwaving frozen premade food long before Covid.

Sisco special baby!

(08-26-2025 12:18 PM)BartlettTigerFan Wrote:  They were microwaving frozen premade food long before Covid.

Which could be why breakfast is good and the other two meals have been mediocre forever.