Cracker Barrel loses almost $100 million.

Tuur · Wednesday at 11:20 AM

wing2000 said:
So now that the old man has restored to the logo, who is going to Cracker Barrel for a meal this week?

I may be going over an Interstate, but if so, time won't permit it. It'll be what I can get in a bag and eat in a vehicle.

Tuur · Wednesday at 11:23 AM

essentialsaltes said:
The nearest one to me is 45 miles away. If you can't stand the thought of entering a Cracker Barrel void, you should steer clear of Los Angeles.

The same for rural areas. 45 miles isn't too bad.

Tuur · Wednesday at 11:57 AM

NxNW said:
Companies change their logos all the time. Not sure why anyone cares more about Cracker Barrel's than Bank of America. But I just read they went back to the old logo, so I guess all is well in the world!

Who banks because of the décor? Even then, some logos are just...bad. The NBC "N" comes to mind. They got nailed by maybe Nebraska's public broadcasting for copyright infringement, but as a logo, NBC's version stank. The Peacock came about to promote color TV broadcasts. Remember "This program is brought to you in living color" as the stylized peacock spread it's tailfeathers as type of fanfare played? That quickly became associated with NBC, to the point that when Red Skelton was still on broadcast TV, remember a cartoon of his hobo character roasting the NBC peacock. Can't remember if he was on NBC or CBS then. Yet was the peacock a logo then? NBC had all three letters running together with "NB" on top and "C" on the bottom. Then NBC started incorporating the peacock in it's logo, which is kind of sort of going back to an older type.

NBC comes to mind with this because of that "N". Remember some negative comments about it.

I've commented on why the Cracker Barrel "new" logo was a bad design, from wasted space to the font. It just stank. For network TV, a logo is branding. For an eatery, it's part of what brings people in, and this one had a low-rent look to it because of the poor design. It sort of reminds me of a time when someone across from me looked at the food at a conference where we were at and said "I'll eat on the airplane."

Now, I won't drive out of my way to go to a Cracker Barrel. If I'm not in a hurry, it's nice. But I know people who really love it, or did. Changing the logo to something that awful offended them because they cared about it. Me? Well, it's been four years since I've been in one, and that was because of someone I was traveling with.

Tuur · Wednesday at 11:59 AM

BPPLEE said:
The last time I went to Cracker Barrel I called in the order then when I went to pick it up I waited 30 minutes, I checked with them to see what was taking so long then they told me they didn't have my order.
I left and I haven't been back.

Yep, that'll do it.

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 12:34 PM

BeckyJ said:
Yeah, just like there's room to complan when pancake syrup, rice, butter, hot cereal packaging triggers the Left leaning

I'm triggered by nasty food, not logos.

durangodawood · Wednesday at 12:39 PM

Tuur said:
The same for rural areas. 45 miles isn't too bad.

Thats half a day drive in LA.

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 1:03 PM

wing2000 said:
Good point.

I am curious though....after 14 pages of posts, I have yet to see anyone state they have eaten a Cracker Barrel in the last few years....

I ate there on August 7th and 8th... The 7th because I'd travelled for business, my flight left at 6am which meant I had to be on the road at 3am. By the time I'd arrived at my hotel, it was afternoon and too late to take a nap but too early to go to bed. I didn't feel safe to drive or take an Lyft, so I walked to Cracker Barrel. The 8th because it was Friday night and by the time I got done working, everywhere else had a long wait and Cracker Barrel had no wait.

First trip I had biscuit beignets and some sort of campfire soup thing... Basically chicken and rice soup with tomatoes... The biscuit things were basically just bready, fried Pillsbury biscuits. Oily but fine. The soup was tepid and ridiculously bland with very little in the way of chicken. The rice had bloomed so clearly they make it in the morning and let it sit all day. The bread in the bread basket was blah. The cornbread dry and tasted heavily of baking powder. The biscuits were your basic poppin fresh stuff. My dad got the country fried steak. Fine, but bland, with bland gravy. Dumplings were also bland with a good texture.

Second trip I got a side baked potato and side seasoned rice. The rice was cooked well but not seasoned. Maybe tossed with butter, but not a lot. Baked potato was fine, though cooked by boiling and baked at the end, but the bacon on top was not true bacon, it was that precooked stuff. My dad got the mac and cheese with bacon, it was overcooked to the point of mushy noodles and so dense and heavy that it sat like a brick and it was completely, totally flavorless. Lots of bacon, but again, not the real bacon. Fried pickles were fine. Cinnamon apples were pretty decent.

Both times me in my mid-40s was the youngest person there by an absolute mile. Dining room was almost as clean as any other chain restaurant, though they clearly don't do a lot of deep cleaning. Floor was lightly oily and all the garbage on the walls had visible dust. Blinds had visible spiderwebs as did the lights. Our waitress was very clearly a meth user and the other servers were clearly either dealing with similar habits or were very new to the industry, but the service was decent. Menu was very, very dated and not exactly clear on what they were aiming for... Burger joint, diner, homestyle comfort, or general Americana.

Denny's tastes marginally better but wins handily by virtue of the fact that it is a whole lot cheaper, and Cracker Barrel is trying to save its bottom line by not buying salt. I have never in my life had so much consistently under-seasoned food, and I live in New England so that's really saying something. They need to cut their menu by at least half, decide what direction they want to go in for food, and upgrade the dated aspects of their meals and dining room. In 2025, offering a side of frozen corn is not going to win you customers.

RileyG · Wednesday at 1:05 PM

NxNW said:
The right wing has to create an emergency where none exists!

Well? There is no emergency. This whole ordeal is nothing but a distraction. It’s really not that important.

RileyG · Wednesday at 1:08 PM

Tropical Wilds said:
I ate there on August 7th and 8th... The 7th because I'd travelled for business, my flight left at 6am which meant I had to be on the road at 3am. By the time I'd arrived at my hotel, it was afternoon and too late to take a nap but too early to go to bed. I didn't feel safe to drive or take an Lyft, so I walked to Cracker Barrel. The 8th because it was Friday night and by the time I got done working, everywhere else had a long wait and Cracker Barrel had no wait.

First trip I had biscuit beignets and some sort of campfire soup thing... Basically chicken and rice soup with tomatoes... The biscuit things were basically just bready, fried Pillsbury biscuits. Oily but fine. The soup was tepid and ridiculously bland with very little in the way of chicken. The rice had bloomed so clearly they make it in the morning and let it sit all day. The bread in the bread basket was blah. The cornbread dry and tasted heavily of baking powder. The biscuits were your basic poppin fresh stuff. My dad got the country fried steak. Fine, but bland, with bland gravy. Dumplings were also bland with a good texture.

Second trip I got a side baked potato and side seasoned rice. The rice was cooked well but not seasoned. Maybe tossed with butter, but not a lot. Baked potato was fine, though cooked by boiling and baked at the end, but the bacon on top was not true bacon, it was that precooked stuff. My dad got the mac and cheese with bacon, it was overcooked to the point of mushy noodles and so dense and heavy that it sat like a brick and it was completely, totally flavorless. Lots of bacon, but again, not the real bacon. Fried pickles were fine. Cinnamon apples were pretty decent.

Both times me in my mid-40s was the youngest person there by an absolute mile. Dining room was almost as clean as any other chain restaurant, though they clearly don't do a lot of deep cleaning. Floor was lightly oily and all the garbage on the walls had visible dust. Blinds had visible spiderwebs as did the lights. Our waitress was very clearly a meth user and the other servers were clearly either dealing with similar habits or were very new to the industry, but the service was decent. Menu was very, very dated and not exactly clear on what they were aiming for... Burger joint, diner, homestyle comfort, or general Americana.

Denny's tastes marginally better but wins handily by virtue of the fact that it is a whole lot cheaper, and Cracker Barrel is trying to save it's bottom line by not buying salt. I have never in my life had so much consistently under-seasoned food, and I live in New England so that's really saying something. They need to cut their menu by at least half, decide what direction they want to go in for food, and upgrade the dated aspects of their meals and dining room. In 2025, offering a side of frozen corn is not going to win you customers.

Only been there once in my life.

Sounds like a terrible dining experience!

Yikes!

Haven’t been to Denny’s in many years. Perkins is more available here, which is very similar. Also haven’t been to Perkins in a few years.

RocksInMyHead · Wednesday at 1:09 PM

NxNW said:
I ate at one about ... ten or fifteen years ago on vacation? I remember it being OK, but also having no desire to go back to one.

Companies change their logos all the time. Not sure why anyone cares more about Cracker Barrel's than Bank of America. But I just read they went back to the old logo, so I guess all is well in the world!

To be fair, the new logo was pretty generic and boring.

durangodawood · Wednesday at 1:09 PM

Tropical Wilds said:
I ate there on August 7th and 8th... The 7th because I'd travelled for business, my flight left at 6am which meant I had to be on the road at 3am. By the time I'd arrived at my hotel, it was afternoon and too late to take a nap but too early to go to bed. I didn't feel safe to drive or take an Lyft, so I walked to Cracker Barrel. The 8th because it was Friday night and by the time I got done working, everywhere else had a long wait and Cracker Barrel had no wait.

First trip I had biscuit beignets and some sort of campfire soup thing... Basically chicken and rice soup with tomatoes... The biscuit things were basically just bready, fried Pillsbury biscuits. Oily but fine. The soup was tepid and ridiculously bland with very little in the way of chicken. The rice had bloomed so clearly they make it in the morning and let it sit all day. The bread in the bread basket was blah. The cornbread dry and tasted heavily of baking powder. The biscuits were your basic poppin fresh stuff. My dad got the country fried steak. Fine, but bland, with bland gravy. Dumplings were also bland with a good texture.

Second trip I got a side baked potato and side seasoned rice. The rice was cooked well but not seasoned. Maybe tossed with butter, but not a lot. Baked potato was fine, though cooked by boiling and baked at the end, but the bacon on top was not true bacon, it was that precooked stuff. My dad got the mac and cheese with bacon, it was overcooked to the point of mushy noodles and so dense and heavy that it sat like a brick and it was completely, totally flavorless. Lots of bacon, but again, not the real bacon. Fried pickles were fine. Cinnamon apples were pretty decent.

Both times me in my mid-40s was the youngest person there by an absolute mile. Dining room was almost as clean as any other chain restaurant, though they clearly don't do a lot of deep cleaning. Floor was lightly oily and all the garbage on the walls had visible dust. Blinds had visible spiderwebs as did the lights. Our waitress was very clearly a meth user and the other servers were clearly either dealing with similar habits or were very new to the industry, but the service was decent. Menu was very, very dated and not exactly clear on what they were aiming for... Burger joint, diner, homestyle comfort, or general Americana.

Denny's tastes marginally better but wins handily by virtue of the fact that it is a whole lot cheaper, and Cracker Barrel is trying to save it's bottom line by not buying salt. I have never in my life had so much consistently under-seasoned food, and I live in New England so that's really saying something. They need to cut their menu by at least half, decide what direction they want to go in for food, and upgrade the dated aspects of their meals and dining room. In 2025, offering a side of frozen corn is not going to win you customers.

Sounds genuinely awful for the most part. Not inedible. But just what youd choose as an absolute last resort.

Nice eye for details there.

BeckyJ · Wednesday at 1:09 PM

Tropical Wilds said:
I'm triggered by nasty food, not logos.

The label a company chooses like with Uncle Bens, Land O Lakes, etc triggered the Left, so they went after them and forced the companies to change the labels.
Those foods aren't nasty to some. Changing the labels was caving to the "woke" at the time.
If you liked the new CB logo, fine, but apparently Millions didn't and now the company is changing it back, which shouldn't trigger anyone really since the original logo wasn't hurting anyone.

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 1:15 PM

RileyG said:
Only been there once in my life.

Sounds like a terrible dining experience!

Yikes!

Haven’t been to Denny’s in many years. Perkins is more available here, which is very similar. Also haven’t been to Perkins in a few years.

I haven't been to Perkins in awhile, but the last time I was there they were both better than Denny's and Cracker Barrel.

Cracker Barrel is simply bland food and nothing special. If they charged Denny's prices, you could forgive it, but since it charges Chili's prices it should be better than it is. Most chains are fine for what they are, they are subpar for a chain in a fairly competitive market. They either need to embrace the blue hairs and streamline the menu and lower the prices, or come to grips that the blue hairs won't keep them in business and revamp it significantly. Unfortunately, I think it's too late for the latter. I think they're going the way of Friendly's.

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 1:21 PM

durangodawood said:
Sounds genuinely awful for the most part. Not inedible. But just what youd choose as an absolute last resort.

Nice eye for details there.

It was subpar where I expected middling/average. You eat there because it's food and it's there, not because you crave it. Their dumplings used to be really good back in the day, as did their gravy. Better than middling/average.

We have a local chain that does the Cracker Barrel thing better than they do. They are craveable.

Like I said. It's 2025. Serving a soup with unwrapped Club Crackers on the plate next to it, having frozen corn with no butter, salt, pepper, or anything as a side... It worked in the 80s and 90s, but not now. Even at Chilis I ordered side asparagus for the guiltless grill, it was tossed in light oil, salt, pepper, parm, and a side wedge of lemon. Serving naked veges is so passé.

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 1:34 PM

BeckyJ said:
The label a company chooses like with Uncle Bens, Land O Lakes, etc triggered the Left, so they went after them and forced the companies to change the labels.

Mars had been working on brand reworking for their logos since 2015. By the time anybody criticized them, they were in the final stages of a process they'd worked on for 5 years. Land o Lakes changed their logo after an initiative led by the farmers, not the liberals. They are a member-owned cooperative and wanted to highlight that as a business driver going into their 100th anniversary. It was voted on in 2016 by the members of the cooperative as a way to distinguish themselves in a crowded market. The only one you MAYBE have is Pepsi changing Aunt Jemima due to backlash, but, again, they were moving through their whole portfolio to streamline at the time.

BeckyJ said:
Those foods aren't nasty to some.

The foods from the companies you listed are objectively subpar. And I'm saying this while currently eating a Minute Rice rice cup. Changing their logo didn't make them taste better or worse.

BeckyJ said:
Changing the labels was caving to the "woke" at the time.

You are incorrect and just pointing to the boogieman of the moment.

BeckyJ said:
If you liked the new CB logo, fine, but apparently Millions didn't and now the company is changing it back, which shouldn't trigger anyone really since the original logo wasn't hurting anyone.

The old logo is awful. The new logo was awful. I don't care which ugly logo they go with and I am not triggered by either of them.

I am triggered by their nasty food and insane prices for that nasty food, which is why I try not to eat there. But their logo doesn't get me in or out the door.

BeckyJ · Wednesday at 1:44 PM

Tropical Wilds said:
Mars had been working on brand reworking for their logos since 2015. By the time anybody criticized them, they were in the final stages of a process they'd worked on for 5 years. Land o Lakes changed their logo after an initiative led by the farmers, not the liberals. They are a member-owned cooperative and wanted to highlight that as a business driver going into their 100th anniversary. It was voted on in 2016 by the members of the cooperative as a way to distinguish themselves in a crowded market. The only one you MAYBE have is Pepsi changing Aunt Jemima due to backlash, but, again, they were moving through their whole portfolio to streamline at the time.

The foods from the companies you listed are objectively subpar. And I'm saying this while currently eating a Minute Rice rice cup. Changing their logo didn't make them taste better or worse.

You are incorrect and just pointing to the boogieman of the moment.

The old logo is awful. The new logo was awful. I don't care which ugly logo they go with and I am not triggered by either of them.

I am triggered by their nasty food and insane prices for that nasty food, which is why I try not to eat there. But their logo doesn't get me in or out the door.

I'm not wrong, you just don't like the truth.
They went after those companies due to their liberal sensitivities.

Where do you sit politically?

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 1:55 PM

BeckyJ said:
I'm not wrong, you just don't like the truth.
They went after those companies due to their liberal sensitivities.

Sorry my dear, but I work in the industry and was working for the company that helped with Mars with their target marketing changes, so I know for a fact that their reworkings came internally and not externally. The redesign was in progress for years.

With Land o Lakes, it's public record and right there to read plain as day. The farmers who supply them are abundant in our area so the votes about it made local news. Do you seriously think a company of that size that's a cooperative announces a change in February and is able to roll out a complete marketing revamp, package redesign, and load it into the distribution system by March...? Unrest wasn't even present in Feb of 2020, and no company in it's right mind would look at the landscape during COVID and decide to hard launch a spontaneous brand reworking. Again, you're speaking total nonsense.

BeckyJ said:
Where do you sit politically?

I'm a left-leaning moderate. I'm a registered undeclared and have voted fairly evenly between Republican and Democrat until 2016. Well... 2020. Why does it matter?

BeckyJ · Wednesday at 2:12 PM

Thanks for your opinion, I've worked in the industry also, but your limited info doesn't change anything about what happened with the 4 products that the "woke" forced to be changed amongst other things non food related.

Tinker Grey · Wednesday at 2:49 PM

Tropical Wilds said:
I ate there on August 7th and 8th... The 7th because I'd travelled for business, my flight left at 6am which meant I had to be on the road at 3am. By the time I'd arrived at my hotel, it was afternoon and too late to take a nap but too early to go to bed. I didn't feel safe to drive or take an Lyft, so I walked to Cracker Barrel. The 8th because it was Friday night and by the time I got done working, everywhere else had a long wait and Cracker Barrel had no wait.

First trip I had biscuit beignets and some sort of campfire soup thing... Basically chicken and rice soup with tomatoes... The biscuit things were basically just bready, fried Pillsbury biscuits. Oily but fine. The soup was tepid and ridiculously bland with very little in the way of chicken. The rice had bloomed so clearly they make it in the morning and let it sit all day. The bread in the bread basket was blah. The cornbread dry and tasted heavily of baking powder. The biscuits were your basic poppin fresh stuff. My dad got the country fried steak. Fine, but bland, with bland gravy. Dumplings were also bland with a good texture.

Second trip I got a side baked potato and side seasoned rice. The rice was cooked well but not seasoned. Maybe tossed with butter, but not a lot. Baked potato was fine, though cooked by boiling and baked at the end, but the bacon on top was not true bacon, it was that precooked stuff. My dad got the mac and cheese with bacon, it was overcooked to the point of mushy noodles and so dense and heavy that it sat like a brick and it was completely, totally flavorless. Lots of bacon, but again, not the real bacon. Fried pickles were fine. Cinnamon apples were pretty decent.

Both times me in my mid-40s was the youngest person there by an absolute mile. Dining room was almost as clean as any other chain restaurant, though they clearly don't do a lot of deep cleaning. Floor was lightly oily and all the garbage on the walls had visible dust. Blinds had visible spiderwebs as did the lights. Our waitress was very clearly a meth user and the other servers were clearly either dealing with similar habits or were very new to the industry, but the service was decent. Menu was very, very dated and not exactly clear on what they were aiming for... Burger joint, diner, homestyle comfort, or general Americana.

Denny's tastes marginally better but wins handily by virtue of the fact that it is a whole lot cheaper, and Cracker Barrel is trying to save its bottom line by not buying salt. I have never in my life had so much consistently under-seasoned food, and I live in New England so that's really saying something. They need to cut their menu by at least half, decide what direction they want to go in for food, and upgrade the dated aspects of their meals and dining room. In 2025, offering a side of frozen corn is not going to win you customers.

Hmm ... quality must vary from location to location.

My visit last week (21st) was fine. (I'm not a fan but I can find something to eat.)

As for cleanliness, my spouse notes almost every time we go that none of the tchotchkes have dust at all. It's pretty spotless.

My main complaint is that a number of items on the menu (drinks, mainly) weren't available. Supply chain issues?

I had a special: Steak and shrimp. The steak compared favorably to Texas Roadhouse and was cooked exactly as I ordered it. It was very tender.

Everyone at the table enjoyed the food.

I didn't try the corn bread, but the biscuits were buttery and compared favorably with Red Lobsters (without RL's special ingredients).

Anyway...

Tropical Wilds · Wednesday at 2:50 PM

BeckyJ said:
Thanks for your opinion, I've worked in the industry also, but your limited info doesn't change anything about what happened with the 4 products that the "woke" forced to be changed amongst other things non food related.

Not an opinion, it's fact. And I worked in the industry meaning that I worked with the companies that were part of the focus groups, rebranding drives, and overall initiatives to pivot from the old brands directly on this project. And I know for a fact you aren't in that segment of the industry or you'd know that it's a rebrand that took the better part of half a decade. This article talks about phase one that started in 2007:

Uncle Ben's rice changes name to more 'equitable' brand

Products will be labelled Ben's Original and will no longer show the bow-tied black man on packaging.

www.bbc.com

Here's the press release:

https://www.mars.com/news-and-stories/press-releases/bens-original

As for Land o Lakes, it was a vote by their cooperative. The change happened with no fanfare and almost nobody noticed. It wasn't because of the "woke ideology" you've grown to irrationally fear. It was a choice by the people involved in making the product, and the president specifically clarified that it wasn't the result of pressure but an initiative to highlight the farmers based on a lack of brand awareness to their coop status.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/17/us/landolakes-logo-change-trnd

Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford shares the real reason the brand ditched its 'butter maiden'

The dairy co-operative is emphasizing that it's "farmer-owned."

fortune.com

Why everyone just noticed Land O' Lakes changed its 'butter maiden' logo

The dairy company Land O' Lakes changed the logo of its butter packaging in February and consumers took notice.

abcnews.go.com

Land O'Lakes Drops the Iconic Logo of an Indigenous Woman From Its Branding

The story behind the image, and its removal, led to mixed reactions from the public, including native communities

www.smithsonianmag.com

The rebranding was a success, by the way, increasing their overall market share pretty comfortably, and the only response was from Conservatives who trotted out the "woke" boogieman again.

So. Not opinion. Objective facts. They didn't change their name due to liberals. One was undergoing the change since 2015, the other at the behest of their coop members. Both of them said it was changed not as a response to outside factors, but the result of brand growth and modernization. The fact that it moved them away from problematic origins does not mean it was done because liberals made them.

The only sobbing that led to a name change on this thread is Cracker Barrel, where people cried about the guy being removed because they got it into their head it was woke, and then the company capitulating. And possibly Aunt Jemima, but it's hard to tell.

Cracker Barrel loses almost $100 million.

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