Cracker Barrel loses almost $100 million.

[ozso]

I give up.

-CryptoLutheran

Sounds like a good idea. Go out and get some fresh air.

 

[Yarddog]

If only that's where it stood. But it was taken a lot furher than that. The problem with social justice warring is the war is constantly refreshed by expanding it into more and more areas. It's a war that will never be over because people get such a charge out of fighting it.

Yep, most far right wingers just don't want to repent of their sins. Too many believe that they are better than minorities and want to retain power in the US. The see that blaming minorities for our problems is the way control the other whites by causing fear amongst them. They lie about what they want to do and accuse the left of doing those things so that they can actually do them and say they are righteous in doing them because the left has already done it.

The far right fosters mistrust amongst the people by creating conspiracy theories about law enforcement, the courts, the left, minorities, etc.

So instead of putting an end to the problems it was supposed to vanquish, it ends up perpetuating them. While continually finding new things to add to the mix.

All part of the Republican plan began by guys like Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and other powerful Republicans.

 

[Tuur]

Theres a lot of things I love about the USA and American culture. But our tendency to accept corporate garbage if its dressed up in enough mythic sentiment or nostalgia really bothers me.

Mythic. Like Roy Rogers' restaurants? Named for the actor and singer of the same name, who did have something to do with it. Bonanza Steak Houses? Can't conform that it road the popularity of the TV show, only that it didn't pretend to be the Ponderosa.

Now, as luck would have it, grew up when country stores were still a thing but dying out. One was heated by a pot bellied stove and had sundry goods from penny wheel cookies in open containers to shoes on the shelf on the wall across from it. You could get a bottled soft drink from a chest-type cooler. Had gas pumps outside and you could change a tire on the open tire changing rig beside the store. Another not far from it didn't have a tire changing rig or pot bellied stove, but when we went there late one evening, dogs ran a bobcat up the tree growing up near the gas pumps. None served hot meals. One that opened later did have pickled pigs feet on the counter.

So, is Cracker Barren phony? In what way? You know when you go that country stores weren't like that. The store section reminds me of the one in Stuckeys where you could get souvenir items and such. They have some old US brands for sale, for real, and some clothing. The antiques on the wall and hanging from the ceiling are real. The food is real, of course. The type of food falls into the category of country cooking, knowing that this category is pretty broad.

So, what do you want? What would you judge as authentic? The small restaurant I went to once where the dumplings in the chicken and dumplings were chucks of unappetizing dough? A place I remember, gone for decades, that had some of the best cooking around but was dirty and the paint peeling from the walls? The countless service station / convenience stores where you can now grab breakfast or lunch as take-out, and by grab it I do mean grab as with tongs beside the open hotdog and sausage rollers. There is one I know of that has good breakfast while I'm dubious of some others. Haven't even gotten to some real winners yet.

You want authentic? How authentic do you want it? That's a serious question.

From where I sit (hopefully over at the Golden Coral). it seems that if Americans like the décor and food of Cracker Barrel, then Americans get demeaned for falling to fakery. If Americans don't like the changes to Cracker Barrel, then Americans get demeaned for that. Whatever.

 

[Tuur]

How stale would crackers be if they were actually stored in a barrel?

That's been addressed, but it turns our that packaging what Americans call crackers proved to be a technological challenge. Putting them in square wax paper sleeves (now plastic) inside a cardboard box was a genuine breakthrough.

Now, if you ever have need to curb your appetite, look up the history of hardtack, and why soldiers sometimes called them worm castles.

 

[ozso]

Yep, most far right wingers just don't want to repent of their sins. Too many believe that they are better than minorities and want to retain power in the US. The see that blaming minorities for our problems is the way control the other whites by causing fear amongst them. They lie about what they want to do and accuse the left of doing those things so that they can actually do them and say they are righteous in doing them because the left has already done it.

The far right fosters mistrust amongst the people by creating conspiracy theories about law enforcement, the courts, the left, minorities, etc.


All part of the Republican plan began by guys like Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and other powerful Republicans.

That pretty much sounds like a conspiracy theory itself.

 

[ozso]

Mythic. Like Roy Rogers' restaurants? Named for the actor and singer of the same name, who did have something to do with it. Bonanza Steak Houses? Can't conform that it road the popularity of the TV show, only that it didn't pretend to be the Ponderosa.

Now, as luck would have it, grew up when country stores were still a thing but dying out. One was heated by a pot bellied stove and had sundry goods from penny wheel cookies in open containers to shoes on the shelf on the wall across from it. You could get a bottled soft drink from a chest-type cooler. Had gas pumps outside and you could change a tire on the open tire changing rig beside the store. Another not far from it didn't have a tire changing rig or pot bellied stove, but when we went there late one evening, dogs ran a bobcat up the tree growing up near the gas pumps. None served hot meals. One that opened later did have pickled pigs feet on the counter.

So, is Cracker Barren phony? In what way? You know when you go that country stores weren't like that. The store section reminds me of the one in Stuckeys where you could get souvenir items and such. They have some old US brands for sale, for real, and some clothing. The antiques on the wall and hanging from the ceiling are real. The food is real, of course. The type of food falls into the category of country cooking, knowing that this category is pretty broad.

So, what do you want? What would you judge as authentic? The small restaurant I went to once where the dumplings in the chicken and dumplings were chucks of unappetizing dough? A place I remember, gone for decades, that had some of the best cooking around but was dirty and the paint peeling from the walls? The countless service station / convenience stores where you can now grab breakfast or lunch as take-out, and by grab it I do mean grab as with tongs beside the open hotdog and sausage rollers. There is one I know of that has good breakfast while I'm dubious of some others. Haven't even gotten to some real winners yet.

You want authentic? How authentic do you want it? That's a serious question.

From where I sit (hopefully over at the Golden Coral). it seems that if Americans like the décor and food of Cracker Barrel, then Americans get demeaned for falling to fakery. If Americans don't like the changes to Cracker Barrel, then Americans get demeaned for that. Whatever.

This would make sense if Cracker Barrel was billed as a genuine old country store from the 30s or whenever. But folks know it's just a restaurant chain. It's hard to imagine anyone going to a place like that expecting authenticity. It's supposed to be 'hey they did a good job of making the place resemble an old country store'. It's not a museum where people pay to see the real deal.

 

[durangodawood]

...This seems to be a pretty good explanation:

According to him just changing stuff is "woke", regardless of cultural content of the change.

Its absurd and an indication that "woke" now means just whatever your argument needs it to mean.

 

[durangodawood]

That's reading a whole lot into liking a place for it's food, prices and atmosphere.....

Its about why the reaction to the change isnt simply on aesthetic grounds but is especially about the "woke" ness of the change. People apparently see this in culture wars terms.

 

[Niels]

I think the new logo and look are ugly. Lacking character. New can have as much character as old, but this looks like they lost the plot.

Do I consider this to be woke? Nope. Just a misstep. Hopefully, they listen to the customers and investors and come up with something better. Or, barring that, revert to the old theme.

 

[durangodawood]

Mythic. Like Roy Rogers' restaurants? Named for the actor and singer of the same name, who did have something to do with it. Bonanza Steak Houses? Can't conform that it road the popularity of the TV show, only that it didn't pretend to be the Ponderosa.

Now, as luck would have it, grew up when country stores were still a thing but dying out. One was heated by a pot bellied stove and had sundry goods from penny wheel cookies in open containers to shoes on the shelf on the wall across from it. You could get a bottled soft drink from a chest-type cooler. Had gas pumps outside and you could change a tire on the open tire changing rig beside the store. Another not far from it didn't have a tire changing rig or pot bellied stove, but when we went there late one evening, dogs ran a bobcat up the tree growing up near the gas pumps. None served hot meals. One that opened later did have pickled pigs feet on the counter.

So, is Cracker Barren phony? In what way? You know when you go that country stores weren't like that. The store section reminds me of the one in Stuckeys where you could get souvenir items and such. They have some old US brands for sale, for real, and some clothing. The antiques on the wall and hanging from the ceiling are real. The food is real, of course. The type of food falls into the category of country cooking, knowing that this category is pretty broad.

So, what do you want? What would you judge as authentic? The small restaurant I went to once where the dumplings in the chicken and dumplings were chucks of unappetizing dough? A place I remember, gone for decades, that had some of the best cooking around but was dirty and the paint peeling from the walls? The countless service station / convenience stores where you can now grab breakfast or lunch as take-out, and by grab it I do mean grab as with tongs beside the open hotdog and sausage rollers. There is one I know of that has good breakfast while I'm dubious of some others. Haven't even gotten to some real winners yet.

You want authentic? How authentic do you want it? That's a serious question.

I dont want an authentic country store. Never lived near one. For my money Id take a Japanese 7-11 or Family Mart any day.

As for a sit down meal, the really good ones come from places where theres pride of ownership. Ownership of Cracker Barrel is an anonymous class of investors who could just as well be owning a gravel pit if the returns were the same.

But its not really about me. I think they called Cracker Barrel "OLD COUNTRY STORE" because people are attracted to the mythical imagined country store. The company literally say it themselves. From the OP article:

According to the company's website, the man and barrel in the old logo represented "the old country store experience where folks would gather around and share stories."

...
...

From where I sit (hopefully over at the Golden Coral). it seems that if Americans like the décor and food of Cracker Barrel, then Americans get demeaned for falling to fakery. If Americans don't like the changes to Cracker Barrel, then Americans get demeaned for that. Whatever.

Right off the bat this was about more than just liking the Cracker barrel vibe. The change was framed as a "woke" attack in some battle thats part of the culture war. That means people are feeling their own cultural values are under threat. So yes, I do look askance at people investing cultural values attachments to corporate contrivances like Cracker Barrel.

This doesnt apply to people who just like the old food or the old decor. They wouldnt go around calling this change "woke" or similar nonsense. Theyd just call it "bad".

(I should add I really liked the descriptions in your post. You paint a good picture.)

 

[Chesterton]

Anybody remember Sambo's restaurant? I was the first woke person. I was picketing outside that restaurant all by myself in the 1960's. Nobody knew why I was picketing. I didn't even know why. I just kept having premonitions of what was to come, like Richard Dreyfus in Close Encounters. I kept forming my mashed potatoes into the shape of Rachel Dolezal.

 

[durangodawood]

So for anyone still here, I tried my own hand at a logo - meaning I prompted ChatGPT to do it. I also changed the name to something better....

 

[Yarddog]

That pretty much sounds like a conspiracy theory itself.

Yeah, but it happened.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I don't really care about the logo...

If there's a new CEO for the chain, the first thing on the agenda (long before cosmetic upgrades) should've been a "give people less diarrhea" initiative.

I've avoided it for a while now, but any time I've had the misfortune of eating there back in the day, it always involved having to do something that I absolutely hate... which is sitting on a filthy rest stop toilet 30 minutes later.

 

[durangodawood]

....If there's a new CEO for the chain, the first thing on the agenda (long before cosmetic upgrades) should've been a "give people less diarrhea" initiative......

That would literally be called "woke" according to that last video posted here.

 

[rockytopva]

The political correct CEO...

 

[Gregory Thompson]

What's the fuss about?

Is it because the old logo featured a white guy beside a barrel, and no one thought of that angle until this was removed?

Nah, probably over thinking it. It's just silly, that's all.

 

[Tuur]

Right off the bat this was about more than just liking the Cracker barrel vibe. The change was framed as a "woke" attack in some battle thats part of the culture war. That means people are feeling their own cultural values are under threat. So yes, I do look askance at people investing cultural values attachments to corporate contrivances like Cracker Barrel.

The token efforts Cracker Barrel made with DEI has now has that hanging from their neck, and so much has been done in the name of "woke" that now it's assumed by some that anything bad is due to "woke." Make of it what you will. Cracker Barrel's change of décor and logo are about as woke as I am, and I'm a little sleepy at the moment, but it's still going to get labeled woke.

I really hope I can bring this up here without reprimand: The Bud Light mess started with the woke involvement of a trans person. That led to the initial outcry. Then Bud Light doubled-down by essentially demeaning existing customers by calling them "Frat boy." The latter caused the parting of ways and the discovery of a dread secret: there's apparently not that great a difference between light beers. But the whole thing was label a woke debacle. Amazingly, it took Bud Light about a year before they realized how to make a commercial like they used to that was funny and promoted their product. Whether or not that worked, I don't know, because product buying of brands is something of a habit unless there's enough reason to change.

Now, as to the country store experience of sitting around and talking, locally we call such places "Wisdom Corner." I remember it from one country store, especially during farming downish-time in winter. Then again, I remember it at a Hardee's among retirees. I could argue that this is a nice way of saying you'll wait for your order, but be that as it may, the checker-boards and such do/did encourage such. Ironically, whenever I've eaten at one, I've always had places to go and things to do, so stopping and lingering wasn't in the schedule. Honestly, having places to go and things to do means that unless my wife and I are just eating out, I tend to want my food quickly prepared and brought to the table, or just handed to me in a bag.

For me, the old Cracker Barrel was fun, and I've seen people really enjoy it. but I seldom have time to do so unless waiting for meals or other members of my group to finish.

 

[Tuur]

I don't really care about the logo...

If there's a new CEO for the chain, the first thing on the agenda (long before cosmetic upgrades) should've been a "give people less diarrhea" initiative.

I've avoided it for a while now, but any time I've had the misfortune of eating there back in the day, it always involved having to do something that I absolutely hate... which is sitting on a filthy rest stop toilet 30 minutes later.

Honestly never had that experience. Which is good, since some of the times I've eaten at Cracker Barrel have been on business trips halfway across the country.

 

[durangodawood]

The token efforts Cracker Barrel made with DEI has now has that hanging from their neck, and so much has been done in the name of "woke" that now it's assumed by some that anything bad is due to "woke." Make of it what you will. Cracker Barrel's change of décor and logo are about as woke as I am, and I'm a little sleepy at the moment, but it's still going to get labeled woke.

Yes, it's like people who, when someone's talking, say "what??" before theyve even given themselves a chance to process what was said. Except here theyre saying "woke!!"

I really hope I can bring this up here without reprimand: The Bud Light mess started with the woke involvement of a trans person. That led to the initial outcry. Then Bud Light doubled-down by essentially demeaning existing customers by calling them "Frat boy." The latter caused the parting of ways and the discovery of a dread secret: there's apparently not that great a difference between light beers. But the whole thing was label a woke debacle. Amazingly, it took Bud Light about a year before they realized how to make a commercial like they used to that was funny and promoted their product. Whether or not that worked, I don't know, because product buying of brands is something of a habit unless there's enough reason to change.

The Bud Light debacle was totally centered on cultural trans acceptance. Regardless of where you come down on the issue personally, it actually was a culture wars matter. People werent inventing that like theyre inventing a "woke" angle to this Cracker Barrel brand remodel.

Now, as to the country store experience of sitting around and talking, locally we call such places "Wisdom Corner." I remember it from one country store, especially during farming downish-time in winter. Then again, I remember it at a Hardee's among retirees. I could argue that this is a nice way of saying you'll wait for your order, but be that as it may, the checker-boards and such do/did encourage such. Ironically, whenever I've eaten at one, I've always had places to go and things to do, so stopping and lingering wasn't in the schedule. Honestly, having places to go and things to do means that unless my wife and I are just eating out, I tend to want my food quickly prepared and brought to the table, or just handed to me in a bag.

For me, the old Cracker Barrel was fun, and I've seen people really enjoy it. but I seldom have time to do so unless waiting for meals or other members of my group to finish.

I went to a Cracker Barrel once, like 25 years ago. My TN friend insisted, and I enjoyed it well enough tho I wouldnt want to make a habit of it for health reasons.