Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. principally engages in the operation and development of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept (Cracker Barrel).
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Concept
The company’s Cracker Barrel stores are intended to appeal to both the traveler and the local customer, and they have consistently been a consumer favorite.
In 2024, the company announced its strategic transformation plan. The strategic transformation plan is anchored on three overarching business...
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. principally engages in the operation and development of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept (Cracker Barrel).
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Concept
The company’s Cracker Barrel stores are intended to appeal to both the traveler and the local customer, and they have consistently been a consumer favorite.
In 2024, the company announced its strategic transformation plan. The strategic transformation plan is anchored on three overarching business imperatives: driving relevancy, delivering food and an experience guests love, and growing profitability. The company has undertaken certain initiatives as part of these imperatives, including modifying capital allocation to support increased investment in the business to drive organic growth. The company launched its loyalty program to leverage guest data to better understand consumer behavior and identify ways to drive frequency and engagement. As part of the plan, the company is redefining its brand, including by improving its stores’ designs and atmosphere. The company is testing store remodel prototypes. The company’s store remodel program includes two categories: full remodels and store refreshes.
Store Format: The format of the company’s stores consists of a trademarked rustic old country-store design offering a full-service restaurant menu that features home-style country food and a wide variety of decorative and functional items, such as rocking chairs, holiday and seasonal gifts, toys, apparel, cookware and foods. The company’s stores have stone fireplaces and is decorated with antique-style furnishings and other authentic and nostalgic items, reminiscent of and similar to those found and sold in the past in traditional old country stores.
Products: The company’s restaurants, which generated approximately 80% of its total revenue in 2024, offer home-style country cooking featuring many of its own recipes that emphasize authenticity and quality. The company’s restaurants serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily and offer dine-in, pick-up and delivery services.
Breakfast items can be ordered at any time throughout the day and include juices, eggs, pancakes, meats, grits, and a variety of biscuit specialties, such as gravy and biscuits and country ham and biscuits. Lunch and dinner items include fried and grilled chicken, chicken and dumplings, chicken pot pie, meatloaf, country fried steak, pork chops, fish, country fried shrimp, steak, roast beef, ham, vegetable plates, sandwiches and salads. The company also offers multi-serving takeout family meal baskets. Additionally, from time to time, the company features new items as off-menu specials or on test menus at certain locations to evaluate possible ways to enhance customer interest and identify potential future additions to the menu. The company offers weekday lunch specials, which include some of its favorite entrees in lunch-sized portions. The company’s menu also features weekday and weekend dinner specials that showcase a popular dinner entree. The company served an average of approximately 5,500 restaurant guests per week in a typical store in 2024.
The company also offers for sale in its gift shops items that are featured on, or related to, the restaurant menu, such as pies, cornbread mix, coffee, syrups and pancake mix. The company’s gift shops offer a wide variety of decorative and functional items, such as rocking chairs, seasonal gifts, apparel, toys, cookware and various other gift items, as well as various candies, preserves and other food items. The company’s typical gift shop features stock keeping units. Certain food items are sold under the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store brand name.
Product Development and Merchandising: The company maintains a product development department, which develops new and improved menu items either in response to shifts in customer preferences or to create customer interest. The company uses a formal development and testing process, which includes guest research and in-store market tests to ensure products brought to market have a greater likelihood of meeting its goals.
The company’s merchandising department selects and develops products for its gift shop. The company focuses on driving retail sales by converting those customers who come to it for a restaurant visit. The company’s assortment includes both core and seasonal themes. The company’s seasonal themes are designed to create interest and excitement in its stores by providing its guests with additional choices that vary throughout the year.
Store Management: At each store, the company’s store management typically consists of one general manager, four associate managers and one retail manager. To motivate managers to improve sales and operational performance, the company maintains bonus plans designed to provide managers with incentives to meet and exceed the operational targets of their store. Each store is assigned to both a restaurant and a retail district manager who each report to a regional vice president.
Trademarks
The company deems the various Cracker Barrel and MSBC trademarks and service marks that it owns to be of substantial value.
Seasonal Aspects
Historically, the company’s revenue and profits have been lower in the first and third fiscal quarters and higher in the second and fourth fiscal quarters. The company attributes these variations primarily to the holiday shopping season and the summer vacation and travel season. The company’s gift shop sales, which are made substantially to its restaurant guests, historically have been highest in its second quarter, which includes the holiday shopping season. Historically, interstate tourist traffic and the propensity to dine out have been much higher during the summer months, thereby generally contributing to higher profits in the company’s fourth quarter. The company also generally opens additional new stores throughout the year (year ended August 02, 2024). Additionally, the fourth quarter of 2024 consisted of 14 weeks.
Maple Street Biscuit Company
The company operates Maple Street Biscuit Company (MSBC) locations. MSBC is a breakfast and lunch fast casual concept. Like Cracker Barrel, MSBC values genuine hospitality and made-from-scratch cooking, including biscuit-inspired entrees, as well as freshly roasted coffee with a proprietary blend and a limited selection of beer and wine in certain locations. MSBC operates in a smaller footprint than its Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept and has operating hours limited to the breakfast and lunch day parts.
History
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. was founded in 1969. The company was incorporated in 1969.