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Cracker Barrel gets welcome
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2025
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Cracker Barrel, a kinda-sorta popular "Old Country Store" that prided itself on staying the same over the years...has undergone massive, sweeping changes in aesthetics. The man & barrel are from the sign, now gone. The dark wood walls covered in Americana are going away. I hear some of the food is going to change as well.
It's weird because I'm seeing everybody slamming Cracker Barrel's food, and I have never had a bad meal at Cracker Barrel. I'm not going out of my way to eat it, but every time I've gone it's been nice.
I have enjoyed Cracker Barrel in the past, but I'm far from a frequent customer. However: anyone with half a brain can tell you the very last thing Cracker Barrel regulars want is change. Unless this change is accompanied by providing...something...with value equal or greater than what they're taking away, we are witnessing intentional brand destruction and/or brand suicide.
You're missing context.
Look at the dead logos.
Now look up how Cracker Barrel had to be sued in 2004 to stop segregating their dinning room.
Link to lawsuit
That is pretty fucked up, never heard about it. It's the usual suspects, "Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia". Probably not an unspoken nationwide Cracker Barrel policy, more of a Southern thing, but it's likely corporate knew it was going on & tolerated it.
The dead logos & old Southern country styling...WAS...their thing. It was their whole thing, now it's gone, and they have nothing. Idk personally I don't see it going well for them. Time will tell.
Right, but the point still stands. The type of person to frequent cracker barrel probably is an ancient racist. The rebrand will end them.
Not everybody, though. I'm with CoffeeJunkie; I go to Cracker Barrel because I like the food (and because they sell Hydrox cookies in the general store). I had no idea that it's apparently a hang out for racists. If they're around then they're well hidden at my local Cracker Barrel locations.
I don't think it's like a nazi bar, I just know that the demographic is old white people and I just kinda assume. I haven't been in ages but their biscuits are FANTASTIC.
Both them and Bob Evans offer "take home meals" that we've started ordering for the major holidays since my mother, aunt, and grandmother have passed. It is nice to be able to have a "big holiday meal" without all the prep/cleanup. Not exactly "cheap", but considering the amount of time you save and stuff you'd have to buy, not much of a "splurge" either if you want a nice family meal like that for the holidays.
Good
Thanks! What is an Old Country Store?
So you approach the Cracker Barrel, and it's got a bunch of rocking chairs out front you can rock on. You go inside, and immediately it's like a ye olde General Store type vibe. An assortment of various goods, enough of them have an old-timey Americana feel. Postcards, candies, snacks, sodas, clothing, toys, kitchen/household items. You'd check in with the hostess & browse the goods as you wait to be seated.
From their site: https://guestrelations.crackerbarrel.com/s/article/About-Us#WheredidCrackerBarrelgetitsname
When you first walk into a cracker barrel, there is a small store that sells everything from knick knacks, clothing, jewelry, home decorations (candles, pictures), toys, stuffed animals, candy, bottle sodas, etc. It is basically a bit like a "tourist trap" style place, but not as tacky and more focused in what they sell. It does have a bit of a "down home" vibe to what they carry, but I've had a time or two where I've seen stuff there that wouldn't be found in other stores in the area. An example would be soda/candy - they carry some classic stuff, but also carry stuff that would normally just be a regional thing.
Almost all of them are laid out the same way - you enter through a set of two double doors (helps with heating/cooling) and enter the store. The "store" portion itself is usually just a big rectangle with the hostess for the restaurant portion in the back corner. Along the side wall of that same corner, where you can pick up some candy/treats, as well as pay for anything from the store and/or for your meal in the restaurant.
You enter and exit through the store. It isn't as common anymore, but "back in the day" places were a mix of places to buy stuff, but also get some food. They are set up in a similar fashion - you can go there just to eat, but they have odds/ends for you to check out as well.
Not sure if they still do it, but one of the more interesting thing they used to do was offer "books on tape" or "books on CD". You could check them out from one store then return them to any other store. I had an aunt that would grab that when she was going to be on the road for a few days, as they usually had stuff that was newer than the local library, etc.
Amazing, thanks for the thorough description!