Cracker Barrel won't remodel restaurants after logo change uproar

Cracker Barrel is shelving plans to remodel its restaurants as it continues to backtrack on overhauling its brand image.

The move comes after the chain already reverted to its old logo in response to an uproar around a refreshed brand symbol that caused the company's stock to lose as much as $200 million in market value.

"Your Old Country Store is Here to Stay," the company said in a statement on its website Tuesday, adding that it would no longer seek to modernize the restaurant's interiors.

"Today, we're suspending our remodels. If your restaurant hasn't been remodeled, you don't need to worry, it won't be," Cracker Barrel said. The decision to halt remodeling plans was based on opinions customers shared "not just on our logo, but also on our restaurants," it added.

Cracker Barrel conceded in its statement that its planned store redesign did "not reflect what you love about Cracker Barrel."

To date, the Southern-themed restaurant chain has remodeled just four of its 660 store locations. It is suspending plans to remodel any additional stores.

"With our recent announcement that our 'Old Timer' logo will remain, along with our bigger focus in the kitchen and on your plate, we hope that today's step reinforces that we hear you," the company said Tuesday.

Marketing experts said that while Cracker Barrel may have had solid business reasons for revamping its brand, the company's execution of that strategy was flawed.

"I'm sure there was a lot of deep thought that went into both the logo and store redesigns," Vanderbilt University marketing professor Kelly Goldsmith told CBS MoneyWatch. "They needed to turn the ship around financially and thought the logo and store redesign would help."

While Cracker Barrel's growth soared in the 1990s, it has slowed in recent years. For 2024, the company reported revenue of roughly $3.5 billion, up less than 1% from the previous year. Net income fell to $40.9 million, down from $99 million in 2023.

"It's existing plan wasn't working for the company financially, and that was the impetus for this change," Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith suspects Cracker Barrel may have wanted to appeal to a broader audience by presenting a more flexible brand, opening the door for the chain to expand into new food categories.

"Unfortunately, we never got to see if that actually converted to a return on investment for them because they switched back so quickly," she said.