deuce-ish

deuce-ish
[ deuce-ish ]

Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?

Posted by Lexillini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Lexillini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 12:38:43
weiner sleeve

I don't know if the new logo is "woke". It is, however, rather uninspired. And the few glimpses I have seen of the new decor is similarly unimpressive. When your entire brand is rooted in nostalgia, why make these kinds of changes?

Guns. Have them.

The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.

Socialism is the gospel of envy.

Sidejack....you are the new CEO. What do you do to fix Cracker Barrel?

Posted by villain <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=villain' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 27, 2025, 12:16:39, in reply to "Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?"
Stupidhead

Rebranding and redesigns clearly are not needed, or wanted, by the fanbase. Congrats, you've just saved $700 million by not doing that....but margins still suck hard and sales are declining YoY.

I feel like the store portion is part of the issue. Other than the throw back candy, does anyone actually buy anything from the store? It seems like so much valuable real estate that barely generates any profit.

I think they should shrink the store portion to 15% of it's current size and keep only the check out lane and a throw back candy aisle and a refrigerated section that holds pre-made to go meals. The rest of the space should become a large seated waiting area with a kiosk where you can pre-order your meal. That way, once you are seated in say 15 minutes, your food is arriving shortly thereafter. Turns are increased and wait times go down, increasing customer satisfaction.

I also saw a post on X or somewhere suggesting to revamp the menu with healthier ingredients and play off of Kennedy's MAHA plan. I think the current customer base would love the Make America Healthy Again association and younger diners would actually appreciate that the food is somewhat healthy.

probably just another real jerk in life

Your second paragraph is interesting. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Posted by Lexillini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Lexillini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 27, 2025, 12:31:58, in reply to "Sidejack....you are the new CEO. What do you do to fix Cracker Barrel?"
weiner sleeve

I would love to see the analysis of what actually sells in the stores. I suspect you are correct that it is primarily candy and snacks. With maybe a few regional t shirts and baseball caps being a very distant second.

Now, does the store section as it current exists bring more people into the restaurant? Probably not. It exists primarily to give people waiting on a table something to do before they start to get antsy and irritated. And there is some value in that. But there are perhaps better ways to address that issue, as you suggest.

Guns. Have them.

The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.

Socialism is the gospel of envy.

The King

Posted by AceFrehley <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=AceFrehley' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 26, 2025, 20:16:25, in reply to "Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?"

I know think the broad in charge of Cracker Barrel is kinda genius

Posted by AceFrehley <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=AceFrehley' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 26, 2025, 17:56:04, in reply to "Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?"

They're going back to the old logo.

https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1960475308819407128

Because now for the first time in decades people are talking about Cracker Barrel. You can't pay for this kind of advertising.

:-) Hey look!! Here's a video of the CEO "apologizing". (Well, not really; but it is funny.)

Posted by osklister <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=osklister' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 26, 2025, 9:14:54, in reply to "Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?"

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=753378980820610

Lol

Posted by AceFrehley <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=AceFrehley' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 23, 2025, 19:46:30, in reply to "Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?"

Just don't fuck with my waffle house *

Posted by Pooter <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Pooter' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 18:36:24, in reply to "Anyone heavily invested in Cracker Barrel?"

Previous Message

Life is too short to waste boners

I wanted to take the boys to a waffle house a few weeks ago when we were in Florida

Posted by villain <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=villain' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 27, 2025, 12:19:13, in reply to "Just don't fuck with my waffle house *"
Stupidhead

I was vetoed by the Villainess.

Previous Message

probably just another real jerk in life

Waffle House is family owned and every person in any level

Posted by GAIllini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=GAIllini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 23, 2025, 8:30:26, in reply to "Just don't fuck with my waffle house *"

of management started out working in one of the serving locations.

The Cracker Barrel CEO has disdain for what she imagines the current customers to be. She wants a more sophisticated customer base and has probably never spent more than a few minutes, if any in any of the serving locations.

Good way to get shot.*

Posted by Lexillini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Lexillini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 19:53:29, in reply to "Just don't fuck with my waffle house *"
weiner sleeve

Previous Message

Guns. Have them.

The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.

Socialism is the gospel of envy.

Strictly FWLIW: closest Waffle House to Chicago is Indy area. Hey, I'm sure they know what they're

Posted by osklister <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=osklister' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 20:16:17, in reply to "Good way to get shot.*"

I'm sure they know what they're doing... but seems like a natural expansion move.

Who knows: maybe they shy away from nasty winter weather??

AFAIK nobody has tried that "mini-Dennys" formula anywhere else; Chicago or otherwise.

It is kinda weird. Whole business is "Cracker Barrel", but this old geezer doesn't say hip. young...

...gonna go out and conquer the world clientele????

Sometimes you wonder if anyone looks at a Sunday after-church bump in sales and says "we gotta change something ASAP".

To answer your question, no I don't have any equity but if I was to go into the market I'd be on the short side. Eh.

it’s not because old geezer. he was white. and male

Posted by Superman <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Superman' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 17:05:15, in reply to "It is kinda weird. Whole business is "Cracker Barrel", but this old geezer doesn't say hip. young..."

which means has to go

ask the democratic party how’s that going for them

Previous Message

...gonna go out and conquer the world clientele????

Sometimes you wonder if anyone looks at a Sunday after-church bump in sales and says " we gotta change something ASAP ".

To answer your question, no I don't have any equity but if I was to go into the market I'd be on the short side. Eh.

Hail Trump!

F ATL

FWLIW: that's a pic of the real "Uncle Herschel": his favorite item is on the menu. *

Posted by osklister <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=osklister' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 24, 2025, 10:37:53, in reply to "it’s not because old geezer. he was white. and male"

Uncle Herschel's Breakfast or Uncle Herschel's Special or something like that...

Just argued this with a friend.

Posted by Lexillini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Lexillini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 14:10:55, in reply to "It is kinda weird. Whole business is "Cracker Barrel", but this old geezer doesn't say hip. young..."
weiner sleeve

His take is that every business eventually has to mdodernize, update and change. I still think CB is perhaps risking alienating much of its historical clientele in order to appeal to a brand new demographic which may never have any interest. We shall see.

Guns. Have them.

The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.

Socialism is the gospel of envy.

his take is wrong and bad.

Posted by auto <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=auto' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 24, 2025, 17:35:11, in reply to "Just argued this with a friend."

even leaving aside the fact that cracker barrel's entire brand strategy is an appeal to a nostalgia for an image of america that never really existed, the history of business is littered with examples of companies that tried to expand a brand to reach new demos and destroyed the loyalty of their existing fanbases in the process.

there was just a big article in variety this week talking about how disney is now focused on trying to build a male focused brand, because they've lost the young male audience. they lost them because they listened to the advice of a bunch of childless women as to how they could expand the star wars and marvel brands to attract women, and drove away men in the process.

ubisoft (the game developer behind assassin's creed, far cry, etc.) is running into the same thing - they left behind 20-something males to pursue young women, forgetting that young women don't buy video games.

Previous Message

I agree. I cannot really think of any of these sudden demographic shifts which worked.

Posted by Lexillini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Lexillini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 27, 2025, 13:37:15, in reply to "his take is wrong and bad."
weiner sleeve

Now, there may be plenty of gradual and modest demographic shifts and reaches which have resulted in some level of success. But at the end of the day, radically changing who you are and who you appeal to is generally a really bad strategy.

Guns. Have them.

The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.

Socialism is the gospel of envy.

It’s a pretty terrible redesign. And I never thought it needed to change

Posted by DouchieHowser <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=DouchieHowser' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 23, 2025, 22:04:48, in reply to "Just argued this with a friend."

That said you have a valid point, normally a restaurant has to redesign. Maybe though like Pizza Hut in the 70s you find a perfect design and should just stick with it.

Just googled this...just looks like a faux retro logo to me. Like a 70s throwback. *

Posted by haighter <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=haighter' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 14:18:07, in reply to "Just argued this with a friend."
Boo Haighter

Previous Message

i think the shape/lettering/color/etc is a bit of a non-issue...

Posted by auto <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=auto' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 24, 2025, 17:29:41, in reply to "Just googled this...just looks like a faux retro logo to me. Like a 70s throwback. *"

honestly, i don't think most people would be able to pick out one from the other in a blind test.

the issue is ditching uncle herschel. put him next to the new logo and nobody says a peep.

Previous Message

It's very vanilla.*

Posted by Lexillini <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Lexillini' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 14:25:47, in reply to "Just googled this...just looks like a faux retro logo to me. Like a 70s throwback. *"
weiner sleeve

Previous Message

Guns. Have them.

The welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants.

Socialism is the gospel of envy.

By design !! (So, so glad I didn't get into Marketing at UIUC.) *

My answer of "just how TF does that make any sense at all??" wouldn't have gotten me Bronze Tablet.

I really want to know who the new logo polled "really well" with.

Posted by Figs <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Figs' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 15:32:48, in reply to "By design !! (So, so glad I didn't get into Marketing at UIUC.) *"

I guess MAYBE it could poll better than the original design in some demographics. But I don't see how a logo that vanilla could ever poll "really well". At best it would get a meh out of me. And that would have to be in a vacuum.

Previous Message

My answer of " just how TF does that make any sense at all??" wouldn't have gotten me Bronze Tablet.

“the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not.” - Peter Medawar

Be interesting to see how they were doing to start with. I can't imagine a major...

Posted by haighter <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=haighter' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 15:48:29, in reply to "I really want to know who the new logo polled "really well" with."
Boo Haighter

...retailer like that going through a massive rebranding without some indicators that what they were doing wasn't working anymore.

Key demo dying off and they're looking for a younger set?

Previous Message

My answer of " just how TF does that make any sense at all??" wouldn't have gotten me Bronze Tablet.

Said they hired three agencies. As a test, someone should spend five minutes on

Posted by fratstud <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=fratstud' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 16:16:53, in reply to "Be interesting to see how they were doing to start with. I can't imagine a major..."
Go Zags!

an AI logo design product to see what it spits out and drop $500 for a slew of logo designers on Fiver to see what they come up. Then, compare it to this one.

I don't think it's a terrible logo, but I really would have kept that brown instead of the black. I'll bet just the decision on black versus that brown burned millions of dollars of fully burdened employment costs and agency charges.

Previous Message

...retailer like that going through a massive rebranding without some indicators that what they were doing wasn't working anymore.

Key demo dying off and they're looking for a younger set?

Previous Message

My answer of " just how TF does that make any sense at all??" wouldn't have gotten me Bronze Tablet.

"Iowa women were better than Illini men" - Potomac

My general rule is to avoid "established" food brands.

Posted by Figs <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Figs' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 14:10:33, in reply to "It is kinda weird. Whole business is "Cracker Barrel", but this old geezer doesn't say hip. young..."

It is not often you see a restaurant rebrand that takes the restaurant to another level. McDonalds is a bit of a different animal due to diversification, and real estate.

Even Starbucks is a bit too old for me now.
I keep looking for them to buy something, or diversify, but I've been considering selling down my stake there for a while.

Previous Message

“the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not.” - Peter Medawar

One of those "corporate secrets" books said the real key to McD's is to look at their RE owned.

They own all their land (at least at the time the book was written, that was the claim) and they hold that leasehold hammer over the heads of all their franchisees.

Supposedly they bought Boston Market just to acquire the underlying RE. Could be true, who knows.

Previous Message

...McDonalds is a bit of a different animal due to diversification, and real estate...

Took a couple of days to notice this... duh.

Call me "Mr. Typist".

Tastes change too rapidly to make me want to own too much in any

Posted by fratstud <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=fratstud' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 14:48:57, in reply to "My general rule is to avoid "established" food brands."
Go Zags!

consumer facing food business. I think McDonalds is the only one with really immense long term staying power and that's the only one I own individually.

Previous Message

"Iowa women were better than Illini men" - Potomac

I was in with CMG at ~$40. Rode it up to $600. Sold when it dropped to $400.

Posted by Figs <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=Figs' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 15:29:54, in reply to "Tastes change too rapidly to make me want to own too much in any"

Still kicking myself for being scared off by an activist investor.

Previous Message

consumer facing food business. I think McDonalds is the only one with really immense long term staying power and that's the only one I own individually.

Previous Message

“the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not.” - Peter Medawar

Yeah, great growth story, built of course on MCD systems. Missed that obvious boat*

Posted by fratstud <iframe src='https://members.boardhost.com/onedeuce/info/user=fratstud' width='330' height='300' border=0 style='border:none;'> on August 21, 2025, 15:38:17, in reply to "I was in with CMG at ~$40. Rode it up to $600. Sold when it dropped to $400."
Go Zags!

Previous Message

Still kicking myself for being scared off by an activist investor.

Previous Message

consumer facing food business. I think McDonalds is the only one with really immense long term staying power and that's the only one I own individually.

Previous Message

"Iowa women were better than Illini men" - Potomac

« Back to index

248

[ deuce-ish ]