Talk:Cracker Barrel

message: Hello, with the changes made to the structure and reorganization of the History section, I'd like to make a few content suggestions: 
*TenPoundHammer Added a tag about missing information from the 1970s and 1980s. I looked through the company's history and really didn't see anything significant that wasn't already covered here. News during that period was quite routine. There's Bill Holley's creation of the logo, but I'm not sure if that qualifies. If editors agree, I think the tag could be removed.
*Remove "Into the early 1980s, the company reduced the number of gas stations on-site, eventually phasing them out altogether as the company focused on its restaurant and gift sales revenues." from 1980–1996.
:*Reason: There's a "when" tag, which prompted me to look for the source. I could not locate it, nor an alternative source to verify this information.
*Move the following from Community involvement into 1997–2010: In 1997, the company purchased the Mitchell House in Lebanon, Tennessee.  The house had been the elementary dormitory and school for Castle Heights Military Academy which both Dan Evins and his son attended.  The school had closed in 1986 and the building had sat empty since then. Cracker Barrel spent two million dollars to restore the home and used it as its corporate headquarters from 1999 to 2013.
:*Reason: This information is more historical than anything, it doesn't strike me as a community initiative, so I think it would make more sense as part of the history section. 
*Add another subheading titled 2011–present just after "Previously the signs had featured only the company's logo."
:*Reason: This is another subheading to break things up in a chronological flow, and gives a clear space for recent history.
*Remove/Move: " On January 17, 2012, company founder Dan Evins died of bladder cancer."
:*Reason: This seems like something of a non-sequitur to me, since at that time Evins was no longer directly involved with the company. If editors would like to keep it in, I'd suggest moving it to Executives and removing the cause of death, since that is irrelevant to the company's history and already covered in the Dan Evins biography. 
*Move "By 2011, Cracker Barrel had opened more than 600 restaurants in 42 states." to the top of the new "2011–present" if accepted.
:*Reason: It's currently out of chronological order and this will fix it. 
*Remove "Since then, the company has continued to grow its off-premise sales, launched two virtual brands including the Pancake Kitchen and Chicken n' Biscuits, as well as two new "Ghost Kitchens" in the Los Angeles area called Cracker Barrel Kitchen which only processes off-premise orders."
:*Reason: TenPoundHammer had suggested looking for opportunities to cut content from the article. This is an addition I'd requested a while ago, and we no longer operate the ghost kitchens. I don't have a third-party source that talks about them closing, so I thought this would be a place where just trimming a bit would make sense. 
*Add "Cracker Barrel permanently added alcohol to its menu for the first time in September 2020. The company began testing a limited selection of beer, wine and mimosas at 100 stores in early 2020 before announcing that it would expand the offerings to over 600 of its locations after receiving a positive response from its customers.
:*Reason: Selling alcohol for the first time in the company's history seems like a significant moment worth at least a brief mention, and it received widespread coverage in mainstream media. 
 
Okay, that wraps up my ideas for the History section. As always, because of my COI I'll leave these suggestions for volunteer editors to review and implement as appropriate and I welcome questions and feedback. Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 18:42, 20 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: I've made the changes, . They all make sense to me and the history section is looking much better now. SilverserenC 21:54, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thank you so much! I agree, and appreciate you taking the time to review and make the changes. I'll be back soon with the next set. CB JessicaM (talk) 21:36, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Part 2: History content changes 

message: Hello, I'm back with my next set of changes to suggest. This time I'll be focusing mostly on the Restaurants section, with one quick request for the Infobox: 
*Our CEO is Julie Felss Masino, as of August. The announcement was covered, and our company website is up to date. Can we update the Infobox to reflect the change? 
*The first paragraph of Restaurants jumps back and forth between dining and gift shop content. I propose splitting it up into two shorter paragraphs, one about dining and one about the gift shop. Here's my suggested change, which moves existing information around and makes copy edits for flow. I also cut the sentence about removing trans fats, which seems unnecessarily detailed at this point:
:*As a Southern-themed chain, Cracker Barrel serves traditional Southern comfort food often described as "down-home" country cooking. Breakfast is served all day, and there are two menus: one for breakfast, the other for lunch and dinner. Since the first restaurant opened, the menu has featured Southern specialties, including biscuits, fried chicken, and catfish; seasonal and regional menu items were added during the 1980s and 1990s. 
::The gift shops sell gifts including simple toys representative of the 1950s and 1960s, toy vehicles, puzzles, and woodcrafts. Also sold are country music CDs, DVDs of early classic television, cookbooks, baking mixes, kitchen novelty decor, and early classic brands of candy and snack foods.
*Move the following to the beginning of the Fans subsection. I recall a comment that that section seemed a bit out of place, and I think this would help give it a more logical presence.
:*"Cracker Barrel is known for the loyalty of its customers, particularly travelers who are likely to spend more at restaurants than locals."
*The second paragraph in Locations, service, and decor has some redundant references to interior decor and split up content about the peg games. I suggest changing that paragraph to the following for better flow and to reduce redundancies:
:*The locations are themed around the idea of a traditional Southern U.S. general store. Items used to decorate each store are authentic artifacts, including everyday objects from the early 1900s and after. Each location's exterior features a front porch lined with wooden rocking chairs, while the interiors all include five common decorations: a shotgun, a cookstove, a deer head, a telephone, and a traffic light. Every table has a wooden peg solitaire game.
*The first sentence of paragraph three of Locations, service, and decor could be clearer, since it is about decor in addition to the standard decor. I suggest changing it to read:
:*The decor at each location also includes artifacts related to the local history of the area, such as antique household tools, old calendars and posters, and antique photographs."
*Rename the Awards sections as Recognition, which is a more neutral name and inclusive of formal awards as well as notable rankings already in that section. 
 
That's everything on my list for the Restaurants section.  tagging you since you've been reviewing my changes so far, I'd be happy to continue to collaborate with you. As always, because of my COI I'll leave these suggestions for volunteer editors to review and implement as appropriate and I welcome questions, feedback and other ideas to improve the article. Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 15:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry for the wait, . I've implemented everything and made some other minor changes on my own discretion, such as removing the Executive sub-section on the former CEO. I presume that entire section will be re-organized anyways to something that flows better when you get to it. SilverserenC 22:07, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Part 3: Restaurants changes 

message: Hello, I'm here with the next round of changes to suggest for the article, this time getting into the Corporate affairs section. 
*I suggest removing the Board of directors subsection. 
:*Reason: It's quite a lot of information and the way it's written seems to me to describe a typical board structure for a public company, rather than anything notable or of particular interest about Cracker Barrel. The sourcing is primary for both paragraphs, and from what I can tell Cracker Barrel has not received significant third-party coverage about its board of directors.   
*I agree that having a whole subsection called "Executives" with only information about one of the company's former CEOs didn't make a lot of sense. Since that's gone now, I suggest the following summary of Cracker Barrel's leadership history:
::Company founder Dan Evins led the company until 2001, when he was succeeded by Michael Woodhouse. In September 2011, Sandra B. Cochran became the company's CEO and president. She held the position until August 2023, when Julie Felss Masino was named as Cochran's successor.
*Rename Partnerships to Partnerships and sponsorships and move the following content from Community involvement into this section:
::Cracker Barrel sponsored the NASCAR Atlanta 500 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2001 and the Grand Ole Opry from 2004 to 2009. The company was the first presenting sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry. This sponsorship allowed the company to make connections within the Nashville music industry, following which it entered into partnership with a number of country music performers.
:*Reason: Renaming this and moving the suggested content will group similar details, and the sponsorship information does not seem like it fits as "community involvement". If editors accept this change, the sentence "The chain has established partnerships with artists including Alison Krauss, Charlie Daniels, Josh Turner, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, and Alabama, to offer CD releases and merchandise." could be removed because it is redundant to what's already in Partnerships. 
*In Community involvement, change "Cracker Barrel has also formed a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity for injured veterans." to "Cracker Barrel has also formed a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project, a charity for injured veterans, as well as the nonprofit Operation Homefront to support programs for military families.
:*Reason: This change consolidates similar information, and would allow trimming "In 2016 Cracker Barrel partnered with nonprofit Operation Homefront to launch Operation Rocker, which provided Cracker Barrel rocking chairs to families involved in Operation Homefront's Homes on the Homefront program, and Star Spangled Baby Showers, a program for expectant military families." from the article. 
*The Conflict with Biglari holdings section has grown quite long over the years. Since it has come to a close, what do editors think of replacing that whole section with a summary? Here's my proposed version:
::Sardar Biglari purchased shares of Cracker Barrel in 2011 through his company Biglari Holdings Inc. He has been critical of the company's management, and between 2011 and 2020 made five attempts to join the company's board of directors. Cracker Barrel claimed Biglari had a "hidden agenda" and a conflict of interest by holding shares in other restaurant chains such as Steak 'n Shake. In 2022, Cracker Barrel entered into an agreement with Biglari, whereby the restaurant chain would agree to appoint Biglari's preferred nominee for the board of directors, Jody Bilney. As part of the agreement, Cracker Barrel was to pay Biglari compensation for monies spent by Biglari while in pursuit of specific board nominations. Mutual nondisparagement and standstill agreements were also entered into by both parties.
:*Reason: I think this adequately summarizes the history here. I am open to what others think is appropriate, and welcome others' ideas. 
 
Those are my thoughts for Corporate affairs, if anyone else has thoughts on improving it, please let me know! Happy to answer questions or help however I can.  tagging you to get this on your radar! Thanks for all you've done so far, I think the article is looking a lot better. CB JessicaM (talk) 18:26, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: All done. I also made some re-arrangements on how things were to be grouped together in those sections. Now all that's left to update are the somewhat tricky controversy sections. I do remember having difficulty with them and others' opinions back during the original FAC nomination. And both sections have become much more bloated since then. SilverserenC 02:20, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thank you! I have posted my thoughts on the controversies section below. I do expect editors to have feedback and am happy for this to be a discussion. Again, I appreciate the time you've taken to review and implement my proposals! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:23, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Part 4: Corporate affairs changes 

message: The New York Post is reporting that the company's CEO admitted on an investor call that it's not as relevant as it used to be: https://nypost.com/2024/05/23/business/cracker-barrels-ceo-admits-chain-not-as-relevant-as-we-once-were/
I can't find actual transcript from investor call, but some of the more salacious, non-trustworthy outlets (e.g. Daily Mail) have run with the story. I was going to update this article based on NY Post story, but per Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources, I think I will hold off until I can confirm those comments + clearly see their source.  Sawitontwitter (talk) 15:35, 24 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  CEO comments