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.
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.
When our founder, Dan Evins, opened the first Cracker Barrel, he was passionate about recreating old country stores from his childhood along interstates and highways so that travelers would always have a place to stop, relax, get a good country meal and feel at home. Crackers used to be delivered to those old country stores in barrels, and people would congregate around them to discuss the news of the day – they were the original water coolers! Since the restaurant was meant to help people reconnect with friends and family over a good meal, it was a fitting name.
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.
Yeah close look, it doesn’t look like a typical black caricature, like Uncle Ben, and Aunt Jemima. It just looks like a older guy, sitting in a chair, with a barrel being used like a table. This would have described half my, white, family. Racists just think anything “old timey” changing is woke, because woke is what they don’t like. However, the company has a historical problem with overt racism, and most of their customer base has a lot of racists in it’s composition. So fuck them, they deserve to go under.
Ultimately this is just rage bait profiteering, and a distraction from the real hell going on.
So, can someone explain this to non USAians?
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.
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!
cracker barrel had a logo with racist undertones, like the other logos above it. it has recently been retired, much to the outrage of conservatives.
It’s a guy leaning against a barrel, what racial undertones are there?
idk, ask the nazis that are mad it got switched out.
Okay just because a racist is mad doesn’t mean that what they’re mad about is necessarily racist.
Yeah close look, it doesn’t look like a typical black caricature, like Uncle Ben, and Aunt Jemima. It just looks like a older guy, sitting in a chair, with a barrel being used like a table. This would have described half my, white, family. Racists just think anything “old timey” changing is woke, because woke is what they don’t like. However, the company has a historical problem with overt racism, and most of their customer base has a lot of racists in it’s composition. So fuck them, they deserve to go under.
Ultimately this is just rage bait profiteering, and a distraction from the real hell going on.
What racist undertones? He looks like a detailed Simpsons character.
All the other logos have controversies, except cream of wheat.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/10/real-people-behind-aunt-jemima-uncle-ben-cream-of-wheat/3285054001/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_O'Lakes
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_L._White
They got rid of the barrel and the cracker!