My wife was a server at a chain that had a lot of stuff on the walls.
Her first reaction to going into a Cracker Barrel was, “It must be a pain in the neck to dust all that crap!”
When they re-designed her place it saved several hours a day in labor just keeping the place clean.
It’s not always about “DEI”.
I don’t think it was ever about DEI.
The board implemented change because the very existence of Cracker Barrel depended on a change that would increase customers and revenue. Cracker Barrel is a failing enterprise.
From my perspective, the customer base that allowed growth and prosperity is either dead or aged. The former customer base just no longer exists.
New customers must be acquired.