I have my own experience at a place that was very successful and where I worked, but brought a hell bent DEI liberal manager and everything went to hell afterwards.
Me too. They brought in a bunch of California MBAs to destroy it piece by piece. I quit last year after being there 18 years. Damn shame, as it had a 75 year history.
DEI - Deadly Enterprise Immolation.
I miss Uncle Herschel already.
What made Cracker Barrel refreshingly different was the atmosphere (of course).
So, hey. Let’s get rid of that atmosphere, and turn it into just another generic restaurant.
Idiots.
(They probably should have changed the name, too. Maybe something like “Boring Barrel”.)
Is vs Was.
This doesn’t seem like DEI to me. It just seems like someone who doesn’t understand Cracker Barrel’s customer base. CB isn’t Taco Bell.
“was”
The left has been trying to kill off anything rooted in or supported by Whites and White culture. That’s what all this is about. You’re just not permitted to have a White country or culture anymore. It’s against the laws of diversity.
The presence of an ‘older white man’ in their logo was not being in with the times per Cracker Barrel and their investors, and had to be gotten rid of. And who better to carry that message than some leftist chick who is their DEI CEO.
A year after this article came out the bottom dropped out of Cracker Barrel. They went from making $90 million in FY23 to $41 million in FY24. When 50% of your revenue disappears in 12 months changes must happen. BIG changes.
Knowing what makes them successful only contributes to the CEO’s wanton destruction of the brand
She is most likely getting subsidized to move in and destroy another piece of American culture
Same w all the other mysterious recent self-smashdowns
The NFL, the entire NFL, Budweiser, Target, statues, Columbus, renaming military bases, the Ivy League. The entire Ivy League
All gone. The people perpetrating these destructions stand to gain
That’s all.
LGBT policies
In early 1991, an intra-company memo called for employees to be dismissed if they did not display “normal heterosexual values”. According to news reports, at least 11 employees were fired under the policy on a store-by-store basis from locations in Georgia and other states.[6][13] After demonstrations by gay rights groups, the company ended its policy in March 1991 and stated it would not discriminate based on sexual orientation.[86][87] The company’s founder, Dan Evins, subsequently described the policy as a mistake.[6] From 1992 onward,[88] the New York City Employees Retirement System, then a major shareholder, put forward proposals to add sexual orientation to the company’s non-discrimination policy. An early proposal in 1993 was defeated, with 77 percent against and only 14 percent in support, along with 9 percent abstaining.[89] It was not until 2002 that the proposals were successful; 58 percent of company shareholders voted in favor of the addition.[86]
Between 2008 and 2021, Cracker Barrel raised its rating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index from 15 to 80 by adding sexual orientation non-discrimination policies and training programs.[90][91][92] Beginning in 2016, the company adopted a pro-LGBT stance, developing an internal diversity council which included LGBT members. Since 2017, the company has sponsored Out & Equal, a workplace-equality non-profit organization.[93]
I remember being told in business classes that image is very important. The rest is just mechanics. Bud Light. Coke. Tiger in the Tank. Winston tastes good like a cigarette should. 4 out of 5 doctors smoke Camels.
I haven’t had a decent meal at CB in over 7 years. Stale, poorly prepared garbage held under heat lamps in the back.
Service sucks, too.
“An article from 2 and 1/2 years ago. Cracker Barrel has gone the BudLight DEI route and ruined there reputation and business.”
They hired a woman. Their problems before feminizing were due to the post-Covid economy, where mid-level restaurant chains are in a terrible situation, as their labor costs are through the roof (and the labor costs of their suppliers), yet they don’t have the critical mass for automation like the McDonald’s can now do to greatly lower their lower costs. On the other side, mom and pop joints can hire people off the books, often family members, but others too, and not have to risk big headlines if they’re caught.
They should have realized the situation, buckled-down, and ride it out while closing some locations, but NEVER messing with their customer base. But instead they hired a woman, and thus they were force to let her “change things”.
They phased out the gas pumps. To go along with their new image, they should put in electric charging stations at all their parking spots.
I could care less that CB ruined their image. The fact that their food is mediocre is their more compelling problem.
Someone said this earlier....
Fast Food on a Plate.
What made it attractive was that it was an OLD country store! You walked through the myriad charming rows of merchandise to get to the restaurant.
Obviously, that model can’t expect to show blockbuster growth, since there are fewer and fewer of the elderly every day.
That’s what it was. Trying to make it a slick, modern restaurant with the name “Cracker Barrel” will fail. Maybe the new ceo should have considered opening a new chain of restaurants that would appeal to the young, and downsizing Cracker Barrel as needed.
They changed a storefront picture and that’s the end of them? Dunkin did the same and nothing happened.
There was this, a couple of decades ago:
https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2004/May/04_crt_288.htm