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Cracker Barrel CEO whines that she got 'fired by America' for woke redesign
Daily Mail ^ | 0:07 EST, 27 November 2025 | Updated: 04:50 EST, 27 November 2025 | MARTHA WILLIAMS

Posted on 11/27/2025 5:24:37 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum

Cracker Barrel's embattled CEO has complained that she was 'fired by America' in a recent interview. 

Julie Felss Masino, the restaurant's president and chief executive officer, was saved by investors last week after 75 percent of shares were cast in her favor. 

The vote came after Masino's controversial efforts to give the brand a 'woke' revamp.  

In an interview with The Blaze's Glenn Beck, Masino discussed her leadership role.

'This is probably very unfair to ask you. Were you surprised you weren't fired?' Beck asked. 

'Um, I feel like I've been fired by America,' Masino said with a laugh. 

'That's probably worse,' Beck responded. 

Speaking alongside senior vice president of store operations Doug Hisel on The Glenn Beck Podcast, Masino said she never intended to redesign the entire restaurant.  

Cracker Barrel's embattled CEO has complained that she was 'fired by America' in a recent interview 

Julie Felss Masino, the restaurant's president and chief executive officer, was saved by investors after 75 percent of shares were cast in her favor 

'I think a lot of people think that Doug and me and other people sit around, are like, "Let's remodel Cracker Barrel." Nothing could be further from the truth,' Masino said.

'The notion for some of that truly came out of a lot of the work that we were doing on how do we improve food and experience. When we were talking to our guests, they said, "Stores could be a little bit more comfortable. They're real dark. I can't read the menu."'

Masino confessed that she and her team may have missed the mark with their efforts to rebrand. 

'We're sorry that that's what people feel,' Masino said. 

'That was not the intent. It was not the intent. It hurts me, because I don't want people to be...'

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: ceo; crackerbarrel; missbossgirl; problemglasses

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To: Governor Dinwiddie
In the 2016 election cycle, political consultants began to promote what they called "Oprah Glasses", and that it made others trust and have confidence in what you were communicating. Then in 2020 the same group did a study over concern that wearing fake prop glasses to influence what others think of you could find one being "fake and unauthentic". The study found the public didn't care in the least.

So.....All the ladies of the left began adding those to their lefty virtue signaling image. I equate them with the new version of the Covid masks.

21 posted on 11/27/2025 5:48:35 AM PST by blackdog ((Z28.310) "Diggin the scene with a gangster lean" (Mayfield, Curtis) )
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

I’d have fired her for the glasses alone.


22 posted on 11/27/2025 5:50:30 AM PST by xp38
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

She took on a formidable task. Resurrect a failing enterprise designed for a customer base that no longer exists.

New Customers for Cracker Barrel do not have the same tastes as the now gone former customers. The original customer base is aged or dead

The evidence is that Cracker Barrel can no longer survive. The time for the extremely successful concept is over.


23 posted on 11/27/2025 5:51:27 AM PST by bert ( (KE. NP. +12) Quid Quid Nominatur Fabricatur)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Yet another WOKE nitwit.


24 posted on 11/27/2025 5:51:57 AM PST by hal ogen (First Amendment or Reeducation Camp?)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Joke:

What is a woke ceo chained to a weight, trying to scream and sinking into the oceans dark depths called?

Answer——A good start.


25 posted on 11/27/2025 5:52:42 AM PST by Phoenix8 (Owever )
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To: xp38

The workplace was much more fun without a certain gender or race causing trouble.


26 posted on 11/27/2025 5:54:30 AM PST by Colt1851Navy (@!@)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Well “America” wasn’t a fan.


27 posted on 11/27/2025 5:54:50 AM PST by pnz1 ("These people have gone stone-cold crazy”)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

If it ain’t broke, fix it ‘til it is ... (the bureaucratic oath)


28 posted on 11/27/2025 5:57:49 AM PST by bankwalker (Feminists, like all Marxists, are ungrateful parasites.)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie

It’s not a gal.


29 posted on 11/27/2025 5:58:28 AM PST by Norski
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To: Jane Long

Never mind the glasses.

Look at the neck.
Look at the trachea.
Look at the shoulders.
Look at the hairline.
Look at the chin.
Look at the forehead.

The glasses are a distraction. This is a male.


30 posted on 11/27/2025 6:00:46 AM PST by Norski
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

That’s a man ,LOL


31 posted on 11/27/2025 6:02:01 AM PST by butlerweave (Fateh)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie
Why do all these gals wear "man" eyeglasses?

They need to advertise their lesbian preferences.




32 posted on 11/27/2025 6:02:02 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: V_TWIN
Considering this story is now months old and she’s still trying to explain it is very telling to me.

She's torn up that she can't walk down a corporate hallway or enter a conference room without seeing the look in others' eyes.

She showed her true woke and ignorant self and can't undo her self-exposure.

33 posted on 11/27/2025 6:04:16 AM PST by T.B. Yoits
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

“ was saved by investors after 75 percent of shares were cast in her favor “
You just can’t fix stupid.


34 posted on 11/27/2025 6:05:03 AM PST by 9422WMR
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To: econjack
“Decades of brand recognition” doesn’t mean you haven’t gone stale and fallen out of favor with changing times and tastes. Happens all the time in the restaurant industry. The landscape is littered with restaurant failures because they wanted to stay true to their roots, but they went into a flat spin and couldn’t recover.

Restaurants That Became Stale, Outdated, or Fell Out of Favor

Restaurant / ChainYear(s) ClosedReason for Closure / Decline
Sweet Tomatoes / Souplantation2020 (all 97 locations)Ultimate unlimited salad-bar buffet chain; self-serve model already felt dated pre-COVID, then became impossible during the pandemic. Liquidated, never reopened.
Ruby Tuesday2017–2025 (~75% of locations gone)Once-famous for its endless Garden Bar; traffic collapsed as fast-casual salad chains took over and the rest of the menu felt stuck in the 2000s.
Old Country Buffet / Ryan’s / HomeTown Buffet2016–2023 King of the ’90s all-you-can-eat buffet; sneeze-guard empire crumbled as tastes shifted and hygiene concerns grew. Almost all locations gone.
Fresh Choice2012 West-Coast salad-bar buffet chain; lost to Sweetgreen-style fast-casual and never recovered from 2008 recession damage. All locations gone.
Sizzler1990s–2025 (over 625 U.S. stores)’80s–’90s steak-and-buffet icon; multiple bankruptcies and pandemic fallout left ~74 locations.
Hooters2024–2025 (40+ U.S. stores)Dated “breastaurant” gimmick; Chapter 11 in 2025 with $376M debt. Multiple locations shuttered.
Cracker Barrel2023–2025Rustic country-kitsch losing younger diners; traffic plunge after 2025 logo refresh. >
Wendy's2024 (140+ stores)Company called them “outdated” with poor sales.
Chi-Chi's2003 Kitschy Tex-Mex + hepatitis outbreak. All U.S. locations closed.
Kenny Rogers Roasters2011’90s country-chicken nostalgia faded.

35 posted on 11/27/2025 6:09:02 AM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: SMARTY

FA, FO. Proven to be most sagacious advice.

Public opinion, believe it or not, still matters.

The rest of the Cracker Barrel management has seen the handwriting on the wall, and responded appropriately.


36 posted on 11/27/2025 6:09:11 AM PST by alloysteel (You gotta accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative, Latch onto the affirmative....)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Kenny Rogers Roasters ... LOL. Never heard of that one.

Which restaurant chain has been in business the longest/still going?

Happy Thanksgiving to you.


37 posted on 11/27/2025 6:12:35 AM PST by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Hey Julie, ever hear the phrase The customer is always right? You just learned it the hard way. Cuz you’re stupid and arrogant.

She has no business in business


38 posted on 11/27/2025 6:13:22 AM PST by Justa (Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people....)
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To: Governor Dinwiddie; blackdog
I wholly agree about the glasses.

When I see those on someone, I have an immediate negative response before they even open their mouths. (of course, I reserve the right to change my mind as soon as they open their mouth to speak...)

Very few people can wear those.

I think Kat Timpf is one of the few that stick out for me.

Of course, while I find her attractive both physically and ideologically (I fully get she is a bit bony and has a hard face which not everyone finds appealing) something about her makes me think that, as a guy, I would approach her the same way a male Praying Mantis might approach a female Praying Mantis...

39 posted on 11/27/2025 6:13:22 AM PST by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est.)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Someone probably told her it made her look smarter.


40 posted on 11/27/2025 6:17:29 AM PST by woodbutcher1963
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