Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

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
Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-119 next last
To: Dr. Sivana

Too funny!!

Kramer’s faces ... priceless.


61 posted on 11/27/2025 6:56:22 AM PST by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Nice ... thank you for this info ...

We loved A&W, as kids ... Papa burger, Mama burger, Teen burger and Baby burger!

And, best black cow milk shakes, ever.

The newer versions just don’t compare :-(

The only Nathan’s we’ve had is from the one in Vegas ... at NYNY ... decades ago.

Never have had a White Castle burger. Good for them ... for sticking with what works....and, keeping it in the family for over 100 years!


62 posted on 11/27/2025 6:59:36 AM PST by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

I don’t think those giant glasses have lens’.

They sell those in China. The frames are the statement.

“Look at me, I need these big glasses because so much of my brain power was diverted from my eyesight to support my superior intellect.”

Where is her black leather jacket? She must have missed that in her “Women Dressing for Power” class.

Either way she’s retarded and someone put her in charge, fire those monkeys as well.


63 posted on 11/27/2025 7:06:45 AM PST by Eddie01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
But seriously folks...

"Fired by America" is an excellent metaphor for what happens in America when you insult your customers. And I love it!

64 posted on 11/27/2025 7:08:46 AM PST by Salman (Hating Trump is like being in love. Everything reminds you of that special someone. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jane Long; ProtectOurFreedom

There’s a leftover that’s just branded as Roasters (no Kenny Rogers) in Sandy Springs, GA. I like them, good selection non-fried main courses with rotisserie chicken featured, and good selection of sides as well.


65 posted on 11/27/2025 7:09:58 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Just had an A-W Rootbeer Float at a Newly opened Franchise here in Prescott and
It Was Absolutely Postively Fantastic!


66 posted on 11/27/2025 7:10:56 AM PST by Big Red Badger (ALL Things Will be Revealed !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 43 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

It is about her feelings.

She couldn’t handle the interview by herself, so she brought support.

Why does she still have this job?


67 posted on 11/27/2025 7:11:58 AM PST by alternatives?
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: sphinx

>Which automaker was it that last year forgot it was selling cars, and instead built an identity rebrand around selling metrosexual gender confusion?

Jaguar.

Lots of car guys are still shaking their heads on that one.


68 posted on 11/27/2025 7:14:18 AM PST by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Jane Long

A&W Rocked SoCal and they followed me to Arizona !
I Live a Blessed Life.


69 posted on 11/27/2025 7:14:40 AM PST by Big Red Badger (ALL Things Will be Revealed !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum
was saved by investors last week after 75 percent of shares were cast in her favor.

She's just following the orders of the International Bankers and the New World Order. Round up the usual suspects. Per AI, the perps:

"Major institutional shareholders in Cracker Barrel include BlackRock, Inc., The Vanguard Group, Inc., and GMT Capital Corp.. Other significant holders are AllianceBernstein L.P., Franklin Resources, Inc., and State Street Corporation. Institutional investors collectively hold a substantial portion of the company's stock, which can give them influence over corporate decisions. "

70 posted on 11/27/2025 7:15:25 AM PST by PAR35 (I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: econjack
Land O’Lakes butter

That was the funniest one: keep the land, keep the lake, even keep the butter but chase off the Indian. Just like real life.

71 posted on 11/27/2025 7:15:30 AM PST by KarlInOhio (I pray that the sleeping giant has finally awakened and been filled with a terrible resolve.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

That the CEO wasn’t fired by the board is the greater evidence that this is a woketardian company.


72 posted on 11/27/2025 7:16:42 AM PST by Carl Vehse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Big Red Badger

Indeed! :-)


73 posted on 11/27/2025 7:17:51 AM PST by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: bert
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

That's why I believed she should reinvent the roadside family restaurant for the weary drivers on the interstate highways.

The problem was that she tried to take her Taco Bell background to turn Cracker Barrel into a date-night destination instead of revive the Howard Johnson's model.

Cracker Barrels are already positioned along the major exits on America's highways. The traveling public is a dying consumer segment that was taken over by fast-food, and Cracker Barrel has an opportunity to retake a market that they already dominate and is practically uncontested. The majority of Cracker Barrel's 660 restaurants are by freeway access and their giant road signs can be seen for several miles away, suggesting that they are already targeting the traveling family.

For the family who are passing through an unfamiliar area, having a familiar restaurant where they can stretch their legs and enjoy a sit-down meal, instead of getting a quick hamburger and fries and get back on the road, is what Masino should focus on.

If Masino tries to turn Cracker Barrel into a quasi-fusion date-night venue to compete with Chilis or Texas Roadhouse, she will drive away an already built-in customer base and fail anyway, because those people will have better choices for a fusion experience.

Instead, if Masino focused on rebuilding the legacy that Howard Johnson's left behind, the local family diner will still be there PLUS she can regain the motoring public looking for a familiar brand in an unfamiliar place.

It's low-hanging fruit of Masino wanted to go for it, but she came from Taco Bell and took her playbook of what worked there and tried to force it on Cracker Barrel like a round peg in a square hole.

-PJ

74 posted on 11/27/2025 7:19:55 AM PST by Political Junkie Too ( * LAAP = Left-wing Activist Agitprop Press (formerly known as the MSM))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Norski

Yes, it does.


75 posted on 11/27/2025 7:23:39 AM PST by bgill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

She’s sorry that’ the way people feel, not that she all but shut down the company. Back assward apology is no apology.


76 posted on 11/27/2025 7:25:54 AM PST by bgill
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: T.B. Yoits

That might work!

Reminds me of a scene in “Repo Man” where the kid is talking to his parents and eating something from a can marked “food.”


77 posted on 11/27/2025 7:28:03 AM PST by Disambiguator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: BradyLS
Part of the “smart, nerd-girl” look.

Miss Sakamoto, she ain't.


78 posted on 11/27/2025 7:28:49 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

Feckless leftard harpie earned her fate


79 posted on 11/27/2025 7:30:41 AM PST by mrmeyer (You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. Robert Heinlein)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

They are called your customers... and yes when you screw up your product you should be fired.


80 posted on 11/27/2025 7:31:30 AM PST by AndyJackson
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-119 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson