Cracker Barrel will file for BK in the next couple of years and close. The internet threw a tantrum over changes to an establishment people don't patronize in the first place because its outdated and mid. I genuinely don't get it.
At least if we're talking the corporate side of things, they actually achieved a peak at around 2018, both in sales and income.
Which kinda raises the first problem, COVID. That killed a lot of the restaurant industry, and with Cracker Barrel, it hit harder because they chose to focus locations on highways to get travel business. So they invariably get into dire straits which leads to a CEO reshuffle... and they get the absolute dud. The same "genius" who took away the Taco Pizza from Taco Bell, who fundamentally does not understand anything about Cracker Barrel, least of which the fact it's not just a restaurant but a country store as well.
So COVID ends and everyone hits recovery, and Cracker Barrel's business model is particularly affected because they're built for travelers and no one's travelling. So they start belt-tightening on a restaurant, which invariably means skimping on food quality and driving off the veteran employees who make a place. They start doing worse, and since the CEO is a moron who doesn't understand anything about anything Cracker Barrel proceeds to do the absolute worst thing and start belt-tightening even more and enshittifying the food and decor people still came for in a vicious cycle of suck that ends with a complete corporate blowout. The CEO being forced to walk shit back and possibly being kicked is actually the best thing for the company right now, and they could turn it around, but it'll require a lot of followthrough. Odds aren't good it'll be completed, but it is there and can be accomplished if they put their minds to it.
Just to be clear, I was aware of the automated firing squad before, this was just my idea of condensing it into a chair for other reasons. Not claiming the concept is at all original. Carry on though, fascinating topic.
The benefits of having a used car dealer for a father. I got to go to auctions and ride along. Among other things...
1. I still don't understand how their cafe has the best chicken wings I ever had.
2. Smart Cars are a lot bigger on the inside than you think.
3. Be sure to check glove-boxes, trunks, and CD slots. You can in fact find goodies.
4. Always second guess the Cadillac you're not considering.
5. Always second guess the Subaru or Honda you're looking to buy.
6. Repo cars are both disturbingly good views into their prior owner and moneymakers.
7. Every brand sucks except for the ones that don't. Ford guys magically find all the Explorers without shot transmissions, for example.
8. Yes, you can in fact go shopping for classics if you go week in, week out. I swung a 1986 Volvo 240 DL for a few years that way.
9. German is for rich people to repair to get a poverty experience. (German overengineering means no repairs for you.) Italian means German if there was no care.
10. TEST DRIVE IT. We caught a scumbag trying to pass off a nice looking Toyota SUV once with a completely shot frame. Would have never noticed had we not driven it and found out the cunt used a strap to attach the body back on the frame again.
