REVEALED: The Cracker Barrel store closures so far in 2024
- Cracker Barrel’s customer base has fallen 17% in four years
- The chain has closed four stores so far in 2024, after at least three last year
Cracker Barrel has closed four stores so far this year as the beloved family-owned chain fights for survival.
Shares of the Southern country-themed chain have tumbled in the past week after the company’s CEO said the restaurant is no longer “relevant.”
Julie Masino was talking to investors as she outlined plans to turn things around at the chain, which until the closures had 662 outlets in 45 states.
Its popularity has waned over the past decade, with its loyal customer base of older people not returning after the pandemic.
To cut costs, it has already closed four stores this year: two in California, one in Oregon and another in Columbia, South Carolina. See below for full details.
Cracker Barrel has lost a significant 16 percent of its diners over the past four years, and the trend continues
Cracker Barrel says it will open two more locations this year. It is not clear whether more closures will occur.
Last year it closed three other stores in Oregon.
The decline in buyers has hit the share price in recent years.
But the price plummeted even further after CEO Julie Felss Masino told investors, “We’re just not as relevant as we once were.”
She spoke during an investor call.
Masino, who took over as CEO nine months ago, admitted: “Some of our recipes and processes haven’t evolved in decades.”
On Thursday, May 24, Cracker Barrel was trading as low as $45.35 – its lowest level in more than a decade.
The restaurant rose to prominence after it was founded in 1969 as customers flocked to its all-American dishes such as biscuits and gravy and fried chicken.
Regarding the closures, Cracker Barrel said in a statement: “The decision to close a store is never one we take lightly, and our focus now is on assisting our impacted employees during this transition.”
445 Center Drive in Medford, Oregon
253 Forum Drive in Columbia, SC
1000 Howe Ave. in Sacramento, Cal
905 Betteravia Road in Santa Maria, Cal