Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino is speaking out after the immense backlash over the restaurant’s remodeling and rebrand. She said she feels like America “fired” her after the backlash.
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She spoke with The Blaze’s Glenn Beck about the backlash via New York Post.
“Um, I feel like I’ve been fired by America,” Masino said. She explained that she was trying to “help people love this brand.” She planned the redesign with Senior Vice President of Store Operations Doug Hisel.
“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.’”
Cracker Barrel CEO Speaks Out
However, the Cracker Barrel CEO said that she realized that she accidentally disappointed people.
“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 mad at Cracker Barrel. Our job is to make people love Cracker Barrel the way that our guests do, right? And so, even trying to invite new people in, it was always about how do we show them the magic that is Cracker Barrel.”
Cracker Barrel backed away from its rebranding in September as backlash started to affect the monetary value of the company.
“This is a humble brand with humble beginnings here in the center of this great country,” Masino said. “Other brands that you go into, you sit down and when you look around, and you see things on the walls, they’re the brand’s story. They’re telling you about the ingredients. They’re telling you about their founding, whatever they want you to think. We don’t do that here at Cracker Barrel … This is America’s story.”