Cracker Barrel lowers revenue forecast due to decline in traffic after logo explosion

Cracker Barrel reported lower-than-expected sales in the first quarter of its fiscal year and cut its revenue forecast for the year as it continues to feel the impact of a failed plan to redesign its logo and restaurants.

lebanonThe Tennessee-based restaurant chain said Tuesday its revenue fell 5.7% to $797.2 million in the three months ended Oct. 31. It was less than $800 million. wall Street Anticipated, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet.

Cracker Barrel said sales at its same-store restaurants declined 4.7%, while sales at its retail stores fell 8.5%. Those declines were also slightly larger than analysts had expected.

Cracker Barrel said it now expects total revenue in the 2026 fiscal year to be $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion. This has come down to $3.45 billion from $3.35 billion earlier. The company also said it expected adjusted pre-tax earnings of $70 million to $110 million, down from $150 million to $190 million previously.

Shares of Cracker Barrel fell more than 10% in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Cracker Barrel announced in August that it was simplifying the chain’s logo as part of a larger plan to modernize the chain’s dark, antique-filled restaurants.

But this move had disastrous consequences. Fans did not like that the new logo did not include Cracker Barrel’s longtime mascot, an overalls-clad man leaning over a barrel, or the words “Old Country Store.” They also rebelled against the store’s new design.

Cracker Barrel backtracked a week later, saying it would keep the logo. In September, the company also suspended its plans to remodel stores. The chain operates approximately 650 restaurants across the country, including several texasFlorida and Tennessee,

Cracker Barrel shareholders voted late last month to keep the company ceo Julie Fales-Massino remains in place despite Logo’s defeat.

But one of the company’s directors, Gilbert Davila, resigned from Cracker Barrel’s board on Thursday, as preliminary results indicated that shareholders rejected his re-election. Davila, who joined Cracker Barrel’s board in 2020, is the president and CEO of DMI Consulting, a multicultural marketing firm. He reviewed advertising for Cracker Barrel as part of his role on the board.