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Why do I think Cracker Barrel will succeed long-term?
Why is a McDonald's franchisee buying the dip on this restaurant's stock?
Dissecting the Markets
August 26, 2025
“Go Woke, Go Broke,” that’s the saying we’ve often heard and seen on social media. There is merit to it as we’ve seen companies go “woke” like $BUD ( ▼ 1.28% ) $DIS ( ▼ 0.97% ) and $TGT ( ▼ 2.13% ) and seen their share prices collapse because of it. But in the end, these companies continue to survive, and some, like Disney and Target, are still thriving today.
The saying has been revived as Cracker Barrel $CBRL ( ▼ 0.25% ) chose to modernize its restaurants and change its logo. Researching Cracker Barrel, the brand has done “woke” things over the past few years, like:
Throughout that time, the stock has plunged nearly 70%.
I am not big on politics, but I know that Cracker Barrel tends to cater to conservatives while Whole Foods tends to cater to liberals. During the years of presidential elections, analysts would track whether Whole Foods or Cracker Barrel grew the most to predict who would win the presidential election. Seeing that the company has upset its customer base while trying to acquire a new customer base hasn’t panned out the way they expected, which is why their struggles make sense.
Now, the recent changes that Cracker Barrel has made to both the interior of their restaurants and their logo have upset people on social media. While the yearning for the old times is understandable, the company needed a refresh of its interior to promote sales. As for the logo, they had to modernize the look on top of the restaurant upgrades. Without the logo change, many wouldn’t have known that Cracker Barrel has modernized.
It’s like Cracker Barrel was taken over by Dolores Umbridge
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry)
3:11 AM • Aug 21, 2025
Cracker Barrel completely changed their iconic logo for the first time in 47 years...
and it's absolutely horrible.
When will they learn?
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson)
7:00 PM • Aug 20, 2025
There’s plenty of evidence that store design refreshes do boost sales. Even the popular restaurant chains like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and more have undergone refreshes as a way to boost sales. A popular X McDonald’s franchisee influencer named @McFranchisee wrote a post saying he even bought shares of the company after they announced the store remodel.
I find this whole @CrackerBarrel thing entertaining. I’d bet 90% of those pontificating haven’t eaten there in years. I have. I even bought stock after they announced remodels. They need it — the stores are severely outdated, and the customer base is aging.
No one complained
— McFranchisee (@McFranchisee)
1:36 PM • Aug 23, 2025
To summarize the reasoning behind the remodel, @McFranchisee said, “[t]he moment I remodeled, it was like flipping a light switch. Customers came back.” Since he sees this happening with Cracker Barrel after the remodeling, he bought shares of the company.
While Cracker Barrel was late in remodeling its restaurants, the immense publicity they got from the remodeling provided tons of free marketing for the company. For those who have never been to a Cracker Barrel restaurant, like me, the publicity has sparked intrigue, and I plan on visiting a location in the near future. For repeat customers, I’ve heard mixed views. Some will stop going there, and others will keep going there only because their pancakes are the best.
In hindsight, these changes were expected. Last year, the CEO of Cracker Barrel, Julie Masino, sat down with Jim Cramer in an interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC. She said that 2025 was going to be an “investment year” as the brand is investing in remodeling its stores. At the time of the interview, Masino said that the company has remodeled 4 of its locations, and guests loved the remodeling. Also, the company did the largest menu test in the company’s history. So with all the investments being made in 2025, when does Cracker Barrel plan to see returns on those investments? According to Masino, around the second half of 2026.
Personally, I might nibble on the dip in the company’s share price. Seeing a McDonald’s franchisee buy the dip in its shares and knowing the bigger picture that the remodeling has in turning around the company’s sales are reasons why I’d be willing to ride the turnaround. It will take time to turn around the brand. Like many of the popular social media topics, they are only temporary, and people move on to the next exciting or outrageous thing.