The early bird gets the worm — and now, dinner at Cracker Barrel.
The roadside restaurant chain is making major rebranding changes, such as offering an early bird special, in an effort to become more “relevant” after seeing a post-Covid-19 pandemic slump.
“We’re just not as relevant as we once were,” the restaurant chain’s CEO Julie Felss Masino admitted last month, according to the New York Post.
The plan to refresh the old Southern country-styled brand includes remodeling its restaurants and revamping its menus, including the early bird special according to CNN. The new offering, dubbed “Early Dinner Deals,” offers a discount on certain foods, such as meatloaf or “Chicken n’ Dumplins,” from 4 to 6 pm Monday through Friday.
The company’s strategy seems to reflect the data, which indicates that fewer Cracker Barrel’s customers are dining at the restaurant before 9am or after 6pm, according to CNN.
On top of Cracker Barrel’s new special, the early bird special offering also seems to follow a nationwide trend - Americans are dining earlier.
The Wall Street Journal reported last June America has become a “nation of early birds,” noting that in 2023, restaurants are seating 10 percent of diners between 2 and 5 p.m. — and increase of 5 percent since in 2019.
Masino’s comments about Cracker Barrel’s relevancy seem to reflect the Tennessee-based company’s plummeting stock. It has decreased by roughly 50 percent in the past year — and 68 percent in the last five years.
The brand plans to spend about $700m over the next three years in its overhaul plan, yet it doesn’t expect to reap the benefits of those changes until the second half of 2026 and 2027, the Post reported.
