Last year, Cracker Barrel’s redesigned logo and interiors became MAGA World’s latest culture war. Cracker Barrel was trying to subtly modernize their “look” so that their restaurants didn’t have the feel of some antebellum relic. They removed the old white guy (Monseigneur Cracker, I guess) and his barrel from the signs, and many restaurants were taking down their cheesy Southern decor in favor of Millennial Grey. Liberals did not care. Like, it was not our doing, we did not demand these changes, but we were still blamed for pushing a “woke,” anti-barrel agenda onto their chicken-fried safe space. Soon after the controversy first exploded, Cracker Barrel made a corporate decision to end all of their DEI policies and axe all of their Pride sponsorships. That was when liberals actually said something – we reminded the corporation that when Target did the same thing, people boycotted and Target lost billions. Well, the Cracker Barrel catastrophe has been burning away in the background for months. Now Cracker Barrel’s CEO is stepping down.
Cracker Barrel Chief Executive Julie Masino is stepping down, ending a three-year tenure that promised significant changes to the family dining chain but put it at the center of a political firestorm before she walked back some of her plans.
Masino sought to update the brand that first opened in 1969 for a younger generation of consumers, with initiatives that included remaking the folksy logo atop Cracker Barrel restaurants, pulling antique tchotchkes off the walls and changing the menu. But many of the changes ended up alienating some core diners and conservatives. The resulting controversy, magnified on social media by online bots, led her to scrap much of her strategy and contend with plummeting sales and profit. The company’s stock price fell sharply, and Masino cut staff and costs to try to stem the losses.
Despite the firestorm last year, Cracker Barrel’s business had recently shown signs of improvement. Masino will get a $4.6 million payout over a two-year period as long as she remains terminated without cause, according to a company filing. The company will also continue to provide her benefits, including protection services, as necessary. Her annual compensation was $6.4 million, including a base salary of $1 million plus stock awards, according to a company filing in 2025.
Masino will be succeeded on Aug. 10 by David Deno, the former chief executive of Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin’ Brands. Deno, 69 years old, has 40 years of experience in retail and restaurants, including leadership positions at Best Buy and Yum Brands. The company said he was selected after a search process. His pay package calls for a base salary of $1 million, plus stock awards, the company filing said.
Shares slumped as much as 6% in Monday trading before recovering to close down nearly 2.4% at $52.43.
Deno will also join the board of directors. Masino, 55, will stay on in an advisory role until Oct. 9 to support a smooth transition, the company said.
When they stripped their DEI policies and abandoned their Pride sponsorships, I figured that the company was simply making a business decision to retain what they believed was their core consumer: white, conservative, Southern and resistant to change. As in, Cracker Barrel is not trying to bring in new customers or expand their footprint. They are making the choice to placate who they see as their “customer base,” and if the company’s profits are getting back on track, that seems to be the smart move financially (but completely moronic long-term). Anyway, I assume that Julie Masino’s retirement from the company is supposed to be a corporate “turning of the page” where everyone can say “everything our customers didn’t like was Masino’s fault!”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
