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As Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurants continue to undergo a physical transformation, more customers are noticing – and they’re not embracing the changes.
Cracker Barrel chief marketing officer Sarah Moore told Fox News Digital earlier this year that the Tennessee restaurant chain has been testing “various levels of remodels.”
“We’ve been very transparent about our goal of making our stores feel brighter and even more welcoming than they already are, while maintaining that country hospitality and charm that we’re known for,” Moore said. (See the video at the top of this article.)
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But some Cracker Barrel lovers on social media have expressed their displeasure with the changes.
A recent Instagram video shared by Cracker Barrel includes a caption that reads, “Nothin’ a little Cracker Barrel can’t fix.”
It elicited several negative responses to the alterations.
“The remodel is 🤮,” one person wrote.
“Now this place looks like every other chain restaurant. Bland and boring,” wrote another person.
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“WHAT are you thinking with that interior?!” someone else said.
Moore told Fox News Digital that the “physical guest experience” is “rooted in our brand DNA” and that the changes being made are based on “guest feedback.”
She continued, “Items like our rocking chairs, our biscuits, our peg games, antiquities on the wall, none of that is going away. We’re just looking at ways to freshen up the experience so that we can open our door a bit wider for more guests.”
Rachel Love, a content creator living in Tennessee, caught the restaurant chain’s attention with her social media video showing off the new interior.
The video has been viewed over 2 million times and has fetched nearly 4,000 comments since May.
Another eight-second video posted by @thecoachduggs earlier this month shows the interior of a remodeled Cracker Barrel. The caption reads, “At a remodeled Cracker Barrel. I hate it.”
The viral video has been viewed more than 6 million times since Aug. 2.
It led to a follow-up post directed at Cracker Barrel.
“The people have spoken. Stop it,” @thecoachduggs wrote.
“HATE IT,” one person commented in the post.
“What a disaster!!” another person commented.
Moore reiterated that Cracker Barrel welcomes the feedback.
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“We love feedback,” she said. “We take feedback from all channels very seriously. So, throughout this past year, when we talk about testing and all the development we’ve been doing, we have constantly pulsed various guest segments along the way.”
She said that includes loyal customers, lapsed guests and prospective diners.
“We truly want to understand how they feel about all the elements, whether it’s about the remodels or the menu or the full brand transformation framework,” she said.
“This includes understanding … the social media narrative and really digging deep into what our fan base is saying about us.”
But, she added, “The things you love about us will stay.”
“The things that make us truly who we are — that’s not changing.”
Read the full article here
