Cracker Barrel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the American restaurant-and-store chain. For the unrelated company marketing cheeses bearing the "Cracker Barrel" trademark, see Kraft Foods, Inc.. The operator of a chain of Louisiana convenience stores, Cracker Barrel Stores, Inc., is also unrelated.
| Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. | |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 in Lebanon, Tennessee |
| Headquarters | Lebanon, Tennessee |
| Key people | Dan Evins, Chairman Emeritus/Co-Founder; Michael Woodhouse, Chairman/CEO |
| Industry | Restaurants/Retail |
| Products | Homestyle country food/gifts |
| Revenue |  $2.06 billion USD (2004) |
| Employees | Approx. 150 per store |
| Slogan | Homestyle cooking done right. It's a restaurant. It's a store. |
| Website | www.crackerbarrel.com |
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., is a chain of 548 "Old Country Stores" (as of 2006), each combining a retail store and a restaurant.
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[edit] Overview
The Cracker Barrel chain serves traditional American Comfort food, including grits, and their outlets have traditionally been located along interstate highways, though the company policy on this appears to be changing. There are two menus, one for breakfast and one for lunch/dinner, but breakfast is available all day. The outer porch of a Cracker Barrel store has rows of rocking chairs for guests to enjoy before or after eating, and there is usually a fireplace and a checkers table within the dining area for an added country feel. The retail store carries mainly nostalgic merchandise, collectibles, housewares, crafts, toys, classic candies, and items used in making Cracker Barrel entrees.
Though Cracker Barrel does not offer specifically vegetarian or vegan dining options, they do offer an egg substitute which may be suitable for some vegetarians.
In recent history, the chain is better known for their P.R. problems involving accusations of racism, sexual discrimination and discrimination against gays and lesbians than they are for the quality of their food or nostalgic souvenirs.
[edit] Controversy
In the early 2000s and again in 2006, Cracker Barrel has faced accusations including a pattern of racial discrimination [1] in its treatment of customers. After national press attention to these accusations, the company announced explicit policies intended to address the charges, and the most prominent critics have not repeated their criticisms, but still they did end up paying $2 million for race and sexual harassment at three Illinois restaurants [2]. Stores now display a sign in their front foyer clarifying this policy, as has become the policy after a similar incident involving Denny's restaurants. In March 2006, Cracker Barrel agreed to pay $2 million to settle class allegations of sexual and racial discrimination brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC v. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.). In October of 2006, Rose Rock, the mother of popular comedian Chris Rock, threatened legal action after she claimed that she and her daughter were discriminated against at the company's Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, restaurant [3] due to not being served for over an hour, and then having her complaints dismissed by the manager on duty.
In 1991, Cracker Barrel instituted a policy requiring employees to display "normal heterosexual values which have been the foundation of families in our society." The company refused to change their policy in the face of protest demonstrations by gay rights groups, but in 2002, the company's stockholders voted to rescind the practice after 10 years of efforts by the New York City Employees Retirement System, a major shareholder.
Cracker Barrel is one of eight companies indicted and accused of making alleged illegal corporate campaign contributions to the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee (TRMPAC), started by Rep. Tom DeLay.[4][5]
[edit] Recent Allegations
On October 18, 2006 CNN reported that Rose Rock, mother of American Comedian Chris Rock is planning to sue Cracker Barrel for racial discrimination. Rose Rock claims she and her daughter were seated but ignored for over an hour at a Cracker Barrel location along the South Carolina coast. She said when she asked the manager about the delay, the manager did not try to find the cause of the delay, but told Rock that they could have a free meal, which she refused.[6]
[edit] Name Origin
In the days before pre-packaged food and huge supermarkets, a trip to the nearest store was more than just an errand; it was also a chance to socialize and keep up with goings-on. The country store of yesteryear was the focal point of many rural communities, and the heart of the country store was the cracker barrel. Literally a barrel containing crackers, the cracker barrel was the spot where folks would gather to chat about weather and politics, or to swap stories, jokes, and gossip.[7] In recent years and in light of the racially motivated discrimination controversies it has suffered, the name has taken a more cynical meaning, since the word cracker is also a racial epithet used towards southern whites.
