Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Masino described feeling as though she was “fired by America” in an interview last week following the backlash over the restaurant’s controversial remodeling design.
Masino discussed her leadership role with The Blaze’s Glenn Beck on Thursday, a position Beck noted she still holds despite the controversy.
“This is probably very unfair to ask you. Were you surprised you weren’t fired?” he asked.
“Um, I feel like I’ve been fired by America,” Masino said with a laugh.
“That’s probably worse,” Beck remarked.
The Southern-style restaurant chain drew backlash in August after altering its iconic logo of “Uncle Herschel” in a chair resting his arm on a barrel and introducing a more modern dining design.
Masino, sitting alongside Senior Vice President of Store Operations Doug Hisel, said she only wanted to “help people love this brand” the way she does, adding that she and her team never intended to redesign the entire restaurant.
“I think a lot of people think that Doug and me and other people sit around, are like, ‘Let’s remodel Cracker Barrel.’ Nothing could be further from the truth,” Masino said. “The notion for some of that truly came out of a lot of the work that we were doing on how do we improve food and experience. When we were talking to our guests, they said, ‘Stores could be a little bit more comfortable. They’re real dark. I can’t read the menu.’”
She admitted they “missed the mark” and expressed remorse over disappointing customers.
“We’re sorry that that’s what people feel,” Masino said. “That was not the intent. It was not the intent. It hurts me, because I don’t want people to be mad at Cracker Barrel. Our job is to make people love Cracker Barrel the way that our guests do, right? And so, even trying to invite new people in, it was always about how do we show them the magic that is Cracker Barrel.”
Cracker Barrel originally stood by the changes, claiming that the backlash came from a “vocal minority.”
However, by September, Cracker Barrel began restoring its original logo and restaurant models.
“This is a humble brand with humble beginnings here in the center of this great country,” Masino said. “Other brands that you go into, you sit down and when you look around, and you see things on the walls, they’re the brand’s story. They’re telling you about the ingredients. They’re telling you about their founding, whatever they want you to think. We don’t do that here at Cracker Barrel … This is America’s story.”
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