Cracker Barrel CEO steps down a year after logo debacle
[July 28, 2026] By
DEE-ANN DURBIN
Cracker Barrel's CEO is stepping down nearly a year after an attempted
rebrand of the chain led to a fierce customer backlash.
Cracker Barrel said Monday that CEO Julie Masino will step down next
month but remain with the company until Oct. 9 in an advisory capacity.
David Deno will succeed Masino on Aug. 10 as CEO. Deno served as the CEO
of Bloomin' Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse and other chains, from
2019 until he retired in 2024. He has also held executive roles as Best
Buy and Yum Brands, which is the parent company of KFC and Taco Bell.
Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel hired Masino, a longtime Taco
Bell and Starbucks executive, in July 2023. She was chosen for her
record as an innovator with the hope that she would attract new
customers to Cracker Barrel, which operates nearly 660 restaurants in 43
states.
Masino introduced updated menu items, like Hashbrown Casserole
Shepherd’s Pie, to increase Cracker Barrel’s dinnertime traffic. She
also started remodeling the company’s dark, antique-filled restaurants,
lightening the walls and installing more comfortable seating.
Then, last August, Cracker Barrel announced plans to ditch its longtime
logo, which features an older, overall-clad man leaning on a barrel as
well as the words “Old Country Store.” The company said it would
continue to honor Uncle Herschel — the man in its logo, who represents
the uncle of Cracker Barrel’s founder — on its menu and on items sold in
its stores. But the new logo would be simpler and easier to read on road
signs and in phone apps.
The backlash was immediate. Fans didn’t like the new logo and also
rebelled against the store redesigns. Even President Donald Trump
weighed in, saying in a Truth Social post that Cracker Barrel “should go
back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the
ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before.”
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This aerial photo taken with a drone shows a Cracker Barrel
restaurant in Binghamton, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ted
Shaffrey, File)
 Masino reversed course within a few
days, but the damage was done. Cracker Barrel's same-store
restaurant sales plunged 5% last fall and 7% in the quarter ending
Jan. 30, 2026. Same-store sales at the retail stores connected to
its restaurants dropped even further.
Still, the company's shareholders voted in November to keep Masino
in place as CEO, and sales trends had begun to improve in recent
months. In the quarter ending May 1, same-store restaurant sales
were down 2.6% and the company raised its full-year revenue and
profit forecast.
Masino also helped sharpen the company's focus on the Cracker Barrel
brand with the sale of the company's Maple Street Biscuit Co.
stores. Cracker Barrel acquired Maple Street in 2019 and operated 50
locations around the country.
Citi analyst Jon Tower said in a research note Monday that the news
of Masino's departure was surprising given those recent
improvements.
Cracker Barrel shares fell 2.7% in early afternoon trading.
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