Cracker Barrel Foot Traffic May Have Tanked After Logo Kerfuffle

A rebranded Cracker Barrel logo sparked outrage on the internet and had the restaurant chain racing to contain the damage. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Key Points

• Cracker Barrel’s foot traffic decreased by 12.1% in September compared to the previous year.
• The initial logo change on August 19 led to a 5% traffic drop, worsening after the chain reverted to its old logo.
• The company’s stock has declined 17% in 2025 and 1.6% over the past 52 weeks, despite a 5.4% comparable sales increase.

Public uproar over Cracker Barrel’s logo change and subsequent about-face may have caused foot traffic to its restaurants to drop as much as 12% in September, compared with the same period last year.

New data from Placer.ai, which used location-based data from mobile devices to analyze foot traffic to Cracker Barrel stores, suggests that calls to boycott the chain that began in August over its switch to a more streamlined logo were effective.

Critics of the redesign, who included President Donald Trump and his son Donald Trump Jr., called the new logo “woke” and an attempt to expand the chain’s efforts at diversity, equity, and inclusion.

At first the foot traffic drop was modest. The logo change was announced on Aug. 19. Traffic fell just 5% drop during the week ending Aug. 25, compared with a year earlier, according to Placer.ai. Things got worse after the chain bowed to the criticism and reverted to the old logo, which features an “Old Timer” clad in overalls leaning against a large wooden barrel.

Foot traffic fell 10% over the next few weeks through Sept. 8 and was down 12.1% for the month overall.

The stock has fared poorly as well. It’s down 17% in 2025 and 1.6% over the past 52 weeks. The chain’s last earnings report for the quarter ending Aug, 1 showed comparable sales at its restaurants had actually increased 5.4% over the same period in 2024.

Cracker Barrel didn’t immediately reply to Barron’s request for comment on Placer.ai’s data.

Write to Anita Hamilton at anita.hamilton@barrons.com