The 93-year-old co-founder of Cracker Barrel blasted the homestyle restaurant chain’s execs for allowing changes that damaged the 56-year-old business as he urged CEO Julie Felss Masino to leave the logo alone.
Tommy Lowe, co-founder of the first Cracker Barrel in 1969, accused the former Taco Bell executive of trying to rival the chain’s widely criticized $700 million modernization effort.
“They’re trying to modernize to be like the competition — Cracker Barrel doesn’t have any competition,” Lowe told WTVF Thursday. “I heard she was at Taco Bell. What’s Taco Bell know about Cracker Barrel and country food? They need to work on the food and service and leave the barrel — the logo alone.”
The nonagenarian’s comments come after Cracker Barrel executives reversed course on a much despised logo redesign that removed the famous “barrel” and Uncle Herschel from the chain’s branding.
Lowe slammed the rebrand as “pitiful” — saying Masino didn’t understand Cracker Barrel’s identity because of her background in fast food.
“Spending $700 million dollars doing that is throwing money out the window,” he said.
Lowe claims Masino doesn’t know who he is and revealed he has never met with the executive since she was named Cracker Barrel’s President and CEO in July 2023.
Masino began implementing changes to the menu, interior design and prices soon after assuming the coveted position in November.
The initial changes went under the radar for most customers, but Masino’s most recent alteration raised eyebrows across the nation.
Lowe, who served as Cracker Barrel’s Vice President of Operations and held a decades-long seat on the board of directors, said Masino was trying to compete with competition that didn’t exist.
Following the immense backlash and plunging stocks, Cracker Barrel executives decided to reverse course and return to the “Old Timer” logo.
“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel,” the company said in a statement. “We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘old timer’ will remain.”
The about-face followed days of protests on social media against Cracker Barrel’s rebranding efforts — capped on Tuesday with Trump weighing in and advising the company to go back to the original logo design.
Lowe recalled a “Grand Ole Opry” man named String Bean who had warned the restaurant in its infant stage to “keep it country.”
He reiterated the alert to the current leaders, warning the business would falter if they didn’t listen.
“If they don’t get back to keeping it country, then it ain’t gonna work,” Lowe told the outlet.
The first store was built along Highway 109 in Lebanon, Tenn., after co-founder Dan Evins wanted to build a gas station but needed something more appealing to get more customers.
Evins, who died in 2012, brought in Lowe, a construction business owner, to build a restaurant to accompany the station and provide for truckers who drove through the area.
“It was just a country store for country people and that’s what it is today, they just don’t understand,” Lowe said.
Lowe says it took “forever” to get 10 investors to fund the $10,000 needed to build the store.
“It wasn’t a bet at all,” he said on the challenges faced in getting up and running.
The partners managed to get off the ground, opening the first store on Sept. 19, 1969, eventually expanding the chain to over 650 locations in 44 states.
