No, Cracker Barrel is not closing all of its stores

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is a homestyle restaurant and retail store with 661 locations across 45 states.  But some fans of the chain are concerned about the future of the company amid rumors of closures. 

VERIFY reader Mike reached out to us online to ask if Cracker Barrel is closing down all of its stores. 

THE QUESTION

Is Cracker Barrel closing down all of its stores?

THE SOURCES

• Cracker Barrel

• A media representative for Cracker Barrel

• Manager at Cracker Barrel in Medford, Oregon

THE ANSWER

No, Cracker Barrel is not closing down all of its stores. 

WHAT WE FOUND 

Earlier this year, Cracker Barrel closed three locations in Oregon due to the pandemic’s negative impact on sales, but the restaurant said it is not shutting down stores nationwide. 

The Portland area restaurants were closed after a performance evaluation, “using various criteria to ensure we are meeting the needs of our guests and our business,” Cracker Barrel told VERIFY partner station KGW. Cracker Barrel is one of many companies to recently shut down multiple locations in the Portland area, including Walmart, which closed its remaining two stores in the area earlier this year.

Cracker Barrel confirmed to VERIFY that at this time they “do not have any store [additional] closures planned.” VERIFY also called the remaining Cracker Barrel in Oregon, located in Medford. Both an employee and a manager there said they are not closing down. 

Searches on Cracker Barrel’s press release website and Facebook page also show no mention of a mass closure of the restaurant chain. 

The company did recently release its fourth quarter fiscal 2023 results, which noted that overall earnings were lower than expected. Cracker Barrel President and Chief Executive Officer Sandra B. Cochran said, “Despite our recent traffic challenges, we remain confident that our continued focus on our strategic priorities, including delivering an exceptional guest experience, emphasizing and protecting our strong value proposition, accelerating frequency among key growth segments, and enhancing our business model will improve performance in the near term and deliver value creation over the long term."

Despite the closures in Oregon, Cracker Barrel is opening new locations in other parts of the country. The restaurant had a grand opening for a new store in Fort Worth, Texas, last month. A location in Reno, Nevada, is also set to open later this month.