Cracker Barrel's embattled leader SAVED by investors despite rebrand fiasco
Cracker Barrel shareholders opted to keep the company's embattled CEO in place after a disastrous rebranding effort.
In a binding vote Thursday, roughly 75 percent of shares were cast in favor of retaining CEO Julie Felss Masino on the board, according to preliminary tallies.
However, board member Gilbert Dávila, a veteran marketing and diversity expert, failed to secure the required support and has stepped down, the company said.
Both Masino and Dávila had been targeted by activist investors following a controversial logo change and restaurant redesigns that sparked a political uproar over the summer.
Under Cracker Barrel's rules, board nominees must win a plurality — more than 50 percent — of votes cast to keep their seats.
About 60 percent of votes were cast against Dávila, Cracker Barrel said Thursday — a sharp contrast to last year, when both he and Masino received about 98 percent support.
Masino, hired in 2023 after leadership roles at Taco Bell and other consumer brands, was tasked with refreshing Cracker Barrel, boosting sales, and attracting younger customers.
She cut the company's dividend to free up hundreds of millions of dollars to remodel restaurants, modernize the brand, upgrade technology, and improve maintenance.
Cracker Barrel shareholders opted to keep the company's embattled CEO in place after a disastrous rebranding effort
Masino took over as CEO tin November 2023 - she is facing calls to resign over the branding disaster
Thursday's vote came after months of damage control.
The chain faced intense criticism for its logo change and broader rebranding push. In August, Cracker Barrel removed its longtime 'old timer' logo character to simplify its branding but reinstated him following backlash from customers and conservatives, including President Trump.
The company also paused store remodels, reshuffled management, and promised to return to older cooking methods for many dishes.
Traffic dropped 8 percent after the logo rollout, and Cracker Barrel expects sales to stay under pressure for the near future.
Also in August, Cracker Barrel's co-founder delivered a scathing critique of the restaurant chain's CEO after the botched rebranding.
Tommy Lowe, 93, accused Masino of failing to grasp what Cracker Barrel stands for, pointing to her previous stint at Taco Bell.
'They're trying to modernize to be like the competition. Cracker Barrel doesn't have any competition,' Low, who co-founded Cracker Barrel with the late Dan Evins in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1969, told WTVF.
'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.'
Cracker Barrel's co-founder Tommy Lowe, 93, slammed the chain's now-axed logo rebrand
Cracker Barrel was forced to axe the new logo (pictured) following a huge backlash
The criticism comes after Cracker Barrel scrapped its controversial new logo following a flood of outrage. The redesign removed the iconic 'Old Timer' figure — an old man leaning against a barrel — leaving only the chain's name in a modern font.
Lowe weighed into the saga as Masino, who earns $6.68 million a year in salary and bonuses, was spotted leaving her home in an affluent Nashville neighborhood.
When approached by Fox News Digital, Masino — who took the helm of the 650-location Southern comfort food chain in 2023 — refused to answer questions
She quickly got into her Mercedes-Benz, flanked by security in another vehicle, and drove to a nearby Starbucks for coffee.
