Talk:Cracker Barrel
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Updates on Biglari and off-premise sales
[edit]This edit request by an editor with a conflict of interest has now been answered. |
Hi, Jessica here. I have a couple of updates to suggest for the article. Because I have a COI, I do not make direct edits to the article:
- In Operations, at the end of the section, I suggest the following update to the end of the section:
- In Conflict with Biglari Holdings, add the following update to the end of the second paragraph:
- In September 2022, Cracker Barrel entered into a settlement and standstill agreement with Biglari, pursuant to which Cracker Barrel appointed Jody Bilney to its Board in exchange for Biglari to refrain from further adverse activity for a period of time.[3]
References
- ^ Romeo, Peter (February 28, 2023). "Cracker Barrel intends to tout value with $5 to-go meals". Restaurant Business. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ Fantozzi, Joanna (February 28, 2023). "How Cracker Barrel figured out the winning formula for price increases and value". Nation's Restaurant News. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ Jakab, Spencer (December 2, 2022). "Cracker Barrel's Rude Guest Doesn't Have the Answers". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
Thank you, and let me know if you have any questions or feedback. CB JessicaM (talk) 17:22, 30 June 2023 (UTC)
Reply 1-JUL-2023
[edit] Edit request partially implemented
- The proposed text for the Operations section was added.
- The proposed text for the Conflict section was not added, because it was not known what was meant by the phrase "to refrain from further adverse activity".
Regards, Spintendo 20:23, 1 July 2023 (UTC)
- @Spintendo: Thanks for adding the off-premise sales content, and your feedback on the Biglari content. Happy to add more clarification. Below is a revised version, which includes the type of agreement and a timestamp, as well as a source that confirms that timestamp.
References
- ^ Jakab, Spencer (December 2, 2022). "Cracker Barrel's Rude Guest Doesn't Have the Answers". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ Maze, Jonathan (September 28, 2022). "Sardar Biglari and Cracker Barrel call a truce". Restaurant Business. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- Let me know what you think. Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 14:38, 7 July 2023 (UTC)
- @CB JessicaM Thank you for revising the paragraph above, it's much appreciated. My concern is that some readers may find difficulty with the terms, such as standstill agreements, and that perhaps a better explanation of this might help ensure comprehension. Please let me know what you think. I look forward to reviewing any suggestions you might have. Thank you! Regards, Spintendo 18:12, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
- I see standstill agreement, is that what the company is referring to? please advise. Regards, Spintendo 03:36, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
Implemented A paragraph describing the Biglari saga's denouement was appended to the end of that section. Regards, Spintendo 06:13, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
- I see standstill agreement, is that what the company is referring to? please advise. Regards, Spintendo 03:36, 19 July 2023 (UTC)
FA checkup
[edit]We're coming up on ten years of this article being FA, and I think it needs
- The "early company history" section feels like it could be fleshed out more. Only one paragraph covers the entirety of the 1960s-80s. Said section also hits a lot of vagueness. "Eventually" they got rid of gas stations. Okay, when? Did any other notable events happen early in the company's history? When was their 10th, 20th, 50th location? Any prototypes? Anything about that odd one in a mall in Cookeville? Surely there's more interesting stuff about the early years.
- Far too many sentences follow the structure "in [year], X happened. In [year], Y happened." Also a lot of one-sentence paragraphs that could be integrated elsewhere.
- "Fans" section seems unnecessary and could be integrated elsewhere.
- "Leadership" section feels overly split up. "Executives" is only one sentence and could be combined elsewhere.
- "Controversies" seems to be an WP:UNDUE catchall with a ton of one-sentence paragraphs about non-notable events. This section also seems to challenge the article's neutrality.
- Many sources are incomplete, such as "CBRL 10-K", whatever that is. Also a couple of dead links.
I would like to see these issues addressed so that the article does not go to WP:FAR.
Paging @WWB Too:, @CB JessicaM:, @Silver seren:, @Graham Beards:. Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 17:52, 14 July 2023 (UTC)
- I must admit, this a very curious message, unlike any message I've seen in my 16 years of editing on Wikipedia, a message where one editor "orders" another group of editors to perform maintenance on an article. Stranger still, Ten Pound Hammer doesn't appear to have a declared COI, so ostensibly they would be free to edit the article as they saw fit.
- Of course, this CB talk page is the place to discuss improvements to the CB article, and editors wishing to draw a wider range of informed, but uninvolved editors to a discussion are always welcome to place messages here asking for their assistance. However, seeing as how many of the recipients cc'd in the message above are involved due to their COI's, I would be remiss for failing to point out that these types of communications run the risk of appearing like WP:CANVASSING, and that the talk page would then not be the place for those types of conversations. Regards, Spintendo 18:00, 18 July 2023 (UTC)
- Talk pages aren't always monitored, so I pinged them in hopes that they'd see the message. Everything else above is in line with step 1 of WP:FAR, which dictates
Before nomination, raise issues at talk page of the article. Attempt to directly resolve issues with the existing community of article editors, and to informally improve the article over at least a two-week period.
While retail is an area of expertise, I don't often deal with high-visibility articles like this (meaning I'm not as confident on what can be pruned or added), which is why I asked other interested editors to pitch in too. If you look at the talk page of any other article currently or recently at FAR, you'll find messages very much like mine (even down to pinging/notifying involved editors, which meets theexisting community of article editors
portion). Ten Pound Hammer • (What did I screw up now?) 18:18, 18 July 2023 (UTC)- Correct; this is a standard WP:FARGIVEN-style notice, quite like all others. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 07:18, 25 July 2023 (UTC)
- Talk pages aren't always monitored, so I pinged them in hopes that they'd see the message. Everything else above is in line with step 1 of WP:FAR, which dictates
- @TenPoundHammer: Thanks for bringing this up! I would like to help however I can with the improvements you've suggested. Happy to draft changes and propose them here for others to implement. My availability is limited over the next couple of weeks, so it might be a bit before I come back with updates to suggest. Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 21:30, 27 July 2023 (UTC)
Article clean up
[edit]Hello, Jessica from Cracker Barrel here. I thought the suggestions TenPoundHammer brought up in the discussion above were good ideas, and I've been going through the article and looking for opportunities to clean it up. For starters, I've got some thoughts on improving the History section to make it easier to navigate, and move around some content there for flow. Here are my thoughts:
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Okay, this seems like plenty to start with so I'll leave it there for now. I'll suggest more changes after addressing these. I have a COI so I do not make direct changes to the article myself, but invite editors to review and make appropriate changes on my behalf. @Silver seren and Graham Beards: tagging the two of you here since you were pinged in Ten Pound Hammer's post above.
Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 14:52, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
- I'll be able to take a closer look at the suggested changes this upcoming weekend. From a cursory glance, I don't see anything objectionable. So, unless anyone else has any concerns, I'll probably implement the changes this weekend. SilverserenC 23:02, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
- Okay, I've finished implementing those initial changes, CB JessicaM. I also split a paragraph or two and recombined it with some following text to not have singular giant paragraphs happening in that section along with short two line ones. SilverserenC 21:37, 12 November 2023 (UTC)
@Silver seren: Thank you so much for making the changes! I've posted my next round of suggestions for the article below, if you're interested in checking them out. Thanks again, CB JessicaM (talk) 18:42, 20 November 2023 (UTC)
Part 2: History content changes
[edit]Hello, with the changes made to the structure and reorganization of the History section, I'd like to make a few content suggestions:
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Okay, that wraps up my ideas for the History section. As always, because of my COI I'll leave these suggestions for volunteer editors to review and implement as appropriate and I welcome questions and feedback. Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 18:42, 20 November 2023 (UTC)
- I've made the changes, CB JessicaM. They all make sense to me and the history section is looking much better now. SilverserenC 21:54, 29 November 2023 (UTC)
- @Silver seren: Thank you so much! I agree, and appreciate you taking the time to review and make the changes. I'll be back soon with the next set. CB JessicaM (talk) 21:36, 30 November 2023 (UTC)
Part 3: Restaurants changes
[edit]Hello, I'm back with my next set of changes to suggest. This time I'll be focusing mostly on the Restaurants section, with one quick request for the Infobox:
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That's everything on my list for the Restaurants section. @Silver seren: tagging you since you've been reviewing my changes so far, I'd be happy to continue to collaborate with you. As always, because of my COI I'll leave these suggestions for volunteer editors to review and implement as appropriate and I welcome questions, feedback and other ideas to improve the article. Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 15:32, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
- Sorry for the wait, CB JessicaM. I've implemented everything and made some other minor changes on my own discretion, such as removing the Executive sub-section on the former CEO. I presume that entire section will be re-organized anyways to something that flows better when you get to it. SilverserenC 22:07, 16 December 2023 (UTC)
Part 4: Corporate affairs changes
[edit]Hello, I'm here with the next round of changes to suggest for the article, this time getting into the Corporate affairs section.
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Those are my thoughts for Corporate affairs, if anyone else has thoughts on improving it, please let me know! Happy to answer questions or help however I can. @Silver seren: tagging you to get this on your radar! Thanks for all you've done so far, I think the article is looking a lot better. CB JessicaM (talk) 18:26, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
- All done. I also made some re-arrangements on how things were to be grouped together in those sections. Now all that's left to update are the somewhat tricky controversy sections. I do remember having difficulty with them and others' opinions back during the original FAC nomination. And both sections have become much more bloated since then. SilverserenC 02:20, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Silver seren: Thank you! I have posted my thoughts on the controversies section below. I do expect editors to have feedback and am happy for this to be a discussion. Again, I appreciate the time you've taken to review and implement my proposals! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:23, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
Part 5: Controversies
[edit]Hello, now that we've gone through the rest of the article, what's left is addressing the Controversies section. I've learned that having a section called "controversies" is not preferred because the title is inherently biased. I hope my suggestions below will help address that and appropriately represent the information. I am happy for this to be a discussion with the community and invite any editors who are interested to participate. Silver seren, I'm very interested to hear your thoughts given your recent assistance and history working on the article. @TenPoundHammer and SandyGeorgia: tagging you both here, too, since you were both active in the FA review last year.
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LGBT policies
In early 1991, an intra-company memo called for employees to be dismissed if they did not display "normal heterosexual values". According to news reports, at least 11 employees were fired under the policy on a store-by-store basis from locations in Georgia and other states.[1][2] After demonstrations by gay rights groups, the company ended its policy in March 1991 and stated it would not discriminate based on sexual orientation.[3][4] The company's founder, Dan Evins, subsequently described the policy as a mistake.[1] From 1992 onward,[5] the New York City Employees Retirement System, then a major shareholder, put forward proposals to add sexual orientation to the company's non-discrimination policy. An early proposal in 1993 was defeated, with 77 percent against and only 14 percent in support, along with 9 percent abstaining.[6] It was not until 2002 that the proposals were successful; 58 percent of company shareholders voted in favor of the addition.[3] Between 2008 and 2021, Cracker Barrel raised its rating in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index from 15 to 80 by adding sexual orientation non-discrimination policies and training programs.[7][8][9] Beginning in 2016, the company adopted a pro-LGBT stance, developing an internal diversity council which included LGBT members. Since 2017, the company has sponsored Out & Equal, a workplace-equality non-profit organization.[10]
My proposal is to move this section into Legal disputes, rename that section to Litigation, because that is a more neutral name, and rename this subsection to Civil rights cases, which I think is a clearer descriptor. Here is what I think it could look like, with changes including adding resolutions to the cases, which hopefully clarifies the timelines. Civil rights cases
In 1999 and 2001, federal lawsuits were filed against Cracker Barrel in Georgia. The former was brought by a group of employees who claimed the company had discriminated against them on the grounds of race, and the latter by customers making the same accusations.[11] Both lawsuits were supported by the NAACP. Regarding both accusations, Cracker Barrel officials disputed the claims and stated that the company was committed to fair treatment of its employees and customers.[11][12] In October 2002, a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled that the NAACP and an additional 40 plaintiffs could not join the lawsuit brought by customers in 2001, and in January 2003 a federal magistrate recommended that the lawsuit brought by employees not be given class-action status.[13] Both lawsuits were settled by the company in September, 2004.[14] The U.S. Justice Department filed a suit against Cracker Barrel in May 2004, after its own investigation had found evidence that the company allegedly violated Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against minority customers at its restaurants. The company settled the lawsuit by signing a five-year agreement to introduce "effective nondiscrimination policies and procedures",[15] and hiring an outside auditor to ensure compliance with the terms of the settlement.[16]
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That's everything. I know because of my conflict of interest these are trickier topics to navigate, and I've done my best to propose improvements based on Wikipedia's content policies, guidelines, and Manual of Style. As always, I'll defer to what the community decides is appropriate, and happy to provide any additional context or perspective I can in the discussion. Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:23, 10 January 2024 (UTC)
- @TenPoundHammer and SandyGeorgia:, sorry for the re-ping, but I've looked over all the suggestions above and they seem alright with me. Do either of you have any disagreements on the suggested changes? I notice that SandyGeorgia has been editing less over the holiday period (and not at all for the past three days), so apologies for bothering you if you've been busy IRL. SilverserenC 19:30, 12 January 2024 (UTC)
- I've added most everything, CB JessicaM. As for the lede section, I think the third paragraph should be replaced with a version that discusses the LGBT rights issues in one sentence, the Civil rights cases in another, and I guess a sentence about the Kraft Foods legislation. Thus it's still properly summarizing the article as a whole. SilverserenC 23:31, 28 January 2024 (UTC)
- @Silver seren: Thanks so much for all your work on this! Your suggestion makes sense to me. If that's the direction you'd like to go, here are my thoughts for three summary sentences:
- The company was criticized for anti-LGBT policies in the 1990s, which it reversed in response to backlash from the public and shareholders. In the early 2000s, Cracker Barrel was the subject of several civil rights lawsuits and a U.S. Justice Department investigation, all of which were settled. Cracker Barrel licensed products are sold in grocery stores under the name "CB Old Country Store" following a 2013 trademark-infringement lawsuit brought by Kraft Foods, which sells cheese under the brand name Cracker Barrel.
- I've added most everything, CB JessicaM. As for the lede section, I think the third paragraph should be replaced with a version that discusses the LGBT rights issues in one sentence, the Civil rights cases in another, and I guess a sentence about the Kraft Foods legislation. Thus it's still properly summarizing the article as a whole. SilverserenC 23:31, 28 January 2024 (UTC)
- Now that I'm looking at all these changes together, I'm wondering if Kraft Foods vs. Cracker Barrel has wandered into WP:UNDUE territory? Most of it is sourced to the appeals court decision, and overall it seems like a pretty routine case that wasn't groundbreaking or setting new precedents, and did not meaningfully impact the company. Should that whole section be cut back quite a bit? Curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 21:10, 12 February 2024 (UTC)
- I certainly think so, CB JessicaM. The large quote is certainly unnecessary and the whole section could probably be reduced to a single paragraph. For now, I've replaced the lede paragraph with your suggested version. SilverserenC 00:20, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
- @Silver seren: Thank you for updating the lead. Here's what I've come up with as a replacement for the current Kraft Foods v. Cracker Barrel section, using the current sources:
- I certainly think so, CB JessicaM. The large quote is certainly unnecessary and the whole section could probably be reduced to a single paragraph. For now, I've replaced the lede paragraph with your suggested version. SilverserenC 00:20, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
- In November 2012, Cracker Barrel licensed its name to Smithfield Foods' John Morrell Division to sell a line of meat products through retail channels. In response, Kraft Foods, which has sold a line of cheese under the Cracker Barrel brand since 1954, filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit in February 2013. Kraft asked that the Smithfield Foods deal be nullified by the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Illinois. A judge granted an injunction against the sale of the Cracker Barrel branded meat products. The injunction was upheld by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and Cracker Barrel agreed to sell its products under the brand name "CB Old Country Store".[1][2][3]
References
- ^ "Kraft sues Cracker Barrel restaurants over trademark". Chicago Tribune. February 1, 2013. Archived from the original on February 13, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (November 14, 2013). "Kraft Foods vs. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc". Archived from the original on April 24, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- ^ Maze, Johnathan (October 4, 2013). "Cracker Barrel Kraft Settle Differences". Rest Finance. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
- Happy to hear any thoughts you have. Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 21:13, 1 March 2024 (UTC)
Seems good to me, I've swapped the paragraph into the article. It looks like TenPoundHammer added in an expansion tag for the 1980–1996 section, with a request for info on the "first location outside Tennessee, annual growth, etc.". The first one seems straightforward enough to do. Not sure exactly what's desired for the latter though, since the first paragraph there seems to have quite a bit of info already on growth rates and resulting revenue amounts. SilverserenC 01:23, 6 March 2024 (UTC)
- @Silver seren: Excellent, thank you so much for all your help with these updates! I think this article is looking much better overall. I'll look into the information requested for History, but I'm not sure there will be much aside from perhaps the first location outside Tennessee if I can find a good source. Meantime, my last little cleanup project is the beginning of the introduction, and I've posted that below if you'd like to review. Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:37, 28 March 2024 (UTC)
Part 6: Introduction
[edit]Hello, hello! With this article overhauled, I have just a few changes left to suggest to the Introduction. Please see my proposed changes in the comparison below:
− | '''Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. | + | '''Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.''' ('''Cracker Barrel'''), is an American chain of [[restaurant]] and [[Variety store|gift stores]] with a [[Culture of the Southern United States|Southern country]] theme. The company's headquarters are in [[Lebanon, Tennessee]], where Cracker Barrel was founded by [[Dan Evins]] in 1969. The chain's early locations were positioned near [[Interstate Highway]] exits in the [[Southeastern United States|Southeastern]] and [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] United States, but expanded across the country during the 1990s and 2000s. As of August 10, 2023<sup class="plainlinks noexcerpt noprint asof-tag update" style="display:none;">[//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cracker_Barrel&action=edit [update]]</sup>, the company operates 660 stores in 45 states.
Cracker Barrel's menu is based on traditional [[Cuisine of the Southern United States|Southern cuisine]], with appearance and decor designed to resemble an old-fashioned [[general store]]. Each location features a front [[porch]] lined with wooden [[rocking chair]]s, a stone [[fireplace]], and decorative artifacts from the local area. Cracker Barrel partners with [[country music]] performers. It engages in charitable activities, such as its assistance to victims of [[Hurricane Katrina]] and injured war veterans. |
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These are mostly minor changes for flow and clarity. Happy to discuss changes if anyone has questions. Thanks! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:37, 28 March 2024 (UTC)
- I waited a bit to see if anyone else had anything to comment or add. Seems not, so I've gone ahead and implemented your suggested grammatical changes, CB JessicaM. SilverserenC 19:28, 5 April 2024 (UTC)
- @Silver seren: Thank you so much! I sincerely appreciate all of the time you've put into helping review and implement these changes.
- I did look into the first location outside Tennessee. It was the fourth Cracker Barrel and was in Dalton, Georgia. That said, I was not able to come up with a third-party source to use for verification. I'm not sure if the tag about expanding that section should be removed or left for a bit longer in case other editors want to look for sources? I think it's about as expanded as it can get, but I'll defer to whatever you think is best.
- Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:56, 10 April 2024 (UTC)
- Let me ask. TenPoundHammer, were the expansions to that section absolutely necessary? I do think it has quite a lot of fiscal information already, for one. SilverserenC 20:16, 10 April 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks again! CB JessicaM (talk) 19:56, 10 April 2024 (UTC)
CEO comments
[edit]The New York Post is reporting that the company's CEO admitted on an investor call that it's not as relevant as it used to be: https://nypost.com/2024/05/23/business/cracker-barrels-ceo-admits-chain-not-as-relevant-as-we-once-were/
I can't find actual transcript from investor call, but some of the more salacious, non-trustworthy outlets (e.g. Daily Mail) have run with the story. I was going to update this article based on NY Post story, but per Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Perennial sources, I think I will hold off until I can confirm those comments + clearly see their source. Sawitontwitter (talk) 15:35, 24 May 2024 (UTC)
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