Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., doing business as Cracker Barrel, is a Southern-themed restaurant and gift store chain in the United States. Dan Evins launched the firm in 1969, with its initial location in Lebanon, Tennessee. The corporate headquarters are in a separate building in the same city. The stores of the business were first located along Interstate Highway exits in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States, but they extended across the country during the 1990s and 2000s. As of September 16, 2020, the chain had 663 locations in 45 states.

Cracker Barrel's food is based on classic Southern cuisine, and the restaurant's style and decor are meant to evoke an old-fashioned general store. Each property has a front porch with wooden rocking seats, a stone fireplace, and beautiful objects from the surrounding area. Cracker Barrel collaborates with country music artists. It participates in philanthropic initiatives, such as assisting Hurricane Katrina victims and injured combat veterans.

When founder and CEO Dan Evins implemented an explicit business policy forbidding the hiring of any employee whose "sexual inclinations fail to exhibit conventional heterosexual norms" in the early 1990s, the firm became the focus of controversy. Following widespread public outrage and threats from significant shareholders such as the New York City Employee Retirement System to vote out all executive management, the business modified its approach. For the next decade, Cracker Barrel sparked controversy due to Evin's public and private support of discriminatory tactics against female and minority employees, which contradicted the company's own non-discrimination policy.

Website: https://www.facebook.com/crackerbarrel