Visionary Built Highly Differentiated Concept with Genuine
Hospitality and High Quality Standards
LEBANON, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRL) today extended
condolences to the family of Founder and Chairman Emeritus Dan (Danny)
W. Evins and expressed sadness at the loss of the man who first
conceived of a restaurant that would provide a safe and welcoming
home-away-from-home for travelers. Mr. Evins was 76 when he passed away
on January 14 in Lebanon, Tenn.
In remembering Danny, Cracker Barrel Executive Chairman Michael A.
Woodhouse expressed his sympathy and said, "I first met Danny when I
joined Cracker Barrel in 1995 and knew immediately what a rare
individual he was. Danny was a straight-shooter and dedicated to
authenticity. It was an honor and a responsibility that I took seriously
to follow Danny as CEO, and then as Chairman when he retired." Woodhouse
added, "Danny was the keeper of this special brand for so many, many
years, and he left us with a strong culture that values quality and
honesty. He will be missed deeply."
Cracker Barrel President & Chief Executive Officer Sandra B. Cochran
said, "Cracker Barrel has remained true to Danny's vision in many ways,
including the insistence on quality products at a fair price, and on
genuine Southern hospitality. How Danny thought about his guests and his
business from the beginning is captured in ‘Pleasing People,' our
mission statement." She added, "We will continue to protect the concept
and honor Danny's legacy by staying true to the brand and to the
principles that were there at the beginning."
Danny was a Shell Oil "jobber" in 1969 when he decided to open up a
restaurant on Highway 109 in Lebanon, Tenn., the community in which he
lived. The restaurant had a small gift shop attached. Because Danny was
modest and humble, he always downplayed his contributions to the
business and attributed the company's success to good luck. But Danny
knew that with the new interstate highway system, people would be
traveling more. He built his business by treating his guests with
genuine hospitality, offering good tasting country cookin' and charging
a fair price, so that they would stop again when they were traveling
back in the other direction. That approach to business led to the
company's mission statement, "pleasing people," a mission statement
which is about mutual respect, and which still guides all 67,000
employees today.
Danny named his restaurant Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® to
recall the country stores of his youth in rural Tennessee where people
would gather around to play checkers on top of an empty barrel that had
been used to deliver crackers to the store, and catch up on the latest
news in their small towns. He offered the Southern country cooking he
had grown up on, using many family recipes, and decided to decorate the
walls with authentic antiques. Danny never compromised on the quality of
ingredients for the meals he served or on the quality of the gifts he
sold in his retail shop, regardless of what corners the competition
might be cutting. These traditions of quality and authenticity are
carried on to this day.
Danny was often asked if he had ever thought that Cracker Barrel would
grow so large and become such a favorite with guests. He would respond
with a mock-serious "yes," and then smile as he added an offer to sell
the Brooklyn Bridge to anyone who was naïve enough to believe that he
had planned such growth in advance. But he knew that the idea of an old
country store would be well-received outside of the South, in parts of
the country that had as their traditions the very similar general stores
and trading posts of the old days.
Danny was beloved by so many Cracker Barrel employees and built a unique
culture that encouraged them to stay. Indeed, Cracker Barrel is
fortunate to enjoy very low turnover rates and has a large number of
employees who have been with the company for 20 and 30 years and more.
He initiated the industry-leading Personal Achievement Responsibility,
or PAR, training program, which provides for increased benefits for
employees as they progress through the program from "Rising Star" to
"PAR IV", and he insisted that Cracker Barrel develop
computer-based-training programs years before it was standard in the
industry.
Danny also kept his eye on the guest experience and was very concerned
about maintaining the company's unique culture as the chain grew from
its core markets in the South to reach the 42 states that it is in
today. Among other innovations, he is credited with conceiving Cracker
Barrel's popular book-on-audio program, which allows guests to purchase
a book-on-audio at one location and then return it to any other location
and get a new book-on-audio for only a nominal exchange fee.
Danny served as Chief Executive Officer from 1969 to 2001, and as
Chairman of the Board until he retired in 2004, at which time he became
Chairman Emeritus and a member of the Cracker Barrel Founders Board.
About Cracker Barrel
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® provides a friendly
home-away-from-home in its old country stores and restaurants. Guests
are cared for like family while relaxing and enjoying real home-style
food and shopping that's surprisingly unique, genuinely fun and
reminiscent of America's country heritage…all at a fair price. The
restaurant serves up delicious, home-style country food such as meatloaf
and homemade chicken n' dumplins as well as its signature biscuits using
an old family recipe. The authentic old country retail store is fun to
shop and offers unique gifts and self-indulgences.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBRL) was established in
1969 in Lebanon, Tenn. and operates 608 company-owned locations in 42
states. Every Cracker Barrel unit is open seven days a week with hours
Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m. — 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 6
a.m. - 11 p.m. For more information, visit: crackerbarrel.com.
CBRL-G
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.
Julie Davis, 615-443-9266
jdavis@crackerbarrel.com
Source: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.
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