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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

(Mark One)

For the Quarterly Period Ended April 28, 2023

OR

For the transition period from___________ to ___________

Commission file number: 001-25225

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Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (615) 444-5533

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ☑    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐    No ☑

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

22,152,432 Shares of Common Stock

Outstanding as of May 30, 2023

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CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC.

INDEX

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(In thousands, except share data)

(Unaudited)

See Notes to unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

* This Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet has been derived from the audited Consolidated Balance Sheet as of July 29, 2022, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 29, 2022.

CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME

(In thousands, except share data)

(Unaudited)

See Notes to unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY

(Unaudited and in thousands, except share data)

See Notes to unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

See Notes to unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

CRACKER BARREL OLD COUNTRY STORE, INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

*See Note 8 for additional supplemental disclosures related to leases.

See Notes to unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(In thousands, except percentages, share and per share data)

(Unaudited)

COVID-19 Impact

4.

Debt

On June 17, 2022, the Company entered into a five-year $700,000 revolving credit facility (the “2022 Revolving Credit Facility”) with substantially the same terms and financial covenants as our previous amended $800,000 revolving credit facility, which it replaced. The 2022 Revolving Credit Facility also contains an option to increase the revolving credit facility by $200,000.  The Company’s outstanding borrowings under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility were $150,000 and $130,000 on April 28, 2023 and July 29, 2022, respectively.

As of April 28, 2023, the Company had $31,896 of standby letters of credit, which reduce the Company’s borrowing availability under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility (see Note 10 for more information on the Company’s standby letters of credit).  As of April 28, 2023, the Company had $518,104 in borrowing availability under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility.

In accordance with the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility, outstanding borrowings bear interest, at the Company’s election, either at Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) or prime plus or a rate of 0.5% in excess of the Federal Funds Rate plus an applicable margin based on certain specified financial ratios. At April 28, 2023, the weighted average interest rate on the Company’s outstanding borrowings was 6.49%.

The 2022 Revolving Credit Facility contains customary financial covenants, which include maintenance of a maximum consolidated total senior secured leverage ratio and a minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio.  At April 28, 2023, the Company was in compliance with all financial covenants under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility.

The 2022 Revolving Credit Facility also imposes restrictions on the amount of dividends the Company is permitted to pay and the amount of shares the Company is permitted to repurchase. Under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility, provided there is no default existing and the total of the Company’s availability under the 2022 Revolving Credit Facility plus the Company’s cash and cash equivalents on hand is at least $100,000 (the “Cash Availability”), the Company may declare and pay cash dividends on shares of its common stock and repurchase shares of its common stock (1) in an unlimited amount if, at the time such dividend or repurchase is made, the Company’s consolidated total senior secured leverage ratio is 2.75 to 1.00 or less and (2) in an aggregate amount not to exceed $100,000 in any fiscal year if the Company’s consolidated total leverage ratio is greater than 2.75 to 1.00 at the time the dividend or repurchase is made; notwithstanding (1) and (2), so long as immediately after giving effect to the payment of any such dividends, Cash Availability is at least $100,000, the Company may declare and pay cash dividends on shares of its common stock in an aggregate amount not to exceed in any fiscal year the product of the aggregate amount of dividends declared in the fourth quarter of the immediately preceding fiscal year multiplied by four.

Convertible Senior Notes

On June 18, 2021, the Company completed a $300,000 principal aggregate amount private offering of 0.625% convertible Senior Notes due in 2026 (the “Notes”). The Notes are governed by the terms of an indenture between the Company and U.S. Bank National Association as the Trustee. The Notes will mature on June 15, 2026, unless earlier converted, repurchased or redeemed. The Notes bear cash interest at an annual rate of 0.625%, payable semi-annually in arrears on June 15 and December 15 of each year.

The Notes are unsecured obligations and do not contain any financial or operating covenants or restrictions on the payments of dividends, the incurrence of indebtedness or the issuance or repurchase of securities by the Company or any of its subsidiaries. In an event of default, the principal amount of, and all accrued and unpaid interest on, all of the notes then outstanding will immediately become due and payable. However, notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company may elect, at its option, that the sole remedy for an event of default relating to certain failures by the Company to comply with certain reporting covenants in the Indenture will consist exclusively of the right of the noteholders to receive special interest on the Notes for up to 180 calendar days during which such event of default has occurred and is continuing, at a specified rate for the first 90 days of 0.25% per annum, and thereafter at a rate of 0.50% per annum, on the principal amount of the Notes.

The initial conversion rate applicable to the Notes was 5.3153 shares of the Company’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes, which represented an initial conversion price of approximately $188.14 per share of the Company’s common stock, a premium of 25.0% over the last reported sale price of $150.51 per share on June 15, 2021, the date on which the Notes were priced. The conversion rate is subject to customary adjustments upon the occurrence of certain events, including the payment of dividends to holders of the Company’s common stock. As of April 28, 2023, the conversion rate, as adjusted, was 5.8108 shares of the Company’s common stock per $1,000 principal amount of Notes. In addition, if certain corporate events that constitute a “Make-Whole Fundamental Change” occur, then the conversion rate will, in certain circumstances, be increased for a specified period of time.

Net proceeds from the Notes offering were $291,125, after deducting the initial purchasers’ discounts and commissions and the Company’s offering fees and expenses.

The Notes are accounted for entirely as a liability, and the issuance costs of the Notes are accounted for wholly as debt issuance costs.

The following table includes the outstanding principal amount and carrying value of the Notes as of the dates indicated:

		April 28, 2023				July 29, 2022
Liability component       Principal		$	300,000			$	300,000
Less: Debt issuance costs (1)			5,605				6,901
Net carrying amount		$	294,395			$	293,099

The effective rate of the Notes over their expected life is 1.23%. The following is a summary of interest expense for the Notes for specified periods:

 During any calendar quarter commencing after September 30, 2021, in which the closing price of the Company’s common stock exceeds 130% of the applicable conversion price of the Notes on at least 20 of the last 30 consecutive trading days of the quarter, holders may in the quarter immediately following, convert all or a portion of their Notes. The holders of the Notes were not eligible to convert their Notes during 2023, 2022 or 2021. When a conversion notice is received, the Company has the option to pay or deliver the conversion amount entirely in cash or a combination of cash and shares of the Company’s common stock. Accordingly, as of April 28, 2023, the Company could not be required to settle the Notes and, therefore, the Notes are classified as long-term debt.

Convertible Note Hedge and Warrant Transactions

 In connection with the offering of the Notes, the Company entered into convertible note hedge transactions (the “Convertible Note Hedge Transactions”) with certain of the initial purchasers of the Notes and/or their respective affiliates and other financial institutions (in this capacity, the “Hedge Counterparties”). Concurrently with the Company’s entry into the Convertible Note Hedge Transactions, the Company also entered into separate, warrant transactions with the Hedge Counterparties collectively relating to the same number of shares of the Company’s common stock, which initially was approximately 1,600,000 shares, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, and for which the Company received proceeds that partially offset the cost of entering into the Convertible Note Hedge Transactions (the “Warrant Transactions”).

The Convertible Note Hedge Transactions cover, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments, the number of shares of the Company’s common stock that initially underlay the Notes and are expected generally to reduce the potential equity dilution, and/or offset any cash payments in excess of the principal amount due, as the case may be, upon conversion of the Notes. The Warrant Transactions could have a dilutive effect on the Company’s common stock to the extent that the price of its common stock exceeds the strike price of the Warrant Transactions. The strike price was initially $263.39 per share and is subject to certain adjustments under the terms of the Warrant Transactions. As of April 28, 2023, the strike price, as adjusted, of the Warrant Transactions was $240.93 per share as a result of dividends declared since the Notes were issued.

 The portion of the net proceeds to the Company from the offering of the Notes that was used to pay the premium on the Convertible Note Hedge Transactions, net of the proceeds to the Company from the Warrant Transactions, was approximately $30,310. The net costs incurred in connection with the Convertible Note Hedge Transactions and Warrant Transactions were recorded as a reduction to additional paid-in capital on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet during 2021.

Because these transactions meet certain accounting criteria, the Convertible Note Hedge Transactions and Warrant Transactions were recorded in shareholders’ equity, not accounted for as derivatives and are not remeasured each reporting period.

8.

Leases

		Quarter Ended								Nine Months Ended
		April 28, 2023				April 29, 2022				April 28, 2023				April 29, 2022
Operating lease cost		$	27,456			$	27,266			$	82,345			$	81,408
Short term lease cost			234				99				2,731				2,324
Variable lease cost			909				622				2,863				1,852
Total lease cost		$	28,599			$	27,987			$	87,939			$	85,584

		Quarter Ended								Nine Months Ended
		April 28, 2023				April 29, 2022				April 28, 2023				April 29, 2022
Operating cash flow information:
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities		$	23,745			$	23,219			$	71,252			$	69,080
Noncash information:
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities			5,990				2,893				15,455				14,550
Lease modifications or reassessments increasing or decreasing right-of-use assets			5,417				4,993				9,115				11,409
Lease modifications removing right-of-use assets			(80	)			(90	)			(371	)			(426	)

		April 28, 2023				April 29, 2022
Weighted-average remaining lease term		17.00 Years				17.61 Years
Weighted-average discount rate			5.07	%			4.87	%

Year		Total
Remainder of 2023		$	23,957
2024			78,782
2025			70,750
2026			67,645
2027			65,783
Thereafter			853,602
Total future minimum lease payments			1,160,519
Less imputed remaining interest			(401,439	)
Total present value of operating lease liabilities		$	759,080

Sale and Leaseback Transactions

In 2009, the Company completed sale-leaseback transactions involving 15 of its owned stores and its retail distribution center. Under the transactions, the land, buildings and improvements at the locations were sold and leased back for terms of 20 and 15 years, respectively. Equipment was not included. The leases include specified renewal options for up to 20 additional years.

On July 29, 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with the original lessor and a third party financier to obtain ownership of 64 of the 65 Cracker Barrel properties previously covered in the original sale and leaseback arrangement and simultaneously entered into a sale and leaseback transaction with the financier for an aggregate purchase price, net of closing costs, of $198,083. The Company purchased the remaining property for approximately $3,200. In connection with this sale and leaseback transaction, the Company entered into lease agreements for each of the properties for initial terms of 20 years and renewal options up to 50 years. The aggregate initial annual rent payment for the properties is approximately $14,379 and includes 1% annual rent increases over the initial lease terms. All the properties qualified for sale and leaseback and operating lease accounting classification and the Company recorded a gain on the sale and leaseback transaction of $69,954 in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Company recorded operating lease right-of-use assets, including a non-cash asset recognized as a part of accounting for the transaction of $79,049, and corresponding operating lease liabilities of $261,698 and $182,649, respectively.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “our” or “we”) are principally engaged in the operation and development in the United States of the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® (“Cracker Barrel”) concept.  As of April 28, 2023, we operated 661 Cracker Barrel stores in 45 states and 56 Maple Street Biscuit Company (“MSBC”) locations in ten states.

All dollar amounts reported or discussed in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (“MD&A”) are shown in thousands, except per share amounts and certain statistical information (e.g., number of stores).  References to years in MD&A are to our fiscal year unless otherwise noted.

MD&A provides information which management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of our consolidated results of operations and financial condition.  MD&A should be read in conjunction with the (i) condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and (ii) audited consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended July 29, 2022 (the “2022 Form 10-K”).  Except for specific historical information, many of the matters discussed in this report may express or imply projections of items such as revenues or expenditures, estimated capital expenditures, compliance with debt covenants, plans and objectives for future operations, inventory shrinkage, growth or initiatives, expected future economic performance or the expected outcome or impact of pending or threatened litigation.  These and similar statements regarding events or results which we expect will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements that, by their nature, involve risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.  All forward-looking information is provided pursuant to the safe harbor established under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be evaluated in the context of these risks, uncertainties and other factors.  Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “trends,” “assumptions,” “target,” “guidance,” “outlook,” “opportunity,” “future,” “plans,” “goals,” “objectives,” “expectations,” “near-term,” “long-term,” “projection,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “could,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “potential,” “should,” “projects,” “forecasts” or “continue”  (or the negative or other derivatives of each of these terms) or similar terminology.  We believe the assumptions underlying any forward-looking statements are reasonable; however, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate, and therefore, actual results may differ materially from those projected in or implied by the forward-looking statements.  In addition to the risks of ordinary business operations, and those discussed or described in this report or in information incorporated by reference into this report, factors and risks that may result in actual results differing from this forward-looking information include, but are not limited to risks and uncertainties associated with general or regional economic weakness, business and societal conditions, and the weather impact on sales and customer travel; discretionary income or personal expenditure activity of our customers; information technology-related incidents, including data privacy and information security breaches, whether as a result of infrastructure failures, employee or vendor errors, or actions of third parties; our ability to identify, acquire and sell successful new lines of retail merchandise and new menu items at our restaurants; our ability to sustain or the effects of plans intended to improve operational or marketing execution and performance; the COVID-19 pandemic, including the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its ultimate impact on our business, levels of consumer confidence in the safety of dine-in restaurants, restrictions (including occupancy restrictions) imposed by governmental authorities, disruptions to our operations as a result of the spread of COVID-19 in our workforce; uncertain performance of acquired businesses, strategic investments and other initiatives that we may pursue from time to time; changes in or implementation of additional governmental or regulatory rules, regulations and interpretations affecting tax, wage and hour matters, health and safety, insurance or other undeterminable areas; the effects of plans intended to promote or protect our brands and products; commodity price increases; the ability of and cost to us to recruit, train, and retain qualified hourly and management employees; the effects of increased competition at our locations on sales and on labor recruiting, cost, and retention; workers’ compensation, group health and utility price changes; consumer behavior based on negative publicity or changes in consumer health or dietary trends or safety aspects of our food or products or those of the restaurant industry in general, including concerns about outbreaks of infectious disease as well as the possible effects of such events on the price or availability of ingredients used in our restaurants; the effects of our indebtedness and associated restrictions on our financial and operating flexibility and ability to execute or pursue our operating plans and objectives; changes in interest rates, increases in borrowed capital or capital market conditions affecting our financing costs and ability to refinance all or portions of our indebtedness; the effects of business trends on the outlook for individual restaurant locations and the effect on the carrying value of those locations; our ability to retain key personnel; the availability and cost of suitable sites for restaurant development and our ability to identify those sites; our ability to enter successfully into new geographic markets that may be less familiar to us; changes in land, building materials and construction costs; the actual results of pending, future or threatened litigation or governmental investigations and the costs and effects of negative publicity or our ability to manage the impact of social media associated with these activities; economic or psychological effects of natural disasters or other unforeseen events such as terrorist acts, social unrest or war and the military or government responses to such events; disruptions to our restaurant or retail supply chain, including as a result of COVID-19; changes in foreign exchange rates affecting our future retail inventory purchases; the impact of activist shareholders; our reliance on limited distribution facilities and certain significant vendors;  implementation of new or changes in interpretation of existing accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and those factors contained in Part I, Item 1A of the 2022 Form 10-K, as well as the factors described under “Critical Accounting Estimates” on pages 25-27 of this report or, from time to time, in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), press releases and other communications.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made in this report because the statements speak only as of the report’s date.  Except as may be required by law, we have no obligation or intention to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.  Readers are advised, however, to consult any future public disclosures that we may make on related subjects in reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC or in our other public disclosures.

Overview

Management believes that Cracker Barrel’s brand remains one of the strongest and most differentiated brands in the restaurant industry, and we plan to continue to leverage and build on that strength as a core competitive component of our business strategy.  Our long-term strategy remains centered on driving sustainable sales growth, continued business model improvements, building profitable Cracker Barrel and MSBC stores, and driving shareholder returns.  During the third quarter of 2023, we made progress in key areas of the business, including maintaining a strong value proposition, growing our off-premise business, marketing, and culinary innovation to grow the average check through introduction of add-on menu items such as sides and beverages and other menu enhancements, thoughtful expansion of MSBC, and store-level operational excellence.  We believe there is significant uncertainty in macroeconomic factors that may affect our business in the remainder of 2023, including heightened economic uncertainty, weaker consumer confidence and consumer concerns regarding personal finances, but we remain focused on delivering long-term growth and returns for shareholders.

Key Performance Indicators

Management uses a number of key performance measures to evaluate our operational and financial performance, including the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These performance indicators exclude the impact of new store openings and sales related to MSBC.

We use comparable store sales metrics as indicators of sales growth to evaluate how our established stores have performed over time.  We use comparable restaurant guest traffic increase/(decrease) to evaluate how established stores have performed over time, excluding growth achieved through menu price and sales mix change.  Finally, we use average check per guest to identify trends in guest preferences, as well as the effectiveness of menu changes.  We believe these performance indicators are useful for investors by providing a consistent comparison of sales results and trends across comparable periods within our core, established store base, unaffected by results of store openings, closings, and other transitional changes.

Results of Operations

The following table highlights our operating results by percentage relationships to total revenue for the quarter ended and first nine months ended April 28, 2023 as compared to the same periods in the prior year:

The following table sets forth the change in the number of Company-owned units in operation during the quarters and first nine months ended April 28, 2023 and April 29, 2022 as well as the number of Company-owned units at the end of the quarters and first nine months ended April 28, 2023 and April 29, 2022:

MSBC previously had seven franchised units, all of which were purchased from the franchisees by the Company in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Total Revenue

Total revenue for the third quarter and first nine months of 2023 increased 5.4% and 6.9%, respectively, as compared to the same periods in the prior year.  The following table highlights the key components of revenue for the quarter and nine months ended April 28, 2023 as compared to the same periods in the prior year: