Steak ‘N Shake demands Cracker Barrel CEO be – Business News
They’re serving up beef — and never the type that comes on a plate.
One of Cracker Barrel’s largest traders has gone nuclear in his marketing campaign to oust Cracker Barrel chief Julie Felss Masino after her disastrous rebranding rollout tanked the stock and infuriated loyal prospects — forcing the restaurant chain to reverse course on Tuesday after President Trump weighed in on the controversy.
Steak ’n Shake CEO Sardar Biglari — who owns practically 10% of Cracker Barrel’s excellent shares — mocked Cracker Barrel this week by posting photographs of pink MAGA-style hats on X.
One learn “Fire Cracker Barrel CEO.” Another declared: “Biglari was right about everything.”
Steak ’n Shake mocked Cracker Barrel’s CEO with MAGA-style hats studying “Fire Cracker Barrel CEO.” Steak ‘n Shake / X
The trolling got here after Cracker Barrel scrapped its new modernized brand — which ditched the chain’s signature “Old Timer” character — following a fierce buyer backlash and a $143 million hit to its market worth.
“The woke CB management has even less competence than your predecessor. The CEO needs to hear ‘You’re Fired’ from her board,” Steak ’n Shake blasted in one other post, even invoking Trump’s well-known “Apprentice” catchphrase.
Biglari has been publicly hammering Cracker Barrel for months, slamming its $700 million store transform as “bland, soulless, and an unnecessary waste of money.”
In a 2024 letter to shareholders, he warned that swapping Americana knickknacks for glossy cubicles and banquettes would do nothing to resolve “declining traffic.”
Cracker Barrel’s new brand sparked outrage and a $143 million market worth loss earlier than being deserted. AP
A Cracker Barrel restaurant exterior displaying the company’s longtime “Old Timer” brand. AFP by way of Getty Images
“We do not believe changing the furniture and altering the décor are going to change the Company’s trajectory,” he wrote, accusing the board of being “poorly constituted” and unfit to guard the model’s heritage.
Steak ’n Shake doubled down after Cracker Barrel’s retreat, crowing that the emblem reversal was “a symptom of a bigger problem.”
Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino faces growing strain after the rebrand debacle. FOX News
“Instead, use this money to keep prices down to support American families. And while you’re at it, go back to making fresh biscuits every day. Fire the CEO!” the rival chain posted.
Cracker Barrel, which initially dismissed critics as a “vocal minority,” has since promised to revive the “Old Timer” brand. But the uproar has left traders rattled — and Biglari more emboldened than ever.
Masino, who took over in 2023, now faces the hardest stretch of her tenure as each Wall Street and Main Street query her imaginative and prescient for the country-themed chain.
Cracker Barrel didn’t reply to requests for remark.
