News Summary
Cracker Barrel has announced plans to close 14 company-owned Maple Street Biscuit Company restaurants starting October 1, 2025. This change comes after a significant financial loss attributed to underperforming locations. While Maple Street expanded to 68 restaurants since its acquisition in 2019, the company has faced sluggish growth and performance issues, prompting a strategic shift. The closures signal Cracker Barrel’s refocus on its core brand, aiming to stabilize operations and improve customer response to its flagship offerings.
Tennessee – Cracker Barrel has announced plans to close 14 company-owned Maple Street Biscuit Company restaurants as part of a strategic shift towards its core brand operations. The closures will begin on October 1, 2025, and are set to impact the smaller Maple Street Biscuit Company offshoot, rather than the flagship Cracker Barrel restaurants.
The decision to close these locations comes after Cracker Barrel faced a significant financial impairment of $16.2 million in fiscal 2025, largely attributed to underperforming Maple Street locations. Recent expansions have also shown sluggishness, with the number of new openings decreasing and locations closing in response to performance issues.
As of August 2025, Maple Street had expanded to 68 locations, having grown from an initial count of 28 locations when acquired by Cracker Barrel in 2019 for $36 million. This expansion, however, has not been stable, as the company has recently revised its forecast for new openings from an initial estimate of 9 to 11 down to a revised range of 8 to 10 by the end of 2024. Furthermore, no new openings occurred in the fourth quarter of 2025, and two locations have already closed.
Specific locations set for closure have yet to be announced, but existing Maple Street locations include restaurants in Alabama cities such as Madison, Birmingham, Mobile, and Daphne. The brand, co-founded in 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida, has grown primarily in the eastern United States and Texas, creating a menu based on Southern comfort food with a twist.
Cracker Barrel’s leadership has emphasized a dedication to strengthening and revitalizing the main Cracker Barrel brand following poor customer responses to a newly unveiled logo and recent remodeling efforts. This shift indicates a clear focus back on the company’s foundational offerings rather than the expansion of the Maple Street Biscuit Company. Many underperforming Maple Street locations, particularly in the earlier quarters of fiscal 2026, have also been shuttered as part of this reevaluation of focus.
As Cracker Barrel moves forward, the company aims to align its investment strategies with the performance of its core restaurant operations. The upcoming closures of the Maple Street locations mark a significant turn in the brand’s trajectory as it works to re-establish strength in the market.
Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic
- AL.com: Cracker Barrel Closing Restaurants
- Wikipedia: Cracker Barrel
- The City Menus: Maple Street Biscuit Company
- Google Search: Maple Street Biscuit Company
- Hville Blast: Huntsville’s Brunch Restaurants
- Google Scholar: Cracker Barrel Closures
- NRN: Cracker Barrel Buys Maple Street
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Fast Casual Restaurants
- FSR Magazine: Cracker Barrel Shutting Stores
- Google News: Cracker Barrel News
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