The Cracker Barrel in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 26, 2025.

Cracker Barrel's CEO said the chain is working to rebuild customer trust after its logo controversy earlier this year marked a quarter of declining sales.

During its quarterly financial results call with investors on Dec. 9, Cracker Barrel CEO Julie Felss Masino acknowledged the chain has had a "difficult" past few months.

"While many of our guests are enjoying our improved food and guest experience, we certainly have more work to do to regain the trust and confidence of other who have been slower to return," she said.

For the financial quarter between Aug. 1 and Oct. 31, Cracker Barrel said its revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter the year prior.

The country store and restaurant chain faced backlash from many of its customers in August when it announced a rebrand that included a change in its so-called Old Timer logo. Days later, the company reversed course and said it wouldn't change the logo after all.

Cracker Barrel is working through a 'brand reputation issue,' CEO says

During the hourlong call with investors, Masino acknowledged that Cracker Barrel has recently faced "heightened scrutiny around our brand."

"We have a brand reputation issue that we are working through, and that takes rebuilding trust one guest at a time," she said.

The company is focusing on returning to its roots by returning some guest favorite items to its menu, like Campfire Meals, Uncle Herschel's breakfast and chicken and rice. Some back-of-house staff members — including managers, kitchen production staff and grill cooks — were also retrained on "core classic" and holiday recipes in October, Masino said.

"We’ve got a little bit of a brand opportunity right now. There’s some brand rebuilding and trust rebuilding that we need to do, and there’s a sales opportunity. And so we are doing both of those things," she said.

Cracker Barrel logo controversy: What happened?

On Aug. 19, Cracker Barrel unveiled a new, simplified logo. While still featuring the company's classic gold and brown color palette, it removed a man seated next to a wooden barrel.

Some customers decried the logo change as uninviting. President Donald Trump also weighed in, writing in a Truth Social post that the chain could earn "free publicity" if it went back to its old logo.

On Aug. 26, the same day as Trump's initial post, Cracker Barrel said it would drop the new logo and return to the "Old Timer."

"We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have," the company's statement said. "Our new logo is going away and our 'Old Timer' will remain."

Later, Cracker Barrel said it would not move forward with planned restaurant remodels — which were intended to make locations more modern — and it also ended its partnership with the company that advised its logo and restaurant design.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cracker Barrel wants to 'regain' customers after controversy, CEO says

Reporting by Melina Khan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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