What changed in this filing

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Item 1. Business

2026-09-25 compared with 2025-09-26 · 29 added, 34 removed, 206 unchanged (23% of the section changed)

4 unchanged sentences

We make available free of charge through our website our periodic and other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

Our reports and other materials filed with the SEC are also available at www.sec.gov.

Information on our website is not deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other filings that we make from time to time with the SEC.

As of September 12, 2025, we operated 657 Cracker Barrel stores in 43 states and 68 Maple Street Biscuit Company stores in 10 states.

As of September 11, 2026, we operated 655 Cracker Barrel stores in 43 states.

The following description of our business should be read in conjunction with the information in Part II of this report under the caption “Item 7.

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As of September 11, 2026, no Cracker Barrel stores were franchised.

In 2024, we announced our multi-year strategic plan.

The multi-year strategic plan is anchored on three overarching business imperatives:

driving relevancy, delivering food and an experience guests love, and growing profitability.

We have undertaken certain initiatives as part of these imperatives, including modifying capital allocation to support increased investment in the business to drive organic growth.

During 2026, we faced challenges related to negative publicity from brand initiatives related to our previously-announced strategic plan, including the launch of a new logo and modern test store remodels, to which we responded by returning to our former logo and discontinuing the modern test store remodels during the first quarter of 2026.

Store Format :

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Our stores have stone fireplaces and are decorated with antique ‑ style furnishings and other authentic and nostalgic items, reminiscent of and similar to those found and sold in the past in traditional old country stores.

The front porch of each store features rows of the signature Cracker Barrel rocking chairs, which are a popular item sold by the gift shops and which we invite guests to use while waiting for a table in our dining room or after enjoying a meal.

Many of our stores feature front porches with our signature Cracker Barrel rocking chairs, which are a popular item sold by the gift shops and which we invite guests to use while waiting for a table in our dining room or after enjoying a meal.

Our restaurants, which generated approximately 81% of our total revenue in 2026, offer home-style country cooking featuring many of our own recipes that emphasize authenticity and quality.

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Dinner Day-Part (4:00 p.m.

Our gift shops feature a variety of items inspired by our restaurant menu, such as pies, cornbread mix, coffee, syrups and pancake mix, as well as a broad selection of decorative and functional items, including rocking chairs, seasonal gifts, apparel, toys, cookware and various other gift items.

Our gift shops feature a variety of items inspired by our restaurant menu, such as cornbread mix, coffee, syrups, pancake mix and pies, as well as a broad selection of decorative and functional items, including rocking chairs, seasonal gifts, apparel, toys, cookware and various other gift items.

We also offer an assortment of candies, preserves and other food items.

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Apparel and Accessories

At August 01, 2025, our gift shops featured approximately 3,100 stock keeping units (“SKUs”), which is a decrease from historical levels primarily due to our current initiative to rationalize SKUs.

At July 31, 2026, our gift shops featured approximately 3,100 stock keeping units (“SKUs”).

Certain food items are sold under the “Cracker Barrel Old Country Store” brand name.

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Eggs are purchased through six vendors.

We purchase our pork through six vendors, poultry through eleven vendors and beef through six vendors.

We purchase our pork through eight vendors, poultry through nine vendors and beef through five vendors.

Should any food items from a particular vendor become unavailable, we generally believe that these food items could readily be obtained, or alternative products substituted, in sufficient quantities from other sources at competitive prices to allow us to avoid any material adverse effects that could be caused by such unavailability.

The majority of our retail items (approximately 80% in 2025) are warehoused at our retail distribution center in Lebanon, Tennessee.

The majority of our retail items (approximately 80% in 2026) are processed through our retail distribution center in Lebanon, Tennessee.

The retail distribution center processes orders generated by our automated replenishment system and typically ships retail products to individual stores on a weekly basis via two dedicated third-party freight lines.

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Examples include a digital experience that drives our loyalty program, effectively enables our to-go and catering business, allows for mobile payments in our stores, and provides guests with a digital waitlist that can be accessed remotely through our own mobile application.

Our in-store guest experience is supported by systems that manage the dining room seating, assist in facilitating customer orders of food and retail products, and routes food orders to our kitchen.

Our in-store guest experience is supported by systems that manage the dining room seating, assist in facilitating customer orders of food and retail products, and route food orders to our kitchen.

Marketing uses digital technology to provide more relevancy in customer messaging.

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Individual To Go are orders picked up directly by our guests from our stores.

Third-Party Delivery are orders placed through aggregators such DoorDash® and Uber Eats, and delivered by their drivers.

Third-Party Delivery are orders placed through aggregators such as DoorDash® and Uber Eats and delivered by their drivers.

Catering and Occasion are offerings designed for large parties, including our popular Heat n’ Serve meals available during select holidays.

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We monitor operational performance and guest satisfaction at all stores on an ongoing basis.

We have public notices in our menus, on our website and posted in our stores informing customers and employees about how to contact us by internet with questions, complaints or concerns regarding services or products.

We conduct training on how to gather information and investigate and resolve customer concerns.

We have public notices in our menus, on our website and posted in our stores informing guests and employees about how to contact us by internet with questions, complaints or concerns regarding services or products.

We conduct training on how to gather information and investigate and resolve guest concerns.

This is accompanied by comprehensive training for all store employees on our public accommodations policy and commitment to “Pleasing People.”

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Store Development:

We opened one new Cracker Barrel store and closed two Cracker Barrel stores in 2025.

Currently, we plan to open two new stores during 2026.

We opened two new Cracker Barrel stores and closed four Cracker Barrel stores in 2026.

Currently, we do not plan on opening any new stores during 2027.

As of September 11, 2026, approximately 84% of our stores are located along interstate highways.

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Of the 655 stores open as of September 11, 2026, we own the land and buildings for 330, while the other 325 properties are either ground leases or ground and building leases.

Building, site improvement, furniture, equipment and related development costs for the store opened in 2025 was approximately $7,700 and pre-opening costs averaged $985 per store in 2025.

Building, site improvement, furniture, equipment and related development costs for the stores opened in 2026 were approximately $7,000 and pre-opening costs averaged $611 per store in 2026.

Our current store prototype is approximately 8,900 square feet, including approximately 1,900 square feet of retail selling space and dining room seating for approximately 170 guests.

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Maple Street Biscuit Company

We also operate Maple Street Biscuit Company (“MSBC”) locations.

MSBC is a breakfast and lunch fast casual concept.

Like Cracker Barrel, MSBC values genuine hospitality and made-from-scratch cooking including biscuit-inspired entrées as well as freshly roasted coffee with a proprietary blend and a limited selection of beer and wine in certain locations.

MSBC operates in a smaller footprint than our Cracker Barrel Old Country Store concept and has operating hours limited to the breakfast and lunch day parts.

As of September 12, 2025, 68 MSBC locations were open — all are currently leased properties in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

As of September 12, 2025, no MSBC locations were franchised.

We also previously operated Maple Street Biscuit Company (“MSBC”), a breakfast and lunch fast casual concept.

During the fourth quarter of 2026, the Company sold 35 MSBC locations and closed the remaining Company-owned locations.

As of July 31, 2026, we no longer operated any MSBC locations.

HUMAN CAPITAL

As of August 01, 2025, we employed approximately 76,730 people, of whom 364 were in advisory and supervisory capacities, 3,446 were in-store management positions and 45 were officers.

As of July 31, 2026, we employed approximately 74,500 people, of whom 360 were in advisory and supervisory capacities, 3,400 were in-store management positions and 46 were officers.

Many store personnel are employed on a part-time basis.

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Employee Development / Training

Because of the importance of our employees’ ability to deliver the service levels that are a vital part of the hospitality that drives our brand appeal to guests, we emphasize employee development and training.

To ensure that individual stores operate at a high level of quality, we focus significant attention on the training of store managers.

To help ensure that individual stores operate at a high level of quality, we focus significant attention on the training of store managers.

We believe that our training programs are key in developing our managers’ leadership skills and commitment to operational excellence, which we believe are important to delivering a positive employee and guest experience.

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Additionally, Cracker Barrel is pleased to offer our Employee Assistance Program to all employees and family members.

This confidential program is available 24/7 for personal or professional consultations.

This confidential program is available 24/7 for personal or professional consultations for a variety of health and welfare issues of importance to our employees.

In addition, we provide all our employees with access to paid parental leave and adoption benefits, a 401(k) savings plan, an employee discount policy at our Cracker Barrel stores, an employee stock purchase plan, and a competitive vacation policy.

Our compensation and performance evaluation systems are carefully designed to maintain pay equity by focusing pay decisions on experience and performance to ensure the Company retains a highly productive workforce to operate our business while providing a high level of service to our guests.

Our compensation and performance evaluation systems are carefully designed to focus pay decisions on experience and performance to help ensure the Company retains a highly productive workforce to operate our business while providing a high level of service to our guests.

Quality Assurance and Food Safety

Cracker Barrel incorporates robust quality assurance and food safety processes to ensure the safety of all our food and retail products delivered to our guests including the following:

Cracker Barrel incorporates robust quality assurance and food safety processes to help ensure the safety of all our food and retail products delivered to our guests including the following:

● Comprehensive food safety training for store employees and store managers;

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● Regular unannounced food safety audits conducted on all Cracker Barrel locations several times per year by a nationally recognized third party food safety organization;

● Ensuring a pest free environment in our locations though a stringent pest control process;

● Maintaining a pest free environment in our locations through a stringent pest control process;

● Monitoring of all national and local food safety regulations pertaining to both food products and store operations;

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o Food and product recalls, and

o Pandemic situations, e.g., COVID-19.

o Outbreaks of infectious disease.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION

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however, we cannot predict the effect of possible future environmental legislation or regulations on our operations.

We deem the various Cracker Barrel and MSBC trademarks and service marks that we own to be of substantial value.

We deem the various Cracker Barrel trademarks and service marks that we own to be of substantial value.

Our policy is to obtain federal registration of trademarks and other intellectual property whenever possible and to pursue vigorously any infringement of our trademarks and service marks.

15 unchanged sentences

quick-service restaurants;

and highly promotional casual and family dining restaurants.

In addition, improving product offerings at fast casual restaurants and quick-service restaurants and expansion of home delivery services, together with negative economic conditions, could cause consumers to choose less expensive alternatives.

and casual and family dining restaurants.

The prevalence of highly promotional business strategies and improving product offerings at these competitors, along with the continued expansion of home delivery services, together with negative economic conditions, could cause consumers to choose other, potentially less expensive alternatives to dining with us.

We expect competition to continue in all of these areas.

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Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1. Business