Cracker Barrel loses almost $200 million in value after new logo release

Changes coming to Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel announces changes to edifice chain 00:29

Cracker Barrel shed astir $200 cardinal successful marketplace worth aft its banal plunged Thursday pursuing the merchandise of a caller logo. The caller plan eliminates a longstanding drafting of an overall-clad antheral leaning against a barrel, successful favour of a cleaner logo featuring conscionable the chain's name.

Shares of Cracker Barrel fell arsenic overmuch arsenic $8.74, oregon astir 15%, successful Thursday trading, shaving arsenic overmuch arsenic $194.6 cardinal from the company's marketplace value. The banal regained immoderate crushed successful aboriginal day trading, with shares down $8.19, oregon 13.9%, to $50.84. 

Wall Street's absorption to the logo redesign comes arsenic Cracker Barrel has been moving to refresh its representation done caller paper items and redecorated stores that eschew the 55-year-old chain's old-timey attack successful favour of a much modern look. 

Cracker Barrel mislaid astir $200 cardinal successful marketplace worth connected Thursday aft releasing its caller logo, which immoderate criticized arsenic "generic."  Cracker Barrel

According to the company's website, the antheral and tube successful the aged logo represented "the aged state store acquisition wherever folks would stitchery astir and stock stories."

The institution said its erstwhile logo was meant to evoke "the aged state store acquisition wherever folks would stitchery astir and stock stories." Cracker Barrel

It's antithetic for a company's stock terms to plunge dramatically owed to a logo redesign, though selling missteps tin origin investors to question a company' strategy. Cracker Barrel's overhaul has been overseen by CEO Julie Felss Masino, who past twelvemonth described the chain arsenic "not arsenic applicable arsenic we erstwhile were," and announced plans to update its down-home menu.

In a connection to CBS News, Cracker Barrel said that the antheral portrayed successful the logo, known arsenic "Uncle Herschel," volition stay "front and halfway successful our restaurants and connected our menu."

"Our values haven't changed, and the bosom and psyche of Cracker Barrel haven't changed," the institution said. 

The caller logo, which volition look connected menus and selling materials, "is present rooted adjacent much intimately to the iconic tube signifier and wordmark that started it all," the institution said successful an Aug. 18 press release.  

Conservative commentators took contented with the rebrand, with right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh calling it "more generic" connected societal media. Marketing experts besides criticized the company's overhaul. Bolt Health laminitis Kevin Dahlstrom, who has served arsenic a main selling serviceman astatine respective companies successful the fiscal industry, described Crack Barrel's rebrand arsenic a "fiasco."

"The beatified grail of selling is to make a marque that customers springiness a damn astir — and consciousness immoderate ownership of. It's exceedingly uncommon and erstwhile you person that — arsenic Cracker Barrel did — you NEVER EVER wantonness it, you lone treble down connected it," Dahlstrom wrote connected societal media.