LEBANON,
Tenn., July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of
Directors of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. ("Cracker
Barrel" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: CBRL) is pleased to announce
that Julie Felss Masino
will succeed Sandra B. Cochran
as the Company's next President and Chief Executive Officer.
Ms. Masino, 52, has had a long and successful career driving
innovation and growth for globally loved and recognized restaurant
and retail brands. She most recently served as President,
International of Taco Bell, overseeing the expansion of the
division to more than 1,000 restaurants in 32 countries, and before
that led the $11 billion US Taco Bell
business, where she and her teams launched numerous culinary,
technology, and business model innovations during eight consecutive
quarters of positive comp growth.
Commenting on the appointment, Cracker Barrel's Chairman of the
Board, William McCarten said,
"Today's announcement represents the culmination of a multi-year
CEO succession-planning process by our Board of Directors and
Sandy, and we are thrilled to welcome Julie to the head of the
Cracker Barrel table. We believe Julie 's track record as an
innovator and a leader, together with her strategic thinking and
passion for growth, will ensure that Cracker Barrel remains a place
where people feel welcomed and cared for like family as we extend
our hospitality to an even broader array of guests."
The Company's current President and Chief Executive Officer,
Sandra Cochran, added, "Julie brings
a wealth of experience and an innovative spirit to Cracker
Barrel and Maple Street. I look
forward to seeing her and the team build on our legacy and
carve new paths for growth as they leverage and continue our
investments in technology, loyalty, and the employee and guest
experience. It has been a privilege to lead this brand for the last
twelve years and I am happy to be able to transfer my role to
someone as capable and accomplished as Julie."
Finally, Ms. Masino commented, "Cracker Barrel is one of the
most iconic brands in the history of American casual and
family dining, and I appreciate all that Sandy and the Board have
done to set the company, our team, and me up for success. For
more than fifty years Cracker Barrel has leveraged its rich culture
to deliver on its brand and people promises to guests and
employees, and the company's Pleasing People mission aligns
perfectly with my passion for building and empowering diverse
high-performing teams. The confidence the Board has shown by
entrusting the brand to me is humbling, and I'm excited to work
with the more than 75,000 dedicated Cracker Barrel and Maple Street employees to drive the Company's
growth for years to come."
Ms. Masino spent the last five and a half years at Taco Bell,
during which time she led franchise partners and teams to open over
800 new units in the US and around the globe. The bulk of her
career was spent in a variety of leadership roles at Starbucks
Coffee Company, including serving as the CMO of Starbucks'
China business as well as Vice
President, Strategy Americas and EMEA; Vice President, Global
Beverage; and Vice President, Global Merchandise and Packaged Food.
She began her professional career in corporate positions at a
variety of retail companies, including Godiva Chocolatier, Coach,
J. Crew, and Macy's, and has
meaningful public and private company board experience.
Ms. Masino will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer-elect
on August 7, 2023, and will work with
Ms. Cochran through the end of October on a transition of duties.
On November 1, 2023, Ms. Masino will
become the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer and will
be appointed to the Company's Board of Directors. At that
time, Ms. Cochran will become the Executive Chair of the Board
through September 2024, and the
Board's current independent Chair, William
McCarten, will assume the role of Lead Independent
Director.
Commenting on the transition of roles and Ms. Cochran's tenure,
Mr. McCarten affirmed, "Sandy and the rest of the Board have spent
years planning for Sandy's succession and we are happy to see that
work pay off today. Sandy's contributions to Cracker Barrel
are too many to catalogue - from driving performance and creating
shareholder value, to recruiting and mentoring key talent, to
successfully guiding our company through the pandemic. She
will add to that track record in her role as Executive Chair, as
she transfers responsibilities and helps Julie assume the
leadership of our brand. We are grateful to Sandy not
only for having led Cracker Barrel so successfully for so long, but
for supporting Julie's and our success going forward."
CBRL-F
This press release includes forward-looking statements
concerning Cracker Barrel's expectations, anticipations,
intentions, beliefs or strategies regarding its chief executive
officer transition plan. These, and similar statements are
forward-looking statements concerning matters that involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual
performance of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. and its
subsidiaries to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by this discussion. All forward-looking information is provided
pursuant to the safe harbor established under the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be evaluated in
the context of these factors. Forward-looking statements generally
can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"trends," "assumptions," "target," "guidance," "outlook,"
"opportunity," "future," "plans," "goals," "objectives,"
"expectations," "near-term," "long-term," "projection," "may,"
"will," "would," "could," "expect," "intend," "estimate,"
"anticipate," "believe," "potential," "regular," "should,"
"projects," "forecasts," or "continue" (or the negative or other
derivatives of each of these terms) or similar terminology. Factors
which could materially affect actual results include, but are not
limited to: risks and uncertainties associated with our management
and leadership changes described in this press release and our
ability to attract and retain key employees following the
consummation of these changes, inflationary conditions with respect
to the cost for food, ingredients, retail merchandise,
transportation, distribution, labor and utilities and their effects
on the availability of key inputs to our business as well as
consumer spending, travel and demand generally; the COVID-19
pandemic, including the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and its
ultimate impact on our business, levels of consumer confidence in
the safety of dine-in restaurants, restrictions (including
occupancy restrictions) imposed by governmental authorities, the
effectiveness of cost saving measures undertaken throughout our
operations, disruptions to our operations as a result of the spread
of COVID-19 in our workforce, and our level of indebtedness, or
constraints on our expenditures, ability to service our debt
obligations or make cash distributions to our shareholders or cash
management generally; general or regional economic weakness,
business and societal conditions, and weather on sales and customer
travel; discretionary income or personal expenditure activity of
our customers; information technology-related incidents, including
data privacy and information security breaches, whether as a result
of infrastructure failures, employee or vendor errors, or actions
of third parties; our ability to identify, acquire and sell
successful new lines of retail merchandise and new menu items at
our restaurants; our ability to sustain or the effects of plans
intended to improve operational or marketing execution and
performance; uncertain performance of acquired businesses,
strategic investments and other initiatives that we may pursue now
or in the future; changes in or implementation of additional
governmental or regulatory rules, regulations and interpretations
affecting tax, wage and hour matters, health and safety, pensions,
insurance or other undeterminable areas; the effects of plans
intended to promote or protect our brands and products; commodity
price increases; the ability of and cost to us to recruit, train,
and retain qualified hourly and management employees; the effects
of increased competition at our locations on sales and on labor
recruiting, cost, and retention; workers' compensation, group
health and utility price changes; consumer behavior based on
negative publicity or changes in consumer health or dietary trends
or safety aspects of our food or products or those of the
restaurant industry in general, including concerns about outbreaks
of infectious disease, as well as the possible effects of such
events on the price or availability of ingredients used in our
restaurants; the effects of our indebtedness, including under our
credit facility and our convertible senior notes, and associated
restrictions on our financial and operating flexibility and ability
to execute or pursue our operating plans and objectives; changes in
interest rates, increases in borrowed capital or capital market
conditions affecting our financing costs and ability to refinance
all or portions of our indebtedness; the effects of dilution of our
existing stockholders' ownership interest that may ensue from any
conversions of our convertible senior notes or the related warrants
issued in connection with our convertible note hedging
transactions; the effects of business trends on the outlook for
individual restaurant locations and the effect on the carrying
value of those locations; our ability to retain key personnel; the
availability and cost of suitable sites for restaurant development
and our ability to identify those sites; our ability to enter
successfully into new geographic markets that may be less familiar
to us; changes in land, building materials and construction costs;
the actual results of pending, future or threatened litigation or
governmental investigations and the costs and effects of negative
publicity or our ability to manage the impact of social media
associated with these activities; economic or psychological effects
of natural disasters or unforeseen events such as terrorist acts,
social unrest or war and the military or government responses to
such events; disruptions to our restaurant or retail supply chain,
including as a result of COVID-19; changes in foreign exchange
rates affecting our future retail inventory purchases; the impact
of activist shareholders; our reliance on limited distribution
facilities and certain significant vendors; implementation of new
or changes in interpretation of existing accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States
of America ("GAAP"); and other factors described from time
to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
press releases, and other communications. Any forward-looking
statement made by us herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the
date on which made. We expressly disclaim any intent, obligation or
undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements made
herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard
thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statements are based.
Investor
Contact:
|
Adam Hanan
|
|
(615)
443-9887
|
|
|
Media Contact:
|
Heidi Pearce
|
|
(615)
235-4135
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cracker-barrel-names-julie-felss-masino-as-the-companys-new-president-and-chief-executive-officer-301878893.html
SOURCE Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.