Cracker Barrel: New restaurant to open here no earlier than Aug. 29th

STAFF REPORT

Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011 — Officials with Cracker Barrel’s Lebanon, Tenn., headquarters confirmed that the store will indeed open for business on Monday, Aug. 29th as reported earlier by the Nelson County Gazette.

Earlier reports that the store may open earlier on an “unofficial” basis prior to the 29th are not true, officials with the restaurant company told the Gazette.

The store’s opening date on Monday, Aug. 29th is firm, they said, citing concerns that they did not want customers who have waited for the restaurant’s opening to arrive prior to Aug. 29th expecting service only to find the restaurant was not yet open for business.

The store will be the restaurant chain’s 32nd store in Kentucky and will join more than 600 Cracker Barrel restaurants covering 42 states.

The restaurant’s well known for its front porch complete with rocking chairs and benches, and a store full of crafts and goods that can best be described as “echoes of a time gone by.”

Cracker Barrel is not a franchise; the company owns and operates all its stores.

CRACKER BARREL HISTORY. The company began in 1969, founded by Dan Evins of Lebanon, Tenn. Evins worked in the family gas business in the late 1960s and was thinking of how to meet the needs of travelers who wanted a good home-cooked meal at a sit-down, family-style restaurant. The first Cracker Barrel opened in September 1969.

Buoyed by his initial success at his original location, Evins expanded the business; by 1977 there were 13 Cracker Barrel stores. In 1981, the company went public with its stock; its success has fueled its steady growth into the 42 states now served.

For more information visit: www.crackerbarrel.com.