Porches

When Rick and I were doing our pre-start-the-day reading in bed where we often share what we discover, he mentioned that Cracker Barrel had modernized its decor. There were mixed reactions, the article said, from customers and employees.

Because there were none near my New England home, I'd never been to a Cracker Barrel. The Southern phenomena had not migrated north by the time I left the country in 1990. 

He thought I should experience it. As newlyweds we were showing each other where we'd grown up. I've a newish and happy memory of that Cracker Barrel visit in my kitchen in France, a spider also known as a cast iron fry pan. I'd left my old spider in the States when I'd moved to Europe and missed it even after years. Thus we increased the weight of my luggage with the pan.

As a person who HATES shopping, I enjoyed the atmosphere, especially the porch with its chairs, bringing me back to my childhood porch in Reading MA. In summer we screened it in to annoy the mosquitos who buzzed outside trying to get at us. After the dinner dishes were done my mother my and grandmother would sit on the porch, read until dark then talk as they watched my brother and me play outside. Our play area included a pine grove with 38 trees enclosed with a Robert Frost-type stone wall. 

Half the porch had a ping pong table, but because the grownups were there we didn't disturb them, unless they wanted to play a game with us, which wasn't often.Our porch had Adirondack chairs softened by cushions.  

When Auntie Maud and Uncle Archer visited, their talk continued long after dark.

Because it was summer catching fireflies was more important than bedtimes. In fact, my brother and I often decided we'd had enough and put ourselves to bed or went inside to read. Sometimes after my brother went to bed I'd listen to the adults. It wasn't that boring as they talked about the past such as the time my mother killed a snake that was trying to swallow a toad that they were sure was the one that ate flies on the porch. The toad was saved until she slipped and squished it. I learned that my grandmother and Auntie Maud, as girls when walking by the docks in Boston, accepted an invitation by one of the sailors of a ship tour. Only later did they realize that it could have been dangerous. I now wish I'd recorded their stories.

Back to Cracker Barrel visit on our memory trip. Despite it being 11 years ago, I loved the experience in the store. This is from a person who will sit in a car to read while my husband goes into a mall. It was WONDERFUL.

Rick showed me a photo of the new decor. Boring. Like any other store. It isn't that they will lose me as a customer. We won't go back to the U.S. under the current administration.

I wonder why they changed. Having worked for corporations, non-profits, and media over the years, I know decisions at the top can be made for lots of reasons many of them stupid such as the London non profit which moved its headquarters at a huge cost in pounds and losing a majority of its staff, so the CEO could be closer to home.

Wikipedia said this, "In Q2 2023, the company reported $933.9 million in revenues; takeout, delivery, and catering made up 23% of sales. In May 2024, Cracker Barrel revealed that 16% of their customer base had not returned since 2020. 

I wonder how many focus groups management did before changing to find the reasons, such as Covid. 

Still, sitting in one of those Cracker Barrel chairs, holding my new cast iron fry pan, chatting with my husband about our next destination is right up there in nice memories along with jars of fire flies. 

Visit https://dlnelsonwriter.com to see D-L Nelson's novels and non-fiction works.