Cracker Barrel 2010 Annual Report Download - page 12

Here we are, another year gone by, and the economy remains
sluggish in terms of job growth and consumer spending.
And yet Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® has compiled an
outstanding year, outperforming many of our competitors.
It seems that we must be doing something right. In fact, what
we’ve been doing is the same thing that has made this
company successful for more than 40 years – Pleasing People®.
What we have challenged ourselves to do, though, is to
become even more productive in the way we please people
such as focusing on executing to standards and investing
more in the areas of new products and advertising. All of
these actions are aimed at strengthening our brand by
improving the guest experience, improving our competitive
advantage and producing higher protability.
To get through the tough times, it’s important to stay very
focused on what’s most important and that’s what we did
this year. We stayed true to the promise of our brand and that
stood us well during what’s now being called “the Great
Recession.” Consumers knew that they could come to any of
our locations and get consistent quality, friendly service,
and good value at a fair price. Cracker Barrel is a place to relax
and reconnect with family and friends. We know this because
our guests tell us so by their actions and in our research.
As I reported last year, Cracker Barrel was chosen for the
19th consecutive year as the “Best Family Dining Chain”
in the “Choice in Chains” survey conducted by Restaurants &
Institutions magazine. is year, of course, I wanted to report
a 20th year for this honor, but I cannot do so because there
was no consumer survey this year – Restaurants & Institutions
recently stopped publishing, a victim of the weak economy.
Even without the long-running “Choice in Chains”
survey, however, there are still ways to achieve recognition for
excellence. In an independent consumer study, “Consumer
Brand Metrics Program” conducted by Technomic, Inc.,
Cracker Barrel was rated at the top of the full service
restaurants in the casual and family dining categories.
We were rated the best in three categories:
1) Overall Aributes and Aitudes; 2) Appearance and
Ambiance; and 3) Convenience and Takeout. In fact, we
received top billing on a number of key areas: food and
beverage quality, quality of the kids’ menu, being treated as a
valued individual, delivering food the way the consumers
wanted it, delivering good value through prices, service and
ambiance, and a pleasant experience overall.
In Zagat’s 2010 consumer survey, Cracker Barrel was
chosen as having the best breakfast at a full-service restaurant.
In another survey by a nationally recognized research
rm, we were ranked as number one in family dining in all
To Our Shareholders:
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc.
Diluted Income Per Share
From Continuing Operations
$4.00
$0
Fiscal Year
20082006 2009 2010
2007
$3.00
$3.50
$2.50
$2.00
$1.50
$1.00
$.50
10