Cracker Barrel 2014 Annual Report Download - page 3

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s we look back on 2014, we are pleased with
our accomplishments. We continued to focus
on our long-term strategy to Enhance the
Core business, Expand the Footprint of our stores,
and Extend the Cracker Barrel® brand. In every
quarter of the year, we outperformed the Knapp-TrackTM
Casual Dining Index for sales and traffic. This
achievement marks eleven consecutive quarters in
which we have outperformed this peer group.
We grew our restaurant and retail comparable store
sales, operating margins, and earnings per
diluted share despite continued headwinds within
the restaurant industry. In addition, we once
again celebrated record sales on Thanksgiving Day.
Our Operations team consistently executed our
mission of Pleasing People® and we saw year-over-
year increases in several of our guest loyalty
metrics. Consumer ratings for the 2014 fiscal year
indicate that Cracker Barrel received the highest
overall rating among 32 large restaurant chains
analyzed by Technomic Inc., a well-recognized
industry research firm. Moreover, we led in ratings
for many perception attributes including Value,
Food Quality, Menu Variety, and Friendly Service.
In addition, we were named to Forbes Magazine’s list
of America’s 100 Most Trustworthy Companies.
This list, developed by GMI Ratings, evaluated the
accounting and governance behaviors of more than
8,000 publicly traded companies in North America.
We are proud to be on this list, which we believe
further demonstrates that Cracker Barrel is a brand
not only our customers can trust, but also a solid
long-term investment our shareholders can trust.
Financial Performance
Our success in the 2014 fiscal year was achieved in
the face of a challenging economic environment for
our consumer, severe winter weather, and signifi-
cant promotional activity by many of our competitors.
We grew our revenues by 1.5% to $2.7 billion, with
comparable store restaurant sales increasing
0.7% and comparable store retail sales increasing
0.4%. Adjusted for proxy contest and severance
1