If you’re lucky enough to live near a Cracker Barrel, congratulations!
Warm traditional dishes…
Friendly staff…
Not to mention that awesome Cracker Barrel store…
Well, you get to experience all of them.
Not everyone is so lucky.
And in fact…
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While most states have at least one Cracker Barrel, several still don’t have any at all!
And among those, there are a handful – I’ve identified six – who I think will in fact never get a Cracker Barrel at all.
Sometimes it’s cultural differences.
Sometimes it’s remoteness.
Sometimes it’s a combination!
But at its core – it’s really about:
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Ensuring the unique combination of factors that give Cracker Barrel the chance to succeed in a market.
And unfortunately, there are a handful of states that I’m confident will never hold those attributes.
Starting with:
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Vermont’s a bit of a gimme.
It’s small, the population is super spread out, there isn’t a ton of cross-state traffic, and its residents are historically very hostile to outside chains.
For reference, it only has one IHOP. And no Chick-fil-A!
No way could I see Cracker Barrel there.
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Really, the catchphrase here should be “Oregon is never getting Cracker Barrel again.”
Oregon had five Cracker Barrels just a few years ago – but then a combination of COVID and changing tastes in the Pacific Northwest doomed all of them.
The final Cracker Barrel in Oregon closed its doors forever in April of 2024.
And why is there any reason to think Cracker Barrel would come back?
I mean…
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Keep in mind that this wasn’t the failure of a single restaurant.
There were five Cracker Barrels in Oregon:
– Three were in the Portland area (Jantzen Beach, Beaverton, and Tualatin)
– One in Bend (more central Oregon)
– And one in Medford (southern Oregon)
You had plenty of potential urban, suburban, AND rural traffic.
And for that reason, it’s probably no surprise that the next state on the list is…
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It’s like Oregon, but even more so!
Washington has never had a Cracker Barrel, and given Cracker Barrel’s experience in Oregon, I’m confident it’ll stay that way.
Think about it this way: Cracker Barrel is a lot about nostalgia.
Do you know who isn’t nostalgic about southern food?
The Pacific Northwest.
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Alaska has three issues that I think really preclude a Cracker Barrel opening up there:
– It’s big and rural (hard to find a good concentration of people outside of Anchorage);
– Not a lot of travel on highways (so there wouldn’t be a lot of travelers passing by – plus most tourists come by ship);
– Brutal winters and logistics issues (shipping stuff to Alaska is a pain).
Sorry Alaska.
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Hawaii has shares one problem with Alaska – the remoteness – but it’s amped up quite a few notches.
Because of course, while Alaska is just a hop, skip, and a jump across the Canadian border from Washington State…at least comparatively…
Hawaii is nearly 2,500 miles away from California.
That means lots of expensive shipping for food.
Hard to make Cracker Barrel’s low prices work when food just became all that much more expensive!
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As I’ve noted previously, Cracker Barrel is a nostalgia play for good-quality southern cooking (with some midwestern influences as well).
Wyoming’s just a fundamentally different animal – a place that really embraces the true western ethos.
I just don’t see it being a fit there.
And the fact that they haven’t built in Wyoming yet is a bit of a tell, you know?
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So there you have it – six states I’m convinced Cracker Barrel will never build in.
And hey, I could be wrong – but I’m pretty sure I’m right on this one.
But of course, that’s just MY opinion…
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What do you think?
Will Cracker Barrel avoid these states forever? Or do you think one or more of them could get a Cracker Barrel in the future?
And for that matter – where should Cracker Barrel build next?
Let us know in the comments!
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