Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is bidding farewell to the Maple Street Biscuit Company.
The restaurant chain said this week that it has sold Maple Street to Biscuit Belly, a Southeast chain of about 15 restaurants. The deal includes the Maple Street Biscuit Company’s trademark and 35 locations.
According to a separate announcement from Biscuit Belly, the 35 Maple Street locations will be converted to the Biscuit Belly brand over the next 18 to 24 months. The deal more than triples Biscuit Belly’s existing footprint.
The first stores to be converted will be the Maple Street locations in Cincinnati and Richmond, Virginia, the announcement said.
Sadly, Cracker Barrel said it will close 16 Maple Street locations that were not part of the sale.
The company didn’t disclose the sale value, but shared that it expects the divestiture to bring non-cash charges of about $43 to $47 million between 2026’s final quarter and fiscal 2027, with the majority in the former.
However, Cracker Barrel should be able to make up for it. It also announced a completed sale-leaseback transaction for 26 of its namesake locations. The company expects net proceeds of about $77 million from the deal, which it will put toward debt reduction.
“These efforts reflect the discipline we bring to managing our business and balance sheet as we position Cracker Barrel for long-term success and shareholder value creation,” Cracker Barrel president and CEO Julie Masino stated in the release.
Masino continued: “Divesting Maple Street sharpens our focus on the core Cracker Barrel brand and is expected to improve profitability.”
Which Maple Street locations are closing?
All Cracker Barrel has said so far is that 16 Maple Street Biscuit Company locations are closing.
Fast Company has reached out to Cracker Barrel for information on store locations. We will update this post if we hear back.
Maple Street Biscuit Company made up less than 2% of Cracker Barrel’s annual revenue. Cracker Barrel has about 660 stores across the U.S., compared to the just over 50 Maple Street Biscuit Company locations it operated.
As Fast Company previously reported, the company closed 14 Maple Street locations last September.
Cracker Barrel has managed a decent turnaround since its controversial logo redesign last year. Its shares (Nasdaq: CBRL) are still down over 21% year-over-year, but the stock is up over 104% year-to-date.
With that said, the stock is down over 3% since the sale announcement.
