Cracker Barrel Divests Maple Street Biscuit Brand and Secures $77 Million in Real Estate Deal to Fight Debt
The Southern-themed chain is selling 35 Maple Street locations and leasing back 26 of its own properties to shore up its balance sheet.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is launching a sweeping financial restructuring aimed at reducing its debt load and streamlining its corporate focus. The Tennessee-based restaurant chain announced on Monday that it is exiting its Maple Street Biscuit Company business and has finalized a $77 million sale-leaseback agreement involving dozens of its company-owned properties.
Under the terms of the divestiture, Cracker Barrel is selling the Maple Street brand and 35 of its locations to Kentucky-based boutique chain Biscuit Belly LLC. The remaining 16 Maple Street locations will be permanently closed. To further shore up its balance sheet, Cracker Barrel completed a sale-leaseback transaction for 26 of its proprietary restaurant properties, netting approximately $77 million. The company plans to use the proceeds to pay down outstanding debt while continuing to operate those locations under long-term lease agreements.
Julie Masino, the president and chief executive officer of Cracker Barrel, stated that the real estate transaction allows the company to opportunistically reduce its leverage by monetizing valuable real estate assets at an attractive valuation. She added that offloading the Maple Street brand will allow corporate leadership to focus entirely on stabilizing and growing the core Cracker Barrel brand.
The strategic shift comes at a critical juncture for the casual dining giant, which operates roughly 660 locations across 43 states. Cracker Barrel has recently grappled with declining customer traffic and a highly publicized brand identity crisis. Last summer, the company faced swift consumer backlash over proposed changes to its traditional aesthetic and logo—including plans to remove the iconic “Old Timer” caricature. The corporate retreat from those rebranding efforts occurred within a week of the initial announcement following intense pushback from its traditional customer base.
Acquired by Cracker Barrel in 2019 for $36 million, the fast-casual Maple Street Biscuit Company never became a major driver of the parent company’s bottom line, accounting for less than 2% of its total annual revenues. Cracker Barrel expects the divestment to improve its adjusted EBITDA starting in fiscal year 2027. However, the exit will trigger immediate financial impacts, with the company projecting between $37 million and $39 million in non-cash charges alongside $6 million to $8 million in cash costs during its fiscal fourth quarter.
For Biscuit Belly, the acquisition represents an aggressive scaling opportunity. The brand, which currently operates 15 locations, plans to convert the acquired Maple Street storefronts into its own concept over the next 18 to 24 months. According to Biscuit Belly co-founder and CEO Chad Coulter, the acquisition will more than triple the brand’s current footprint, with initial conversions slated for the Richmond, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio, metro areas. The company aims to expand its total footprint to more than 60 locations by the end of 2028.
