Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. is wrapping up its fast-casual dining experiment by letting go of its subsidiary, Maple Street Biscuit Company, in a bid to sharpen their focus on its namesake brand and streamline its balance sheet.
The Southern-themed restaurant chain announced that the sale of the Maple Street trademark and assets tied to 35 locations to Louisville, Kentucky-based competitor Biscuit Belly LLC was through.
The remaining 16 Maple Street locations that were not included in the transaction are to be permanently closed.
While specific financial terms of the asset sale were not disclosed, Cracker Barrel originally purchased the Jacksonville, Florida-founded concept in October 2019 for $36 million.
Despite earlier efforts to scale the brand across the Southeast, Maple Street accounted for less than 2% of Cracker Barrel’s total annual revenue.
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Company leaders described the divestiture as a disciplined capital decision designed to eliminate operational distractions and improve long-term profitability.
“Divesting Maple Street sharpens our focus on the core Cracker Barrel brand and is expected to improve profitability,” President and Chief Executive Officer Julie Masino explained in a statement.
Alongside the divestiture, Cracker Barrel closed a $77 million sale-leaseback deal involving 26 company-owned restaurant real estate properties and its net proceeds will go directly toward lowering their corporate debt.
Exiting the Maple Street brand comes with near-term costs. Cracker Barrel expects to take non-cash impairment charges between $37 million and $39 million during its fiscal fourth quarter, in addition to $6 million to $8 million in cash transition expenses spread through fiscal year 2027.
Despite those charges, executives have raised the company’s financial outlook for fiscal year 2026, projecting total revenue to reach or top the upper limit of its $3.27 billion to $3.30 billion guidance range.
The divestiture is slated to boost adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization starting in fiscal 2027.
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For Biscuit Belly on the other hand, the acquisition provides a ready-made footprint to accelerate regional growth without building new sites from the ground up.
Founded in 2019 by Chad and Lauren Coulter, the gourmet biscuit sandwich chain currently operates 15 stores.
“When we looked at Maple Street’s geography, restaurant footprints and established store-level teams, we saw a unique opportunity,” Biscuit Belly CEO Chad Coulter said, noting that finding turnkey locations and trained staff are two of the biggest hurdles facing expanding restaurant brands.
Biscuit Belly plans to rebrand and convert the acquired storefronts over the next 18 to 24 months, beginning with locations in the Cincinnati, Ohio, and Richmond, Virginia, markets.
The expansion is projected to push the chain past 60 locations by the end of 2028.