Retaining That Southern Flair

For travelers heading east on I-40, telltale signs that one is still in the South are hard to come by as the Nashville skyline recedes into the rearview. The landscape is dotted by big-box store-anchored strip malls and the neon signs of yet another truck stop. But, for most of this summer, Lebanon-based Cracker Barrel and its advertising team tried to fill that road trip void. On the outskirts of Davidson County right before Donelson, the restaurant’s yellow-and-brown logo appears on the billboard next to the proclamation, “It’s all gravy!”

Those weary tourists heading home need not be troubled that they’ve left a world of Southern boutiques and cowboy boots behind. A last taste of Tennessee charm is just ahead. And there’s more where that came back home everywhere in the contiguous United States besides Vermont, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington State. 

Yet, those who have followed Cracker Barrel’s long, hot summer know that it’s not been gravy for quite some time. Its stock spent much of the year in a spiral, losing 20 percent of its value as it hit a 13-year-low. Though the chain has been in decline for most of the decade, this trend accelerated when new CEO Julie Felss Masino proclaimed to shareholders nine months into her tenure last May, “We’re just not as relevant as we once were.”

Depending on the source, an arsenal of smoking guns is responsible for Cracker Barrel’s demise. For former Cracker Barrel CEO Sandra Cochran, it’s the lingering effects of COVID and ensuing inflation driving away its core base of over-65s. For the politically savvy consumer, it's the gestures to corporate activism through alignment with groups like the Human Rights Campaign. And, for the multiple employees, past and present, with whom the Pamphleteer has interviewed over the last four months, it's the chain’s' desperate grasp at relevance, combined with the erosion of tradition that's accelerated under Masino's leadership. 

There’s the pressure to increase alcohol sales at a restaurant best known for its post-Sunday rush; the remodeled stores that caused a furor online, sparking even more stock-price slippage; the revolving-door menu that has sacrificed staples like the Uncle Herschel’s Favorite breakfast platter and the popular red-eye gravy. As the chain celebrates its 55th anniversary this year, its PR team is doing everything it can to make it seem like all's right within the Southern-fried empire. But it’s clear to longtime diners, employees, and competitors that someone has lost the recipe. 

⚡️ Energy Consumption Freddie Adom, Energy Manager for the Department of General Services Division of Sustainability, dropped in on yesterday’s Sustainability Advisory Committee meeting to present the latest data from the Energy Benchmarking Program. Metro started the program in 2022 with the goal of targeting where to make conservation investments. “Energy benchmarking is a method used to determine whether a building is using more or less energy than its peer facilities,” explained Adom, while going over figures from 2021 and 2022.

According to Adom, Metro facilities that participated in the Energy Saving Revolving Fund saw a 13 percent reduction in energy usage. When asked how Davidson County’s facilities compared to others across the country, Adom explained that it was a mixed bag: “So, there are some buildings that are doing better than… the regional average, and then there are some that are doing worse, and then there are some that are kind of right in the middle. Not too much of a difference, whether positive or negative.”

Not surprisingly, said Adom, energy costs increased 15 percent in 2022 due to “the electricity and natural gas rate hikes. “That,” he continued, “combined with the increase in consumption, did lead to the energy cost increase.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

🩳 Short Staffed “In our department, for example, we have more than 100 FTEs in our budget,” lamented Finance Director Kevin Crumbo during yesterday’s Audit Committee meeting. “I have more than 15 open positions right now to fill. Not because we're not trying, but because getting the candidate pool and getting them there.” One of the final topics during the meeting was Metro Government’s staffing shortages, which, according to Crumbo, has made even small-scale investigations difficult to manage. One example of this was the dust-up within Metro Arts. “We were fortunate that was a very small-dollar item as far as the Metro budget is concerned… but it's an enormous amount of work.”

Crumbo concluded that, in its current state, Metro isn’t feasibly equipped to take on any sizable investigations. “Just as a common sense, practical approach, you can't have our government growing by billions and billions of dollars every several years and not expect that risk to rise.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK

🗣️ Post-Debate Reactions Amid the post-debate chaos, Taylor Swift, identifying as a “childless cat lady,” took to Instagram to endorse the Harris-Walz ticket. While Tennessee Democrats running for high-profile seats try to hitch a ride on the Swiftie endorsement wagon, here are a few reactions surrounding last night’s presidential debate.

✹ NEW AIRPORT RAMP NEARS COMPLETION

DEVELOPMENT

• Neighborhood Prepares Fight Against Benton House Proposal (Scene)
• Local investor sells shopping center for 4,500% premium (NBJ)
• South Nashville retail building sells for $6M (Post)
• Area businessman buys again in South Nashville (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Sebastien Bordeaux, Wild Bill and the Bruisers @ Dee's Lounge, 8:30p, $5, Info
+ hillbilly rock n roll, swing & blues, country & Americana

🎸 Ray Bull @ The Basement, 7p, $20 Info
+ Brooklyn indie pop duo

🎸 Wild Rivers @ Ryman Auditorium, 8p, Info

☀️ The Wailers @ 3rd and Lindsley, 7p, $25 Info

🪕 Bluegrass Night @ The American Legion Post 82, 7p, Free, Info

📰 Check out the full newsletter archive here.