Cracker Barrel is quietly closing 16 locations of its smaller sister restaurant brand to cut costs and reduce the company's $486.6 million debt. The Tennessee-based company announced it is selling 'certain assets' of the Maple Street Biscuit Company brand, a fast-casual breakfast chain it acquired in 2019. This is a move executives say will help slash debt and improve long-term profitability. As part of the overhaul, Cracker Barrel has sold the Maple Street brand, intellectual property and assets tied to 35 restaurants to Kentucky-based Biscuit Belly LLC. Those locations will gradually be converted into Biscuit Belly restaurants over the next 18 to 24 months. The 16 remaining Maple Street locations, however, will permanently close rather than be rebranded. The decision marks the end of Cracker Barrel's experiment with the upscale biscuit chain, which it purchased for about $36 million with plans to expand it beyond traditional roadside restaurants. At the time, Maple Street was viewed as a way to tap into the growing fast-casual breakfast market. The chain offered a unique take on morning favorites, like a pulled pork biscuit smothered in berry jam BBQ sauce, strawberry shortcake pancakes and even biscuit donuts nicknamed 'bonuts.'

Now, less than seven years later, the company decided to refocus on its namesake restaurants. Cracker Barrel's CEO and President Julie Masino said the brand's decision reflects the 'discipline' they bring to managing the business, as they position their flagship chain for 'long-term success and shareholder value creation.' 'Our sale-leaseback transaction will allow us to opportunistically reduce debt while monetizing a portion of our owned real estate at an attractive valuation,' she added in a statement. 'Divesting Maple Street sharpens our focus on the core Cracker Barrel brand and is expected to improve profitability.'

Separate from the Maple Street decision, Cracker Barrel completed a sale-leaseback deal involving 26 company-owned locations, which brought in another $77 million. According to the New York Post, these proceeds will be used to reduce the company's debt, while the restaurants will continue serving customers under lease arrangements with the property's new owner. Cracker Barrel is still reeling from its failed rebrand attempt, where the beloved Southern food restaurant debuted a new modernized logo that took away the 'Old Timer' sitting on a barrel.

The new, sanitized logo debuted last year on August 19 and was immediately panned by conservatives as woke because the restaurant was ditching its rustic charm - President Donald Trump even advised the company to do away with the rebrand, as activist investor Sardar Biglari tried to remove Masino through a proxy battle. Cracker Barrel quickly pivoted back to its original logo - but the chain is still reeling from its rebrand attempt. In December, the franchise announced massive corporate layoffs in an effort to recoup from its sales slump.

Critics said this was a quick fix, though, and won't help the company grow long-term. 'The $20million in savings from layoffs won't fix what's fundamentally broken here: a loss of confidence and clarity about what Cracker Barrel stands for,' retail strategist Carol Spieckerman previously told the Daily Mail. In an effort to win back customers, Cracker Barrel introduced new food items, including Smoky Southern Salmon, Fried Catfish and Hushpuppy Dippers. However, recent changes in food quality left customers frustrated with the chain. Cracker Barrel has also switched to making biscuits in batches and chilling them, rather than rolling out fresh dough on demand. It has since switched back to rolling biscuits by hand and baking them fresh.