Traffic at Cracker Barrel locations has not fully recovered from the backlash to last year’s failed rebrand, although company executives said there are signs of improvement on the restaurant chain’s latest earnings call.

The company has been working to strengthen its financial position after sales weakened following the unsuccessful rebrand, which included removing the "old timer" from the company’s logo and changing the interior layout of restaurants that have long featured a general store. For a chain that depends heavily on repeat visits and a familiar customer experience, those changes became part of a broader test of whether brand updates could be made without alienating longtime guests.

Cracker Barrel announced on Monday that CEO Julie Masino will step down this summer, and David Deno will take over on Aug. 10. The leadership change comes amid a slow recovery from the attempted rebrand.

The company said in its third-quarter earnings report last month that traffic was improving compared with the recent trend, but remained below year-ago levels.

Masino said, "Q3 results exceeded our expectations, driven by our operating and cost actions, while guest-facing metrics continue to improve, and position us for further traffic recovery."

Cracker Barrel CFO Craig Pommells said, "Comparable store restaurant sales decreased 2.6%, which included a traffic decline of 6.7%." He added, "Although traffic remained negative, we are encouraged by the gradual improvement in the underlying trend."

Pommells also said that "controlling for the variability between last year's third and fourth quarters and the resulting comparison in the current year, the underlying traffic trend continues to show gradual improvement."

Cracker Barrel’s stock is down about 18% from a year ago and remains well below pre-rebrand levels. Still, shares have recovered sharply this year, rising 105% since the start of 2026.

The company has recently taken several steps aimed at improving financial performance. Last week, Cracker Barrel said it would sell some of its restaurant properties and exit its Maple Street Business Company business. It sold the Maple Street brand and 35 of its locations to Biscuit Belly LLC, while closing the remaining 16 Maple Street restaurants.

Cracker Barrel also completed a sale-leaseback transaction involving 26 company-owned locations, generating about $77 million in net proceeds. The company said it planned to use the funds to pay down debt while continuing to operate the restaurants by leasing the properties from the new owner.

"A brand isn’t what management wants it to be," brand expert Bruce Turkel said. "It’s what customers believe it is."

FOX Business' Sophia Compton contributed to this report.