Is there a Cracker Barrel Restaurant coming to Oregon or Washington?

Answer 1

New Information! November 2015 New Cracker Barrel Fusion Stores slated for Lee Court, Coeur d'Alene, ID and Canyon Rd west of Hwy 217 in Beaverton, OR. These are tentative, of course, especially the latter one. Coeur d'Alene is almost a done deal. There is hope... you can stop holding your breath now.

Older: Not at this time. I have no formal ties to Cracker Barrel, but I have a very long history. I became a big fan after living in Tennessee several times (Chattanooga, Nashville, and Memphis) and eating at all the early CB's, beginning in the 1970's. In the 1980's, I petitioned to get a Cracker Barrel in Jackson, TN, and even did marketing for them to help the cause. It worked. Then, I set my sights on trying to get a Cracker Barrel in Jonesboro, Arkansas, home of Arkansas State University. It was far off the main freeway, so this took some convincing. They finally decided to try a version of smaller test stores. I believe six were built, one of which was the Jonesboro store, as well as one in Tupelo, Mississippi, and Paducah, Kentucky. These stores have done well.

I have lived in Washington state five times, off and on, over the past four decades. I live there now. Naturally, I've been trying to get a Cracker Barrel location up here. CB, does extensive research and marketing for their locations. The closest stores to Washington are Boise, Idaho, and Missoula, MT. I've asked what the trepidation is on coming to the Pacific NW, and have gotten answers all over the board from Cracker Barrel management. The early answers had to do with paying fines for fire place emissions from burning real wood in their trademark stone fireplaces. Later, I discovered that the far western states are "right-to-work" states, and the employees are guaranteed a much higher base minimum wage than in most of the other states. As you know, servers in most states are subject to low hourly minimum wages, they make their money on tips. With Washington's minimum wage now at close to $10.00/hr, the Cracker Barrel model for the bulk of its' employees doesn't work. Add to this the tremendous costs of transportation of known quality products to only a handful of restaurants, and you have the recipe for losing copious amounts of money.

At one time, Cracker Barrel had land purchased for locations around the Pac NW. One such location was Bellingham, WA, as well as the greater Spokane, WA area. I have since heard that the Bellingham land has been sold, but I have not been able to accurately confirm this. Bellingham would be an excellent location for one, as it is the first major town on the main north/south freeway that connects all the west coast. In addition, it is a major college town - home to Western Washington University, and the demographic of inhabitants would likely support such a cuisine and atmosphere... the likes of which would not work just anywhere out west. The costs to service a single store this remote, however, would be prohibitive. So, you are not alone in your quest for a Pacific Northwestern Cracker Barrel, I just wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. :(