Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. on Friday said it acquired Maple Street Biscuit Co. for $36 million in cash.
Maple Street was founded by Scott Moore and Gus Evans in Jacksonville in 2012 with a single restaurant in San Marco and has grown to 33 locations in seven states.
The company last year moved its headquarters from Downtown Jacksonville to Orange Park.
Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel said Moore will remain CEO of the Maple Street chain.
The publicly traded company operates 660 Cracker Barrel restaurants in 45 states.
The company started another chain called Holler & Dash Biscuit House in 2016, which has seven locations. Cracker Barrel said the Holler & Dash units will be converted into Maple Street restaurants.
Moore said in a news release the acquisition by Cracker Barrel will help Maple Street grow.
“Our brands share many similarities such as scratch cooking and an emphasis on hospitality,” he said.
“We have long admired Maple Street Biscuit Company with its emphasis on made-from-scratch food and hospitality,” Cracker Barrel CEO Sandra Cochran said in the release.
She said the company’s Holler & Dash restaurants showed the breakfast and lunch fast casual segment is an attractive market, which led to its interest in Maple Street.
“It is a proven brand with attractive unit economics and strong growth potential, and it is positioned to become a leader in this category,” she said.
