VICTORVILLE Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, a popular restaurant-gift store combo with a Southern country theme, will open its first California location in Victorville, city officials here announced.
The restaurant is planned along the city’s 15 Freeway-facing restaurant row on Amargosa Road, just south of the Bear Valley Road exit.
The new 9,550-square-foot building, which has yet to be built, is being developed by Vantage One Real Estate, according to the city. Construction is expected to start later this year, with an opening for sometime later in 2017, Victorville City Manager Doug Robertson said.
Its location is just south of the new BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse and a six-tenant, fast-casual restaurant building expected to be built sometime in the next year as well, Robertson said.
Representatives for Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel could not be immediately reached for comment, and it was unclear whether Cracker Barrel had operated in California in the past, with Robertson saying some believe there might have been West Coast properties here decades ago. The company was founded in 1969.
The restaurant joins about a dozen other restaurants parallel to the 15 Freeway, south of the Bear Valley Road off- and on-ramps. Robertson said the new Cracker Barrel will help the city market restaurant row to the public, in addition to providing an economic boost for the city.
“Cracker Barrel is expected to generate between $50,000 and $70,000 a year in sales to Victorville, and the economic impact of 200 employees, spending money in and around town, will help benefit us as well,” Robertson said.
“Cracker Barrel will be a wonderful addition to our city’s restaurant row, and we are thrilled this major retailer will be building its first California location in Victorville,” Mayor Gloria Garcia said in a statement. “This speaks to the strength of our city’s retail market, and we will continue to attract quality dining and retail choices for our community.”
Robertson said Cracker Barrel chose Victorville because of the high-visibility of restaurant row to travelers along the 15 Freeway, in addition to the large population of the High Desert, which frequents the retail and restaurants in the city. About 450,000 people reside in the High Desert region, Robertson said.
“The restaurant market has taken a liking to the Victor Valley,” Robertson said. “It’s a combination of our population and our location on the 15. An average of 98,000 vehicles go past that location on a single day.
Real estate expert Brad Umansky, president of the Rancho Cucamonga-based commercial real estate firm Progressive Real Estate Partners, said Cracker Barrel’s arrival to the High Desert makes sense.
“I think we’ve seen a trend towards certain restaurants coming into the High Desert, because the region is most similar to the Midwest and so it’s a chance for a restaurant operation to come into California, but at least be in a place that addresses a similar type of demographic and customer,” Umansky said.
“I think it’s about a focus on the family,” Umansky added. “They value similar forms of entertainment rather than a big night out. They value going out to a big family-oriented restaurant as something that’s enjoyable.”
Cracker Barrel has 641 restaurants and old country stores located in 43 states, according to a recent press release on the company website about a location opening in North Las Vegas from October.
“Cracker Barrel serves authentic, high-quality, home-style meals prepared from scratch like homemade chicken n’ dumplins and each Cracker Barrel location is uniquely decorated with real American artifacts, memorabilia and signage curated by a team of experts,” according to the release.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
