Danny Wood Evins (October 11, 1935 – January 14, 2012) was an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., trading as Cracker Barrel, is an American chain of restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company's headquarters are in Lebanon, Tennessee, where Cracker Barrel was founded by Da ...

, a Southern-themed

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

Early life

Evins was born in

Smithville, Tennessee Smithville is a city in DeKalb County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 5,004 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 3,994 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of DeKalb County. Smithville is home to the Smithvil ...

, on October 11, 1935, the youngest child of Estelle McCartney and William Jackson Evins. As a child he graduated from Castle Heights Military Academy in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps and attended

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

Career

Evins also worked as an aide for his uncle, U.S. Rep. Joe L. Evins, before taking a position with his family's oil company. Evins founded Cracker Barrel in 1969 while he was working for

Shell Oil Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Y ...

. He opened the first restaurant in

, on

Tennessee State Route 109 State Route 109 (SR 109) is a primary state highway in Middle Tennessee. It runs from the intersection of Tennessee State Route 265, SR 265 and Interstate 840 (Tennessee), Interstate 840 (I-840, exit 72) near Lebanon, Tennessee, Lebanon, north ...

. He borrowed $40,000 to construct the first Cracker Barrel, which turned a profit just one month after opening. Evins was the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of Cracker Barrel from its founding in 1969 to 2001, and after a shareholder exodus due to his discriminatory policies, he was

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

from 2001 until his retirement in 2004. During this time he was also served as chairman of the board of directors for Castle Heights Military Academy while his son was enrolled in the school. In 1998, Evans led the drive by Cracker Barrel to purchase and restore the Mitchell House in Lebanon, Tennessee. The home had been a dormitory for elementary age students while Castle Heights Military Academy had been operating. The company spent two million dollars to restore the home and make it the company's corporate office.

Discriminatory views and termination

During the early 1990s, Evins instituted an official company policy prohibiting the hiring of openly gay individuals. Following backlash from large shareholders from progressive areas, such as the New York City Employee Retirement System, who threatened to vote out the entirety of upper management, the company reversed the policy. In July 2001, shareholders replaced Evins as CEO with Michael A. Woodhouse, who at the time was serving as the company's chief operating officer. Evins maintained his position as chairman of the board. The same year, the board voted unanimously to add sexual orientation to Cracker Barrel's non-discrimination policy, with the term officially being added the following year. In May 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced it had settled a lawsuit alleging that Cracker Barrel employees at approximately 50 of the company's 500 locations discriminated against minority customers, including 50 stores located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia that engaged in various discriminatory policies including racially segregated seating and service quality. In the settlement agreement Cracker Barrel pledged to implement a series of changes, including to strengthen and make public the company's non-discrimination policies, retrain and/or terminate employees in violation of the new policies, and pledged to focus on improving minority representation and civic involvement. A few months later, Evins announced his retirement as chairman of the company's board. At the company's 2004 annual meeting, shareholders voted to reelect Michael A. Woodhouse as CEO, while also granting him Evins' title as chairman of the board, effectively merging the roles. By January 2012, Cracker Barrel had more than 67,000

employees Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...

working in more than 600 restaurants in 42 U.S. states.

Personal life

On January 14, 2012, Evins died from

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...

at his daughter's home in

, at the age of 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evins, Dan 1935 births 2012 deaths American company founders Businesspeople from Tennessee Shell plc people American chief executives of food industry companies American chairpersons of corporations Auburn University alumni Deaths from cancer in Tennessee Deaths from bladder cancer in the United States 20th-century American businesspeople People from Smithville, Tennessee People from Lebanon, Tennessee United States Army personnel of the Korean War