Cracker Barrel Planned For Spring Hill

SPRING HILL - Cracker Barrel is a fixture along interstates in Florida and other states.

Its southern-style atmosphere and country store are popular with tourists who like the convenience of a sit-down meal before heading back on the road.

Pretty soon, locals won't have to travel to Interstate 75 and State Road 50 to taste the Cracker Barrel cuisine or shop for goodies. The Lebanon-Tenn.-based company is planning on building one off U.S. 19 in Spring Hill, southeast of the under-construction Nature Coast Commons.

Terri Stokes, the county's site plan review coordinator, said the project is already zoned commercial and is in the final stages of the permitting process. Barring any unforeseen problems, the project should be cleared by January, she said.

Cracker Barrel Restaurant and Old Country Store spokeswoman Julie Davis confirmed the company has a contract on the property but have not yet closed the deal.

"Until a shovel goes into the ground, anything can happen," she said.

The Spring Hill Cracker Barrel would follow the same architectural pattern of others in the chain, right down to the rocking chairs on the front porch.

The typical restaurant employs 150-200 people, she said.

Davis said Cracker Barrel is planning more of these off-interstate locations. The company's real estate staffers look at surrounding stores and restaurants, demographics, planned development and proximity to high-traveled roads, she said.

"Florida is a great market for Cracker Barrel, Davis said. "There are more (of them) there than any other state."

The planned restaurant will be on an outparcel of Nature Coast Commons, which will also include Hernando County's first JCPennys. That department store is scheduled to open in March 2008.

Nature Coast Commons has 350,000 square feet of retail space on 42 acres just south of the Wal-Mart Supercenter, behind Denny's restaurant. It is being developed by Opus South Corporation, which has a regional office in Tampa.