CRACKER BARREL PLANS OPENING LATER THIS MONTH

A new Cracker Barrel Old Country Store restaurant will open in Cape Girardeau this month.

"We don't have a date set," said a spokesman from the firm's headquarters at Lebanon, Tenn. "However, it will be early next year, possibly the final week of January," he said last week.

Construction is under way on the restaurant building near Interstate 55 behind Victorian Inn.

The restaurant chain has more than 125 stores, including stores at Marion, Ill., and Paducah, Ky.

A full-service restaurant and gift shop will be featured.

The concept for the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Restaurant was devised by Dan Evans in 1969. Evans' plans were to provide a place for motorists to stop and have a meal, get gasoline, and shop for souvenirs.

The first restaurant was in Lebanon.

"The earlier Cracker Barrel restaurants had gas pumps," said a spokesman for the firm. "Since that time, the restaurants have evolved into what they are today a place to eat and buy gifts."

Cracker Barrel restaurants are fashioned after "old country stores" said the spokesman. A lot of the gifts are also fashioned after turn-of-the century gifts crocks, pottery items, and lamps. Also on the list of items are jams, jellies and candies.

All of the stores are decorated inside and out with antique items. "These are not for sale," said the spokesman.