Ruby Tuesday announced Wednesday plans to close up to eight company-owned Ruby Tuesday restaurants, two Lime Fresh restaurants, 13 Marlin & Ray’s restaurants, one Wok Hay restaurant and two Truffles Grill restaurants.
JJ Buettgen, President and CEO, commented, “Over the last several weeks I have been working with the Board and the senior management team to shape our long-term vision for the Company. Based on a significant amount of discussion and analysis, and a clear understanding that driving profitable same-restaurant sales at Ruby Tuesday is our first and most critical priority, we have decided to close our 13 Marlin & Ray’s restaurants immediately. While this was a difficult decision to make, we have determined the Marlin & Ray’s brand is not an optimal conversion vehicle for us going forward. For similar reasons, we also have decided to close and exit our one Wok Hay restaurant and seek a buyer for our two licensed Truffles Grill restaurants. Additionally, based on experience gained since our initial involvement in Lime Fresh, we have decided to close two Company-developed Lime Fresh restaurants that we have determined to be outside our updated site selection criteria for the concept. As we make these difficult decisions, we want to let the team members of these closed restaurants know that we appreciate their passion and commitment and we are working to ensure the employees affected by these planned closures are given opportunities at other Ruby Tuesday or Lime Fresh restaurants.”
The chain also plans to open 10 to 12 Lime Fresh restaurants this year.