Ruby Tuesday files for bankruptcy, makes a promise to customers

Company’s CEO cites ‘unprecedented impact of COVID-19,’ vows to return stronger
The Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain filed for reorganization bankruptcy on Oct. 7, 2020, but its CEO vowed that company would come back stronger. MARK FISHER / STAFF

The Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain filed for reorganization bankruptcy on Oct. 7, 2020, but its CEO vowed that company would come back stronger. MARK FISHER / STAFF
What to Do
By Mark Fisher
Oct 7, 2020
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Ruby Tuesday, which operates restaurants in Troy and Sharonville after shutting down two suburban Dayton locations earlier this year, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization bankruptcy today, Oct. 7, its CEO, Shawn Lederman, announced on the chain’s web site.

“This announcement does not mean ‘Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday,’ but ‘Hello, to a stronger Ruby Tuesday,’” Lederman said in his message, riffing off of Rolling Stones song lyrics while emphasizing that the restaurant chain’s existing locations are “open for business as usual.”

Both the Troy and Sharonville Ruby Tuesday restaurants were indeed open and operating Wednesday, their employees said.

The reorganization bankruptcy filing “will allow us an opportunity to reposition the company for long-term stability as we recover from the unprecedented impact of COVID-19,” Lederman said in a release.

The Ruby Tuesday CEO said the company has worked out details of the voluntary petition for reorganization with those it owes money to.

“Prior to its filing, the company reached an understanding with its secured lenders to support its restructuring through financing and an agreement regarding the terms of a plan that will provide a sustainable path forward for the restaurant chain,” Lederman said in the statement. “We plan to use this filing to strengthen our business by reducing liabilities and reposition the Company to emerge a stronger organization built for the future.”

The restaurant chain’s dining rooms, carryout, curbside pickup, catering and delivery are all active, and, “We will continue to operate with our same standards of excellence,” the Ruby Tuesday CEO said. In addition, all loyalty rewards program points/credits “will continue to be valid and retain their value,” Lederman said.

“We very much appreciate your continued support and love for Ruby Tuesday since 1972. We enjoy serving you every day and look forward to seeing you soon.”

Ruby Tuesday shut down its last two remaining suburban-Dayton locations earlier this year. In late March, its location at 6061 Far Hills Ave. in the Washington Square Shopping Center in Washington Twp. shut its doors, and nine weeks later, in early June, the Ruby Tuesday restaurant at 6425 Miller Lane in Vandalia shut down. Both locations had operated for nearly 15 years. Geez Grill & Pub is gearing up to open its relocated restaurant in the former Washington Twp. Ruby Tuesday.

According to the web site of Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN), which covers the restaurant industry, the Maryville, Tenn.-based restaurant chain owned by NRD Capital Management will be closing 185 stores that had been temporarily shuttered during the pandemic, or almost one-third of the restaurant chain’s locations, leaving 236 company-owned restaurants remaining to operate as usual. As of Wednesday, the company also had 7,000 company-wide furloughed employees as a result of the store closures, NRN reported.

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.