The casual dining chain Ruby Tuesday has been plagued by underperforming locations for almost 20 years, forcing it to close 100s of stores.
And now, the popular bar and grill restaurant has closed two more locations in Columbia, S.C., as the casual dining chain continues shuttering underperforming units.
The Maryville, Tenn.-based restaurant chain closed locations over the last month at 2504 Augusta Road and at 7490 Garners Ferry Road, both in Columbia, according to The Post and Courier.
Ruby Tuesday closed two restaurant locations in Columbia, S.C., but did not give a specific reason for the closings.
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Ruby Tuesday closes two more locations
The closest location to Columbia after the closings is at 5464 Sunset Blvd. in Lexington, S.C. Ruby Tuesday has 10 locations throughout South Carolina, according to the restaurant chain’s website.
“It is with heavy hearts we have made the difficult decision to permanently close this location,” a sign on the Augusta Road location’s front door in West Columbia said on July 10, The Post and Courier reported.
The Garners Ferry Road location’s front door also had a sign on July 13 that read, “Unfortunately, we are permanently closed.”
The messages did not give a specific reason for the closings. A Ruby Tuesday spokesperson was not immediately available for comment on July 20.
The restaurant chain’s locations reached as high as 945 units in 2007, according to Restaurant Business, and it has closed 771 underperforming locations since its peak.
Dining chain has 174 restaurants
Ruby Tuesday, which opened for business in 1972, listed 174 operating locations on its website as of July 20.
The 54-year-old dining chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 7, 2020, according to PacerMonitor, suffering the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had led to the closing of 185 company-owned restaurants.
The company closed 27 more of its 236 company-owned restaurants during bankruptcy. The company exited bankruptcy on Dec. 16, 2021.
“The bankruptcy allowed Ruby Tuesday to shed liabilities, including leases from closed locations that were significantly impacted by COVID-19, and to strengthen its core business of 209 corporate-owned and operated locations,” the company said in a statement after it exited from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Restaurant needs to be different
Ruby Tuesday’s problems have developed from its inability to differentiate from its competitors and thus, getting lost in the crowd of similar bar and grill restaurants, such as Chili’s and Applebee’s, The Motley Fool reported.
“I believe that Ruby Tuesday’s woes have a simple explanation: what I call the TipsyMcStagger’s issue. Simply put, if you removed all appearances of the restaurant’s name, how many customers could readily distinguish Ruby Tuesday from Applebee’s, O’Charley’s, Chili’s, or TGI Friday’s?” Stephen Simpson of The Motley Fool wrote, TheStreet‘s Daniel Kline reported.
Ruby Tuesday’s closings follow a trend of casual restaurant chains shuttering underperforming locations.
Red Robin closing restaurants
Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc. said it plans to close 20 restaurants in 2026 as leases expire after closing 23 locations in 2025. Originally, the company said in 2024 that it would close up to 70 locations but removed 20 restaurants from its closing list.
The company is not certain of the total number of restaurants it will close.
“At this time there is no confirmed number for potential closures, as the company is continuing to work on performance and could continue to see that number decrease,” a Red Robin spokesperson told TheStreet in an email.
On The Border liquidated
OTB Hospitality, the operating company of On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on June 19 after closing all company-owned locations earlier that month, the company shared in a June 19 press release.
Franchise locations in South Dakota, Florida, Nevada, California, and South Korea continue operating independently, however, and were not included in the Chapter 7 case.
Related: Another beloved beer brand files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy