Goodbye, Ruby's founder. Who could hang a name on you?

Sandy Beall, one of the last of the chain restaurant industry’s founder-CEOs, has agreed to step down as the leader of Ruby Tuesday as soon as a successor is found.

Beall founded the casual-dining brand some 40 years ago, taking the name from a Rolling Stone song (and hopefully catching some buzz from the full-service sector’s hottest concept at the time, T.G.I. Friday’s).

Beall has governed his brainchild with a strong hand, even when it was part of a larger publicly held company, Morrison Inc. Among his moves was launching a slew of other casual dining and cafeteria-style brands. He also pursued the purchase of Pizzeria Uno, then backed off in the 11^th hour.

More recently, he’s led another diversification of Ruby, this time into alternative concepts outside its casual-dining niche. The company recently acquired Lime Fresh, a fast-casual Mexican chain, and has development deals for Truffles, a fine-dining restaurant, and Jim ‘n Nick’s, a barbecue joint. It also has an Asian concept, Wok Hay, that began in the fast-casual market but has since morphed into more of a traditional dinnerhouse brand.

Curiously, only Lime Fresh and a seafood start-up, Marlin & Ray's, were mentioned in the announcement of Beall's imminent retirement.

Ruby has had some pronounced ups and downs with its namesake brand in recent years.