Friday, July 23, 2010

Ruby Tuesday to become a multi-concept co. again

About two years ago, the CEO of Ruby Tuesday was asked during a financial conference call about Wok Hay, a fast-casual Asian concept the full-service chain had purchased as what it later termed an experiment. The executive, Sandy Beall, confessed that he didn’t know what the questioner was talking about; he’d forgotten that Ruby even owned the brand, which apparently never grew beyond two stores. It was all but forgotten since then.

But now the concept’s getting a green light. Beall told investors yesterday that Ruby will turn a unit or two of its namesake restaurants into Wok Hay outlets. A few more Ruby Tuesdays will be recast as branches of Jim ‘N Nick's BBQ or Truffles, two groups that recently signed Ruby as a licensee.

Longer term, "whether we convert 20 or 50 or 300, I don't know," Beall said during yesterday's conference call.

Alabama-based Jim ‘N Nick's appears the more downscale of Ruby’s new partners. The most expensive item on the menu of the 27-unit chain is the ribeye steak, at $16.99, baked potato and salad included. Much of the menu consists of sandwiches, salads and burgers, most priced under $10, and everything is made from scratch.

A "Jim & Nick's will do $2.5 million on a bad day," Beall commented, apparently meaning a bad year.

Truffles appears to be Truffles Cafe, a fairly up-market concept with two locations.

There’s also a single Truffles Grill, a tonier variation, on Hilton Head Island. On the concept’s Facebook page, a fan named Sandy Beall has posted his opinion that it’s the “best on Hilton Head.”

It was not clear from the conference-call transcripts if Ruby Tuesday will develop both Truffles brands.

It’s not the first time that Ruby Tuesday has operated a variety of concepts. It once owned the Tia’s Tex-Mex chain, the brainchild of Chili’s founder Larry Lavine.


It’s not the first time that Ruby Tuesday has operated a variety of concepts. It once owned the Tia’s Tex-Mex chain, the brainchild of Chili’s founder Larry Lavine.

It also came about a pen stroke away from buying Pizzeria Uno at one point.

For awhile, through a merger with Morrison’s, Ruby was part of a veritable restaurant empire, with concepts that ranged from cafeterias to contract feeding operations and buffet places. When the parent spun of Ruby as a separate company, the casual chain took several sister concepts with it, including Mozzarella’s, Silver Spoon Café and L&N Seafood Grill.

Each was subsequently sold off, paring back the company to Ruby once again.

Beall, who co-founded Ruby Tuesday while still in college, didn’t explain why he’s resorting back to multiple concepts, other than to cryptically note, "we don't want to manage young brands."

But he did note that a Ruby Tuesday can be converted to any of the three alternative concepts for about $400,000, and that each reborn store should take in about $1 million more annually than the format it replaced.

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