The Park City Ruby Tuesday received a recognition of sorts this winter. It was selected by the corporation to be the only location to remain open in Utah.
The Ruby Tuesday steak-house chain previously had six locations in Utah including St. George, Logan, Draper, West Jordan and West Valley City.
Corporate communications manager Meridith Hammond said last week, “The locations in Utah were franchised locations and their sales performance did not justify their continued operation.”
The Park City location at 6585 North Landmark Drive near the Tanger Outlet Mall at Kimball Junction remains open and is now wholly corporate owned.
The company has been closing under-performing stores in multiple locations to trim down and improve earnings. According to a recent earnings report on the second quarter of the current fiscal year, it was the best sales quarter in almost five years for the restaurant chain.
Net income for the quarter was “up sizably” over the prior year. That’s according to CEO Sandy Beall. She cited “tight cost control management” as a key element to profitability in the report.
Beall also said, “We would like to exit the franchise partner program primarily by acquiring them and/or converting some.”
In a few Southern states, the company is converting Ruby Tuesday restaurants into “Jim N’ Nick’s” or “Truffles.”
These conversions are costing the company about $4 million this year, but will improve profitability next year, Beall said. She hopes it will be complete this fiscal year.
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