Ruby Tuesday to close 95 restaurants

(RNN) - Citing weakness in the casual dining industry, Ruby Tuesday plans to close about 95 underperforming restaurants, it announced in a news release Thursday.

The restaurants will close in September.

“Our fourth quarter was impacted by softness in the casual dining industry and increased promotional activity by our peers. Given that we expect the macro environment to remain challenging for some time, we are taking the necessary steps to change the trajectory of our business,” said JJ Buettgen, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer.

The company will offer employees impacted by closures positions in nearby restaurants where possible. The company didn't identify the restaurants to be closed in the news release.

“Our Fresh Start Initiative is designed to improve our financial profitability and ultimately create a stronger Ruby Tuesday for the future," Ruby Tuesday stated in the press release. "While the decision to close restaurants has been extremely difficult, it is a necessary step as we take aggressive actions to strengthen our organization. We will be sharing the information on specific restaurant closures in the coming days. We look forward to continuing to serve our loyal guests at our many other Ruby Tuesday restaurants across the country.”  

Total revenue declined 5.9 percent to $279.3 million in the fourth quarter, and total revenue for fiscal 2016 declined 3.1% to $1.1 billion, the news release stated.

There are 724 Ruby Tuesday restaurants, of which 646 were company-operated, in 44 states, 14 foreign countries and Guam

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