Ruby Tuesday Closes Its Doors
Sunday was the end of the endless salad bar at the corporate-owned Cartersville location.
Cartersville lost one of its few national-chain eateries with the close of business Sunday. Considered under-performing, the corporate-owned Ruby Tuesday "prepped" and served its last endless salad bar.
Spokesman Meridith Hammond said it was one of about 25 restaurants slated to close as the company shifts focus to new brands, advertising and cost savings amid declining sales.
"The promotional environment continues to be very competitive and over the past several quarters, we have not competed well with the heavy television advertising levels of our peers," founder, chairman and CEO Sandy Beall said in a press release.
Hammond said "almost all" of the 35 to 45 people the Cartersville restaurant employed—both full- and part-time workers—were transferred to neighboring Ruby Tuesday's.
In 2003, the local eatery opened near Walmart in a new building sandwiched between existing businesses, accessible only from Lowe's parking lot and not visible from major traffic corridors.
Now, the nearest Ruby Tuesday restaurants are in Calhoun, Woodstock and at Town Center Mall, according to the company's website.
As key sales across all company-owned restaurants continue to drop, the Tennessee corporation is looking to new brands that "align well with the Ruby Tuesday focus on fresh, high-quality ingredients," such as Lime Fresh Mexican Grill, which it recently acquired, and Marlin & Ray's seafood.
What did you think of the Cartersville Ruby Tuesday? Why do you think it failed to perform well? Tell us in the comments.
Last week, downtown's Wall Street Cafe shuttered and in January nearby Ryan's closed due to poor performance.
"Wall Street Cafe closed it's doors at 3 p.m. today for the last time," owner Jeff Chisolm posted April 28 on the the cafe's Facebook page. "Yes it's a shock to many, including myself, as I saw so much potential in the place. But, you cannot hold a gun to people's heads and force them to eat with you. We had our great days, good days, then many just down right horrible days that killed us.
"I will miss all the regulars that came in to see us and support us. I will miss playing with all that food and handing out samples to those willing to try. What I won't miss are those sleepless nights wondering why we only had 20 people with us on any given day. Thank you Cartersville and all you regulars for your generous support. I will greatly miss you guys."
In This article
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Ruby Tuesday
305 Market Place Blvd, Cartersville, GA -
Walmart Supercenter
101 Market Place Blvd, Cartersville, GA -
Lowe's Home Improvement
301 Market Place Blvd, Cartersville, GA -
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Wall Street Cafe
25 N Wall St, Cartersville, GA
Cady Schulman
12:30 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I will definitely miss Ruby Tuesday and Wall Street Cafe. They were both places where I loved to eat.
Choi Kwang Do Martial Art
12:49 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Everytime I see a business close it's doors I think "That could be us"! Our local economy needs us! Eat and buy in Cartersville when ever possible! Remember these are not just businesses, they are people's dreams, people's way of life, the way many earn a living and without them all our money will go into other communities!
Katherine M
1:13 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Until we get Obama out of the White House our local economy will continue to suffer.
wyle jones
12:53 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
dang straight k.m.
Tracy
2:04 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Loved Ruby Tuesday in the 90s, but after a constant menu changes and food that tasted straight from the freezer, we chose to go elsewhere. Too many other choices.
Brande Poulnot
2:32 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Tracy, I tend to agree. The last two times I ate at the C'ville restaurant, it wasn't that good...even fries. But back when I was in high school, I thought the Ruby Tuesday at Town Center was the coolest thing ever!
Jared Bookhardt
2:33 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Very bad location here in Cartersville I believe led to the demise.
Justin G
4:26 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I REALLY hope Marlin & Rays goes into the old rubys.. If you havent tried it yet IT IS AMAZING!!! the closest one is in Acworth across brom HD & Best Buy.
melissa
7:23 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I agree with jared....very bad location. It simply got over looked.....
mark
9:24 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
food was not good, location was bad, and the service was not the best. i am a manager off a business in bartow county and go to local business meetings. all i hear is support bartow. i went to a localc ar delear ship to purchase a new vehicle, 35,000.00 and no one would wait on me. i left my business card and asked for the owner to call me, never did. my wife and i went to rome to heritage gmc, and within 2 hours, drove away with the vehicle we wanted. business people in cartersville need to take a long look at there attitude and there employees./
String Bean
1:29 am on Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Mark, you're right... especially about car dealers. All of the new car dealerships in Cartersville are pretty much "take it or leave it" kinda places. They won't deal much off full sticker... they lowball trade-ins... and jack up financing. You'll come out much better at high volume dealers like the AutoNation places... the Nissan and Ford in Marietta and the Toyota in Lithia Springs. Figure out what you want... shop the dealerships online to see what they have on the floor... and then make an online inquiry. Get an e-mail with a firm drive-out price including tax, tag title. I buy a lot of new vehicles and have saved a fortune by leaving town to make my purchases.
Scrumpty a la cart
1:18 pm on Thursday, May 10, 2012
Meanwhile back at Ruby Tuesdays. The location was/is bad. The food was "fresh from our freezer!" quality. My wife and I like to support local businesses whenever possible. We realize that locals work at franchises and need jobs too. Until this economy turns around for good expect more closings.
CHUCK SETARO
8:50 am on Friday, May 11, 2012
GREAT PEOPLE WORKING AT RUBY TUESDAYS WILL BE MISSED FOOD WAS ALSO GOOD TO BAD
steve
9:42 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
I thought this ruby tuesday was kinda on the nasty side. Evertime we went there the floors were dirty and food was average at best.
steve
9:49 am on Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Also who was the genious behind the idea to put that ruby t in that cubby hole were access to it was like goin on a treasure hunt? Bad location
wyle jones
12:58 pm on Friday, January 11, 2013
WHAT COMPANY`S ARE GOING TO HAVE TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE THEY CAN OPEN A SUCCESFUL STORE OF ANYKIND Is: LOCATION ,LOCATION, LOCATION. Then training,cross training, and hire a good cook/chef.