Dave DeWitte, CR Gazette –
CEDAR RAPIDS — National restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday abruptly closed its restaurant at 2215 Edgewood Rd. SW on Tuesday, laying off about 30-35 employees.
Justin Powrie, a services manager for the chain, said the closing was a corporate decision based on the economy. He said the company also was a restaurant at 3805 E. 53rd St. in Davenport.
Maryville, Tenn.-based Ruby Tuesday closed its other Cedar Rapids location at 217 Collins Rd. NE in September 2011, leaving only the Edgewood Road SW restaurant. The restaurant, which is located across Edgewood Road SW from Westdale Mall, opened in the fall of 2006.
Sandy Beall, Ruby Tuesday founder, chairman and CEO, said recently that the company planned to close 25 to 27 underperforming restaurants before the end of this month. Sales fell 5 percent in the last fiscal quarter on a year-over-year basis at Ruby Tuesday’s company-owned restaurants.
Beall said the chain, which will continue to operate locations in Mason City and Urbandale, has had difficulty keeping up with competitors who rely heavily on advertising and big promotions to draw in customers.
The suddenness of the Cedar Rapids closing came as a surprise to some employees, but followed a pattern that Ruby Tuesday has followed at other locations that have closed. Powrie did not know why there was not more advance notice of the closing.
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A may build a new restaurant at the former site of Ruby Tuesday at 217 Collins Rd. NE, on the perimeter of Lindale Mall.
The restaurant at 217 Collins Road NE would have seating for 140 indoor and 28 outside, in addition to a drive-through, according to a preliminary site plan filed with the city of Cedar Rapids. It shows a new 4,866-square-foot building and 95-car lot.
Chick-fil-A, a fast-food chain known for its chicken nuggets and whimsical advertising campaign (“Eat mor chikin”), has long operated a store in Westdale Mall.
