Ruby Tuesday (restaurant)

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Ruby Tuesday Inc.

Type	Public (NYSE: RI)
Founded	1972
Headquarters	Maryville, Tennessee, USA
Key people	Samuel E. Beall III
Industry	Restaurants
Revenue	$1.110 billion USD (2005)
Operating income	$156.559 million USD (2005)
Net income	$102.298 million USD (2005)
Employees	16,300 (2006)
Website	www.rubytuesday.com

Ruby Tuesday is an American casual dining restaurant chain named after the Rolling Stones' song of the same name.

1 History
- 1.1 Size and expanse of chain
2 References
3 External links

[edit] History

The first restaurant was founded in 1972 by five University of Tennessee students,^[1] and is now headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee.^[2] The first location was adjacent to UT's Knoxville campus^[3] at the corner of Twentieth Avenue and Kingston Pike (now Twentieth Street and Cumberland Avenue).^{[citation needed]} The building still stands, but it is now occupied by a Stefano's Pizzeria^[4] and a bar called Charlie Peppers, both of which are local institutions in their own right.

In April 1982, Ruby Tuesday became part of the Specialty Restaurant Division of Morrison, Inc. The merger provided the chain with additional financial support to continue its growth.

In March of 1996, the shareholders of Morrison's approved a distribution and divided Morrison Restaurants, Inc. into three separate companies: Ruby Tuesday, Inc. (RTI); Morrison Health Care, Inc., (subsequently purchased by Compass Group); and Morrison's Fresh Cooking, Inc., (now owned by Piccadilly). Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is the successor Company to Morrison Restaurants, Inc.^[5] and is now one of America's largest casual dining companies. At the time of the distribution, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. operated many other restaurant brands in addition to their flagship Ruby Tuesday brand, including L&N Seafood Grill, Silver Spoon Cafe, Mozzarella's Cafe, The American Cafe, and Tia's Tex-Mex.

Ruby Tuesday, in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhood.

In the summer of 1998, Ruby Tuesday relocated its Restaurant Support Center from Mobile, AL to Maryville, TN, where the company built an on-site training facility, WOW-U™, in addition to a lodging and dining facility, RT Lodge™. These facilities are used daily as a training and development center for the Company's restaurant managers.

In November, 2000, Ruby Tuesday completed the sale of The American Cafe, Silver Spoon, L&N Seafood, and Tia's Tex-Mex restaurants to Specialty Restaurant Group, LLC. This divestiture allowed Ruby Tuesday to concentrate exclusively on the growth and development of its flagship brand.

[edit] Size and expanse of chain

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Currently, Ruby Tuesday, Inc. has Company-owned and/or franchise Ruby Tuesday brand restaurants in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 13 foreign countries. As of February 28, 2006, the Company owned and operated 619 Ruby Tuesday restaurants, while domestic and international franchisees (including Hawaii, Mexico, Sucel, India) operated 200 and 43 restaurants, respectively.^[6] The company currently has plans to open between 45 and 50 new locations in 2006. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol: RI).^[7]