Fifty employees at Ruby Tuesday headquarters in Maryville got a rude holiday surprise yesterday: pink slips. The front page of the Maryville Daily Times has a photo of a Maryville PD patrol car stationed outside Ruby Tuesday HQ to provide security.
The company says this is the first step of a "comprehensive review of its cost structure." They have "restructured corporate support services and reduced operating expenses through workforce reduction," eliminating 50 jobs at the Maryville Restaurant Support Center. The company expects the cuts to save $6 million annually.
They are also "working with a leading enterprise improvement consulting firm to assist with additional cost reduction initiatives focused on cost of goods sold, restaurant operating costs, and other general and administrative costs."
It seems odd that they would need an outside consultant. Just a year ago they hired a top level executive from Darden to replace outgoing (ousted?) founder and CEO Sandy Beall. What are they paying the new guy $9 million for?
|
|
Discussing:
- Tennessee sheriff defends jailing liberal activist for posting Trump meme (1 reply)
- Terrible things are happening outside. (5 replies)
- GOP dereliction of duty, SNAP must be funded (1 reply)
- Medicare Advantage: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (1 reply)
- Electricity prices are rising (2 replies)
- Does Silly Congress care about chaos in cattle market? (4 replies)
- East TN Health Depts. free flu shots today, Oct. 21, 2025 (1 reply)
- Building housing Knox County Democratic Party headquarters up for sale (3 replies)
- Watch how scam victims lose millions to a con with a modern twist (1 reply)
- Knoxville SOUP proposals Announced for Sept. 23, 2025 (1 reply)
- No Kings Rally - Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025 (1 reply)
- Study finds Knoxville has the second worst drivers in the US (3 replies)
TN Progressive
- WATCH THIS SPACE. (Left Wing Cracker)
- Report on Blount County, TN, No Kings event (BlountViews)
- America As It Is Right Now (RoaneViews)
- A friend sent this: From Captain McElwee's Tall Tales of Roane County (RoaneViews)
- The Meidas Touch (RoaneViews)
- Massive Security Breach Analysis (RoaneViews)
- (Whitescreek Journal)
- Lee's Fried Chicken in Alcoa closed (BlountViews)
- Alcoa, Hall Rd. Corridor Study meeting, July 30, 2024 (BlountViews)
- My choices in the August election (Left Wing Cracker)
- July 4, 2024 - aka The Twilight Zone (Joe Powell)
- Chef steals food to serve at restaurant? (BlountViews)
TN Politics
- Shutdown double whammy: SNAP food benefits ending and federal workers go unpaid (TN Lookout)
- In increasingly Hispanic Memphis schools, immigration enforcement surge brings fear, absences (TN Lookout)
- US Senate in bipartisan vote rejects Trump tariffs on Brazil as coffee prices spike (TN Lookout)
- John Cole’s Tennessee: Tricks or treats? (TN Lookout)
- Department of Children’s Services faces sharp questions about kids continuing to sleep in offices (TN Lookout)
- Trump backs embattled Ogles in Tennessee race against Hatcher (TN Lookout)
Knox TN Today
- How about that new camera, Badger? (Knox TN Today)
- Pumpkin Tower (Knox TN Today)
- Victoria Niederhauser + Restaurants help neighbors + Misty Goodwin + Charles Lomax ++ (Knox TN Today)
- Weekend Scene from ‘The Birds’ to Halloween Bar Crawl & more (Knox TN Today)
- UT Arboretum Society: Identifying local birds of prey (Knox TN Today)
- Knox County real estate loans top $163M (Knox TN Today)
- HEADLINES: World & national news to state & local news (Knox TN Today)
- Agent spotlight: Mindy Newman and her golden duo bringing comfort to children (Knox TN Today)
- Staged reading of Atomic Lullaby on November 2 (Knox TN Today)
- Paper sculpture exhibition ahead (Knox TN Today)
- Smoky Mountain Tales: A conversation with Charles Maynard (Knox TN Today)
- The Book Whisperer has perfect Halloween read (Knox TN Today)
Local TV News
- Suspects in vandalism of Farragut High School sought by sheriff's office (WATE)
- Detroit man arrested in Jefferson County after joint narcotics investigation (WATE)
- Player of the Week: Anderson County's Jayzon Thompson runs wild with 347 yards, 7 TDs (WATE)
- New Ripley's attraction opens in Pigeon Forge (WATE)
- Knoxville nonprofits continue serving people with disabilities despite government shutdown impacts (WATE)
- 'Leaders of tomorrow' Anderson County honors JROTC cadets (WATE)
News Sentinel
State News
- 33K in Hamilton County face 40% hikes in health insurance rates - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Chattanooga churches, organization coordinate response to impending food aid lapse - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- Mocs counting on O-line, ground game against Western Carolina - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
- What’s going there? Two large subdivisions in Hixson, East Brainerd - Chattanooga Times Free Press (Times Free Press)
Wire Reports
- Stocks Waver, Gold Jumps After Trump-Xi Summit: Markets Wrap - Bloomberg.com (Business)
- Trump tells Pentagon to immediately resume testing US nuclear weapons - Reuters (US News)
- Former Illinois sheriff’s deputy convicted in killing of Sonya Massey - The Washington Post (US News)
- This is the severance package Rivian is offering to more than 600 employees who were laid off - businessinsider.com (Business)
- Senate votes to block tariffs on Canada - The Washington Post (US News)
- Meta, Google, and Microsoft Triple Down on AI Spending - WIRED (Business)
- Ukraine war briefing: Putin boasts of nuclear-driven torpedo that would swamp cities with radioactive tsunami - The Guardian (US News)
- SNAP deadline becomes Democrats' sharpest leverage - Axios (US News)
- Starbucks shows progress in its turnaround but is stuck in an unloved group - CNBC (Business)
- Samsung’s third-quarter profit more than doubles, beating estimates on strong demand from AI chips - CNBC (Business)
- Virginia Moves Closer to Redistricting Plan That Would Help Democrats - The New York Times (US News)
- Trump, South Korea Reach Terms on Trade Deal - The Wall Street Journal (US News)
- Markets News, Oct. 29, 2025: Stocks End Mixed After Powell Says Another Rate Cut in December 'Not a Foregone Conclusion'; Nvidia Hits $5 Trillion Market Cap - Investopedia (Business)
- Shake-up at ICE will boost immigration numbers — just not the ones that matter most to Trump - Politico (US News)
- Laid-off Amazon employees are posting through it on social media - businessinsider.com (Business)
Local Media
Lost Medicaid Funding
Search and Archives
TN Progressive
Nearby:
- Blount Dems
- Herston TN Family Law
- Inside of Knoxville
- Instapundit
- Jack Lail
- Jim Stovall
- Knox Dems
- MoxCarm Blue Streak
- Outdoor Knoxville
- Pittman Properties
- Reality Me
- Stop Alcoa Parkway
Beyond:
- Nashville Scene
- Nashville Post
- Smart City Memphis
- TN Dems
- TN Journal
- TN Lookout
- Bob Stepno
- Facing South

Homegrown local business, hate to see them struggle
But its a big company now and it takes millions in cost cuts to move that needle down there on the bottom line.
Hopefully, they'll get back to the quick casual menu for burgers and the salad bar and back away from the brass and fern restaurant model which is in space they can't compete in or can't make money in.
Most truly successful restaurant operators can tell you to the penny what their costs are in the plate of food you were just served. Hopefully Ruby's can figure that out as well and get back to the basics.
Poor taste
If there was a security issue, the picture would have been warranted. Add that detail or omit the picture.
As for Ruby, Darden has successful restaurants. And a HQ in Orlando. Next to the Ritz and the nation’s most popular private park.
What they didn’t have is a surplus of real estate locations at a vast number of interstate exits, but now they do.
This acquisition, for Darden, was about real estate. Maybe I’m wrong, but don’t be surprised when Longhorn’s and Red Lobster’s start popping up where RT’s used to be.
Acquisition? That wouldn't
(in reply to Average Guy)
Acquisition? That wouldn't surprise me but I don't think it has happened? I said at the time they hired this new CEO that he might be an advance inside man...
Bad wording on my part
Probably should have stuck with interest or involvement.
$120,000?
The average cost of 50 employee laid off was $120,000? No wonder they are in financial trouble!
50 employees could mean a
(in reply to Local Citizen)
50 employees could mean a building or a significant part of one. Supporting those employees cost money and whatever they were doing cost money, so it's not all salaries.
They're struggling because it
They're struggling because it seems nobody teaches cooking at business schools, but yet their menus and recipes all seem to be produced in the accounting department.
If they want to quit circling the drain, they'll banish the word "product" from their lexicon, and bring some chefs to HQ who want to cook food, and give them complete authority to create the recipes and menus. Next, tell all the MBAs they have to take exactly what the chefs give them and figure out the pricing and logistics to get the necessary ingredients out there. (Maybe throw them a bone and get them excited about figuring how much they'll save by getting rid of all the micowave ovens.) Finally, once all that's in place, give it to the marketing people to create a "come back, we've started serving food again" campaign.
Oh, but somebody does teach
(in reply to Somebody)
Oh, but somebody does teach cooking at business schools. They insanely overcook the English language.
And
(in reply to redmondkr)
And sometimes the books.
The old menu seems to be why
The old menu seems to be why everyone left, doesn't the RT board not follow the blogs? It's was number one restaurant after a movie, until I couldn't get a Mushroom Swiss Burger with their great mushroom gravy. We would visit every few month in hopes the our favorites would return. It took a about three years before we gave up.
More layoffs
Sources tell 6 News 16 people were laid off Wednesday, mostly from Ruby Tuesday's IT department.
I think Ruby Tuesday's would
I think Ruby Tuesday's would be much more successful if they served food.
Ruby Tuesday has lots its
Ruby Tuesday has lots its chance. I hate that but they have just gotten lost in the corporate shuffle.