Ruby Tuesday closes doors, O'Charley's set to shutter Sunday

A pair of Cape Girardeau restaurants on the city’s west side are closing, leaving the door open for future development.

One of the restaurants, Ruby Tuesday, closed at the end of business Monday. Its next door neighbor, O’Charley’s, will close Sunday. Ruby Tuesday opened in the mid 1990s and O’Charley’s in the early 2000s.

The management of Ruby Tuesday and O’Charley’s informed their employees about the closures last week.

Both businesses are on the southeast corner of the William Street and Mount Auburn Road intersection on property owned by Drury Southwest.

“We don’t currently have a definite plan in place as far as redevelopment,” according to Adrienne Henry of the Drury Southwest real estate and lease administration office. DSW offices were closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day so additional information was not available.

O Charley's is seen Monday at 3093 William St. in Cape Girardeau. The restaurant is scheduled to close Sunday.Jay Wolz ~ jwolz@semissourian.com

According to a longtime employee, Ruby Tuesday opened at 3069 William St. in 1996. O’Charley’s followed in May 2003 at 3093 William St.

It’s not clear how many employees will be affected by the closures. When O’Charley’s opened, however, it was reported it would employ between 120 and 130 full- and part-time staff, so it is estimated more than 200 workers are being affected.

An employee at Ruby Tuesday who asked not to be identified told the Southeast Missourian she and her co-workers were informed of the closure about a week ago. She said the restaurant stopped stocking new supplies shortly after that. By Monday afternoon, some menu items were no longer available as the restaurant prepared to close.

“It’s sad, but we’ll be OK,” she said, adding she has already applied at other local restaurants and many Ruby Tuesday employees were students. “They would have been moving on anyway.”

Established in 1972, Ruby Tuesday has corporate offices in Maryville, Tennessee, and has approximately 730 locations worldwide. Management at the Cape Girardeau Ruby Tuesday declined to comment on the closure and a corporate spokesperson was not available as the company’s headquarters was closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

A mandatory meeting of O’Charley’s employees was held Saturday, attended by representatives of the company’s human resources department.

O’Charley’s is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and currently has more than 200 company-owned locations. Management at the local O’Charley’s restaurant also declined to comment on the record, but Jeff Hingher, O’Charley’s senior marketing director, said “as a longtime part of this community, we appreciate our guests and the many friends we made over the years. We are grateful to our team members who so capably served our guests and are assisting them in transitioning to other stores or new employment.”

He said O’Charley’s gift cards can be redeemed at any O’Charley’s location, a list of which can be found on the company’s website.

jwolz@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630