Ruby Tuesday announced yesterday (October 7) that they’ve filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to continue running their business.
The bankruptcy filing also disclosed that they’d closed 185 restaurants since the pandemic hit which represents 44% of their previous total of 421 restaurants. They went into 2020 reportedly having 470 restaurants which suggests there were a large number of closures pre-COVID.
There were subsequently reports in recent months that Ruby Tuesday had been treating its staff badly by not informing them that they were being laid off. Instead, employees in some locations were showing up for work and only discovering they had no job when reading a sign posted on the restaurant’s locked door.
As with other restaurants and retailers filing for bankruptcy, this process doesn’t make their gift cards worthless as they can still be redeemed at restaurants that haven’t yet closed. However, the future doesn’t bode well as Ruby Tuesday was already in financial trouble and, absent a COVID-19 vaccine, it’s hard to imagine diners flooding back into their restaurants. Even with a vaccine, there’s no guarantee that Ruby Tuesday will be a viable business over the long term.
If you’re holding Ruby Tuesday gift cards, I’d therefore recommend redeeming them sooner rather than later. I’d bought a Ruby Tuesday gift card from Raise a year or two ago which we never got around to redeeming. Although I enjoy their salad bar, we’re avoiding eating inside restaurants right now and so will need to place an online order for pick up to make sure its value doesn’t get lost given Ruby Tuesday’s penchant for closing its locations with no notice.