Goodbye Ruby Tuesdays...25 To 27 Locations Closing

All right, I just have to get this off my chest. I actually ate at a Ruby Tuesdays once and the food sucked balls. Utterly tasteless, in fact. I don't understand why people are willing to blow their hard earned money going to chain restaurants that serve such crappy fare, but then again I long ago recognized that my finger is not exactly on the pulse of America.

Still, that isn't the fault of the employees, and it will be they who suffer from this decision. Here is MarketWatch with the details:

Ruby Tuesday announced plans to close 25 to 27 restaurants that it said have failed to perform up to expectations. The closings will come before the end of May, the Maryville, Tenn.-based company said late Wednesday in reporting financial results for the third quarter ended Feb. 28. Profit fell for the latest quarter as revenue rose 1.8% to $324.8 million, but same-store sales dropped 5% at company-owned Ruby Tuesday restaurants, and for the year, management projected a decrease of 4% to 4.5%. Full-year earnings are forecast at 43 cents to 48 cents a share, excluding the impact of impairment and exit costs related the restaurant closings as well as other factors. The company also announced it will acquire Lime Fresh Mexican Grill for $24 million, a deal expected to be completed during the current quarter.

Just like with Walmart, it is those retail concerns that appeal prominently to finacially strapped working class families, those being hardest hit by job losses and high gasoline prices, that are suffering the most right now.


Bonus: But of course, what else COULD it be?

Casa Gallardo To 200 Missouri Employees: GTFO, We're Shutting Down

I think it was around last year at this time, before I started blogging here at TDS, that the Perkins restaurant chain shut down a bunch of its locations so abruptly that the wait staff actually had to kick some of the customers out in the middle of their meals. Well, here comes a story from KSDK.com of another chain shutting down locations almost as abruptly:

More than 200 Casa Gallardo employees are in shock after going to work Thursday only to learn it was their last day. All four restaurants in our area closed abruptly.

More than 200 people left work stunned. Employees of Casa Gallardo restaurants were told by corporate officials the restaurants would be closing for good, just minutes before the shutdown.

"They told us to call last call for alcohol and to tell our customers we were shutting down forever," said former employee Jessica Nickel.

That's how Nickel found out she was losing her job as a bartender with Casa Gallardo.

Thursday evening corporate officials from parent company "Real Mex Restaurants" flew in from California to shutdown the locations. Two hundred employees and 16 managers are now out of work.

Nickel has been at the Bridgeton location for about a month, and is three months pregnant.

"It was hard. A lot of us were crying, so, it was definitely difficult," she said.

Corporate officials say the decision to close the restaurants came about one week ago. Workers weren't informed until around 5 p.m. Thursday, just minutes before closing early.

Stay classy, assholes. And maybe someday it will be you escorted out of your comfy corporate offices with no fucking warning. At least, I hope so.


Bonus: "That's the way that it goes...when you're down here with the rest of us"

McDonald's Discovers That Their Customers Are Just Not That Into Them

I rarely ever describe a story as "laugh out loud" funny, because let's face it, most of the things the LOL tag gets attached to are just not amusing enough to elicit even an audible chuckle. Maybe it's because I'm a cynical old meanie, but I actually DID laugh out loud at this story from the Springfield State Journal-Register about McDonald's recent ill fated Twitter campaign:

When McDonald's began promoting the #McDStories hashtag Wednesday on Twitter, the idea was to get people talking about their experiences with the fast-food giant. And in that sense, it was a rousing success: The phrase exploded in popularity as Twitter users across the country shared stories of their visits to McDonald's.

Unfortunately, McDonald's learned a harsh lesson in social media marketing: When you encourage people to talk about your company, they're not always going to say nice things.

While McDonald's own tweets on the topic tended along the lines of "When u make something w/pride, people can taste it," actual customers were less inclined to toe the company line. "I haven't been to McDonalds in years, because I'd rather eat my own diarrhea," read one top tweet by @Muzzafuzza. Another user, @Jetsonjetsonjet, referred readers to a viral video of a mouse crawling through a bag of hamburger buns.

Meanwhile, animal rights activist @michellevegan tweeted that "@McDonalds scalds baby chicks alive for nuggets," and linked to a site run by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. It was retweeted more than 100 times.

Yes, it appears McDonald's lost control of the narrative here.

And no, as much as I'd like to claim the credit, it wasn't me who Tweeted the message I highlighted in bold above. In fact, I don't Tweet at all. But if I ever did, I'd retweet that bad boy as many times as I could.

Hey, McDonald's, I know you and I haven't been on speaking terms since I got that mild case of food poisoning at one of your horrible restaurants a decade ago, and I realize that you are probably offended that Super Size Me is one of my favorite documentaries, but let me give you a little bit of friendly advice here. People generally don't flock in to buy your Big Macs, McNuggets and McMuffins because they are able to taste the alleged pride by which your minimum wage earning staff thaws that shit out, heats it up and sticks it in a bunch of garbage dump filling wrappers. They buy that crap because it is cheap and convenient, and we're a culture that has come to value cheapness and convenience at the expense of nearly everything else.

So just go with the flow and embrace the suck. After all, it is exactly that which has made your company so insanely profitable in the first place.


Bonus: "I think I'm going to have to go Super Size!"

Old Country Buffet/Ryan's Restaurant Chain Files for Bankruptcy

Back when I was in college, I ate dinner at the Old Country Buffet a few times. The food was cheap, and there was a lot of it. A perfect night out for a college student on a limited budget, in other words. A few years ago, I stopped at one for old times' sake and was very sorry I did. There was still plenty of food, but nearly all of it was virtually inedible. I don't know if it was because my palate has become more discriminating over the years, or if they've kept their prices low by ordering cheaper and cheaper ingredients, but it was an awful dining experience.

Nevertheless, I realize that a visit to the OCB or a Ryan's restaurant is what constitutes a great night out in many parts of the country. So this story from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal seems rather important:

Buffets Inc. said Wednesday it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to close 81 restaurants nationwide — the second time the company has filed for reorganization in four years.

Buffets, which owns 494 restaurants in 38 states, operates under the Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Ryan's, Granny's Buffet, and Fire Mountain brands.

So, what's the story, morning glory?

Buffets emerged from its first bankruptcy in April 2009 after shedding $700 million in debt. Riggs said the company decided to file again because of lease restrictions that limited the number of locations it could close in the 2008 filing. He also said the recession has hurt the chain badly over the last four years.

And, given that Buffets caters to that segment of our society that is hurting the most from the lingering effects of the Great Recession, it's not going to get any better.

Hope Springs Eternal: Dunkin' Donuts to Double the Number of U.S. Locations

Sadly, this is what passes for good economic news these days, as reported by CNN Money:

America is about to run on twice as much Dunkin'.

Dunkin' Donuts plans to double its locations in the United States over the next 20 years, the company announced Wednesday.

The coffee and doughnut chain currently operates nearly 7,000 stores nationwide. Each new store adds an average of 20 to 25 new employees, both full and part-time a Dunkin spokeswoman said.

Hold on, let me take of my shoes and socks for a minute so I can do the math. Hmmm…by my calculation that means that assuming Dunkin’s expansion plans are carried through to fruition over the next two decades, the company will be creating 140,000-175,000 jobs, or about 7,000 to 8,500 jobs per year on average. Mostly minimum wage jobs, by the way, which barely leave the employees with enough earnings to buy the company’s crappy donuts.

Wowwee…break out the Champagne, ‘cause happy days are here again…not!

So how can Dunkin' afford these major expansion plans, anyway?

The announcement came as Dunkin' also said it has finished streamlining its supply chain, consolidating four existing regional suppliers under one entity, National DCP. The company said the move will cut costs.

Hmmm…how do you suppose the streamlining of Dunkin’s regional suppliers is going to accomplish such huge cost savings? The article doesn’t say so, because the business reporter stenographer didn’t ask the question, but I’ll bet layoffs at those other companies were a factor. So at least some of the jobs supposedly being created are likely just being transferred from one aspect of the business to another, which diminishes even the relatively meager overall job creation aspect of this announcement.

Then you also have to ask the question whether adding 7,000 more junk food outlets in a nation which already has an obesity epidemic is really all that beneficial. Dunkin' doesn’t have to pay the medical bills of people who destroy their health in part by consuming their products every day. That cost falls upon the rest of us, one way or another. Funny how the states managed to sue the tobacco industry to recoup increased health care costs from smoking, but the suggestion never gets made that the same action might be appropriate to undertake against other merchants of death like Dunkin' Donuts.

I hate to be such a party pooper, but if this is what passes for good economic news in America these days, it just demonstrates even more that we are in deep, deep trouble.


Bonus: We are soon to become a whole nation of Fred the Bakers

Bankrupt Chain Restaurants Are Still Holding On

I've posited the theory previously on this blog that there are a lot of companies out there, particularly in the consumer portion of the economy, that are just hanging on by the skin of their teeth hoping that a real economic recovery will take place soon and allow them to survive. All it will take to kill many of these concerns is another major economic shock wave. Well, more evidence of this phenomena was reported last week by CNBC in a story about how many bankrupt restaurant chains are so far refusing to go under:

You see them all across the country, in shopping malls and street corners, suburban towns and city centers: zombie restaurants.

Many of the undead are part of familiar chains that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this year: Friendly’s, Chevys, Sbarro, Perkins. The zombie restaurants, barely bringing in enough cash to cover basic expenses, always seem to be one sizzling fajita or glazed chicken skewer away from a merciful end, but somehow keep hanging on — leaving too many restaurants chasing after scarce dining dollars.

“There’s a lot of walking dead,” said Bob Goldin, executive vice president for Technomic, a consulting firm that works with restaurant companies. “A lot of chains, they hang in there and they’re hard to kill off.”

Consumers, who have generally cut back on the number of meals out since the recession [cnbc explains] began, are benefiting from the proliferation of zombies. Healthy and failing restaurants alike have been forced to discount relentlessly to lure diners. But for the restaurants, particularly small independent operators, the competition from the undead is a nightmare that just won’t end.

Heh - given how many times I've used the term "zombie economy" on this blog, I love that CNBC is now using the same metaphor.

So who are some of the walking dead?

When Friendly’s Ice Cream, the chain based in Massachusetts, filed for bankruptcy protection in October, it said it would close 63 underperforming restaurants. But the company said it would continue to operate 420 stores, and a spokesman said it was making plans to expand again.

In California, Real Mex Restaurants, which owns several chains, including the midprice Chevys Fresh Mex, closed just 30 outlets after it filed for bankruptcy in October. It continues to operate 156 restaurants.

After Sbarro, the Italian fast-food chain, filed for bankruptcy in April, it closed 31 stores in the United States, but kept the doors open on 429.

Some chains are even trying to make a comeback:

The imbalance does not seem likely to end soon. Indeed, one midprice chain that everyone thought was dead and buried — Bennigan’s — is now coming back from the crypt.

Bennigan’s declared bankruptcy in 2008 and abruptly shut down the approximately 240 restaurants operated by the company, though some franchise-run Bennigan’s restaurants stayed in business.

Now, a group of investors has resurrected the franchising company and plans to open a small number of company-owned restaurants and dozens of new franchised outlets over the next five years. Paul M. Mangiamele, chief executive of Bennigan’s Franchising, said he had come up with a new design for stores and a revamped menu that would inject new life into the brand.

This is what the past three years of insane federal deficit spending has bought us, a temporary reprieve from the crash in which the dimwitted continue to make plans as if nothing has changed. Just more sheep for the slaughterhouse when the next big leg of the downturn finally begins.


Bonus: Welcome to Zombieland