Ruby Tuesday CFO steps downRuby Tuesday CFO steps down

Ruby Tuesday Inc. chief financial officer Jill Golder will resign effective April 11, the company said Thursday, as it reported wider losses in the March 1-ended third quarter.

Golder will take “a senior leadership role at another company,” the Maryville, Tenn.-based company said in a statement. She joined Ruby Tuesday in April 2013, and was promoted to CFO in June 2014. Ruby Tuesday said it would immediately begin a search for a successor.

“Jill has been instrumental in improving our financial positioning and has put in place a strong finance team that will enable us to move ahead with our brand transformation strategy,” said JJ Buettgen, Ruby Tuesday chairman, president and CEO.

The company also said it had named Tom Williams as chief people officer. He most recently served as chief human resources officer for Jo-Ann Stores, the 850-unit fabric and craft retailer.

For the third quarter, Ruby Tuesday reported a net loss of $3.1 million, or 5 cents a share, up from a loss of $769,000, or 1 cent a share, in the third quarter last year.  Third-quarter revenue declined 5.1 percent to $271.5 million, from $285.9 million in the same period a year ago, reflecting 20 fewer company-owned restaurants. 

Ruby Tuesday said third-quarter same-store sales decreased 3.1 percent, which included a 140-basis-point negative impact due to weather closures. Same-store sales had declined 0.3 percent in the same quarter last year.

Year-over-year guest counts fell 5.9 percent for the quarter, and average check rose 2.8 percent, the company said.

“Our third quarter was a volatile period affected by weather, softness in the casual-dining industry and increased promotional activity by our peers,” Buettgen said. “Despite this challenging environment, we continue to believe that our key brand initiatives will drive an improvement in guest counts.”

Buettgen said tests of a new Garden Bar initiative in the Atlanta market and remodeling tests indicated sales growth would return.

In updated guidance for the full fiscal year, Ruby Tuesday lowered its per-share forecast to a range of 5 cents to 8 cents, down from a previous expectations of 12 cents to 17 cents. The company also said it expected same-store sales to be lower than earlier forecast, down about 1 percent versus flat to up 1 percent.

The company also expected a net reduction of 11 to 14 company-owned restaurants for the full year. During the third quarter, six company-owned Ruby Tuesday restaurants closed and two international franchised Ruby Tuesday restaurants opened.

As of March 1, the company had 729 Ruby Tuesday restaurants systemwide, of which 649 were corporate owned. It also had 16 Lime Fresh Mexican Grill locations, eight of which were corporate owned and are in the process of being sold. In November, the company said it would close 11 Lime Fresh Mexican Grill locations and sell another eight units to Rubio’s Restaurants.

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