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.
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.