Ruby Tuesday Closes Shelton Location, 2 Others In CT: Report

SHELTON, CT — Restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday has been shutting down stores since the beginning of the year including three Connecticut locations.

The chain has closed nearly 150 locations across the country, according to a new report from Business Insider.

Ruby Tuesday said in a statement that they have decided to close certain locations to better position the company for the future.

Ruby Tuesday's recently closed Connecticut locations include its locations in Waterford, Shelton and North Haven, according to Business Insider. It closed its Bloomfield location in 2019 and its location in the Trumbull mall in 2016.

The casual dining chain faced struggles before the coronavirus pandemic shuttered restaurants across the country. It closed 95 stores in 2016 and 50 in 2018, according to FSR magazine. Casual dining restaurants are being hit particularly hard by the pandemic as the pivot to curbside pickup and delivery and now outdoor dining hardly make up for the sales of an indoor restaurant. Darden which owns Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and other chains announced some locations saw a 60 percent dip in sales.

Gov. Ned Lamont closed on-premise restaurant dining in March and allowed outdoor dining starting on May 20 as part of the state's first reopening phase. The second phase is due to start June 20 and will include some indoor dining. Many restaurants are pushing Lamont to allow indoor dining sooner and Lamont said he is open to exploring the option.