Howell Ruby Tuesday Abruptly Closes

HOWELL, NJ -- Customers who stopped at the Ruby Tuesday on Route 9 in Howell on Monday got a bit of a surprise as a sign posted on the door of the Route 9 restaurant said the location has been closed permanently.

A post on the Howell Happenings NJ page on Facebook said the employees allegedly were given no advance notice of the closure. Patch has contacted Ruby Tuesday's corporate offices for comment.

The restaurant chain has closed a number of its locations in the last several years, including nearly 100 closures in 2017, according to an October 2017 report on the website Consumerist.

Ruby Tuesday had 544 locations as of an April 2018 report by the Restaurant Business website. The restaurant company was bought by a private equity firm named NRD Capital in December.In January, Ray Blanchette, who heads up Ruby Tuesday for NRD Capital, implied the restaurants would have to be profitable to be kept open in an interview with the site.

It was not immediately known how many employees are affected by the closure; there was no WARN notice filed with the state of New Jersey, which is required for businesses laying off 50 or more employees.

Last week, Best Buy announced it is closing its Howell store as of early November.

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