It wasn’t the best start to the new year. Employees of the Colonial Mall Ruby Tuesday gathered for a staff meeting. The news was bad. The store would be one of more than 70 Ruby Tuesday restaurants to close beginning this year.

About 20 of the 50-60 Ruby Tuesday employees were transferred to the other Ruby Tuesday on south College, but others were left to find work elsewhere. Those having worked for the restaurant for more than a year were offered a severance package.

“They told us the lease was up for renewal and they tripled the rent on us,” Brittany Roberts, a Ruby Tuesday employee of 15 months said. The south College store remains in operation because both the property and the building have been paid off. “It was obviously not going to be a profitable margin.”

Closings were deemed necessary when Ruby Tuesday, Inc., which owned and operated 713 restaurants as of December, reported a 10.8-percent decline in same restaurant sales in 2008. According to reports, it will save an estimated $40-45 million annually.

According to Roberts, the Colonial Mall location was more profitable, but many of the store’s regulars have migrated to south College.

To keep a steady flow of customers, Ruby Tuesday had begun to offer specials. “We’ve been doing some buy-one-get-one-free deals with our entrees and running lunch specials,” Roberts said. “I’ve only been tipped for the original [as opposed to discounted] amount two or three times.”

The closing of Steve & Barry’s, Bruno’s, Johnny Carino’s and now Ruby Tuesday illustrate the effects of struggling economy in the small Auburn-Opelika community. Jobs in the food service industry are among the most popular for college students.

When school in session, Auburn University students make up about a third of the city of Auburn’s population with enrollment around 24,000 and 40,000 residents. Needless to stay students have an impact on the Auburn community.

According to the US Department of Labor some 31.4-percent of full-time students enrolled in four-year colleges are members of the workforce. Tuition, books and board aside, college is expensive. Estimates indicate college students spend an average of $200 on discretionary income each month. Cups of coffee, trips to the vending machine and quarters in parking meters quickly add up.

It is not all bleak, however. Tiger Town in Opelika is expanding with the additions of Bed, Bath and Beyond, Kohl’s and a second Brick Oven location. Not to mention the addition of a Publix grocery store near Moore’s Mill.


http://www.theloveliestvillage.org/video/a-world-without-waiters