Mr. Beall: Ruby Tuesday has system-wide revenues of over a 1 billion and we are approaching 600 units. We currently have restaurants in 39 states in the US and locations in another eight countries internationally. We operate in the bar-and-grill segment, which is about a 28 billion business and actually represents half of all of casual dining. What most people talk about as 'casual dining' is a 56 billion segment, and bar-and-grill represents over half of that. Within this segment, Ruby's competes against Chili's and Applebee's on a national, public company basis ' with Friday's as a fourth player there.
TWST: When you look at the competition, what is it that sets you apart
as a concept?
Mr. Beall: In the bar-and-grill segment we are all very similar '
Chili's, Applebee's and Ruby's. One differentiating point would be the
salad bar. That would be the obvious one that the consumer would see. I
think we are all a bit strategically different in the way we operate our
companies and the way we grow our companies. It is very similar to
Wendy's, McDonald's, and Burger King, with Applebee's being McDonald's.
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