Will Ruby Tuesday say goodbye to metro-east?

Ruby Tuesday will close 95 restaurants across the country but the company did not announce whether the two metro-east locations will be on the chopping block.

Managers at the locations in Fairview Heights and Collinsville on Saturday declined to comment and referred questions to the Ruby Tuesday corporate office. The Fairview Heights restaurant is at 6565 N. Illinois St. and the Collinsville site is at 604 N. Bluff Road.

A representative from Ruby Tuesday’s main office could not be reached for comment on Saturday.

A Ruby Tuesday news release did not list which restaurants will close as part of a cost-savings plan but said the 95 restaurants will be shut down in September. The chain had 724 restaurants as of May 31.

JJ Buettgen, chief executive officer for Ruby Tuesday, said in a statement, “The decision to close restaurants is a difficult but necessary step as we take aggressive actions to strengthen our organization.”

The company’s stock price closed at $3.24 Friday, down 13.25 percent.

This story was originally published August 13, 2016 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Will Ruby Tuesday say goodbye to metro-east?."