Two southern Maine locations of Ruby Tuesday appear to be among the 95 restaurants closed by the Tennessee-based chain as it tries to become more profitable.

Ruby Tuesday, which had 724 restaurants in May, said it is closing 95 “underperforming” restaurants across the country to strengthen its position in the casual dining industry. The announcement was made Thursday as the company issued its 2016 fiscal year earnings.

Although the company declined to release a list of the affected properties, restaurant locations in Biddeford, South Portland and Bangor are missing from the company’s website, and a Google search describes the three as “permanently closed.” Eight other Maine locations remain open.

The company said it came to the decision to close the underperforming locations following an analysis of “sales, cash flows and other key performance metrics, as well as site location, market positioning and lease status.”

“Performance at each of these locations, despite the loyalty of valued guests and the efforts of our dedicated employees, was not meeting expectations,” said JJ Buettgen, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, in a prepared statement. “Full-time and part-time employees impacted by closures will be offered positions in nearby restaurants where possible.”

The restaurant chain reported a revenue decline of 5.9 percent to $279.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2016 compared with the same period last year. Same-restaurant sales declined 3.7 percent.


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