---
title: "Nation’s Restaurant News: Ruby Tuesday Names Permanent CEO Ahead of Schedule"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/1014a8c3-5dd6-4bae-ab4c-48b450ece15d
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-ruby-tuesday-names-permanent-ceo-ahead-of-schedule-2705205
category: "Casual dining"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Casual dining"
topics: ["Finance & M&A","People"]
published: 2018-01-09T17:12:47.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:11:06.191Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/e85ee7ca4421c63202ed51fff565b5422176.jpg
---

# Nation’s Restaurant News: Ruby Tuesday Names Permanent CEO Ahead of Schedule

**TL;DR:** Ruby Tuesday has named Ray Blanchette as its permanent CEO, replacing interim CEO Aziz Hashim. Blanchette was chosen for his proven track record of successful restaurant management and innovative thinking.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2018-01-09. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-ruby-tuesday-names-permanent-ceo-ahead-of-schedule-2705205).*

## Story

This week NRD Capital secured a new CEO for Ruby Tuesday. Replacing interim CEO Aziz Hashim is Ray Blanchette, according to a recent Nation’s Restaurant News article. Blanchette recently led Au Bon Pain through its acquisition by Panera and had perviously served as CEO and president of Ignite Restaurant Group for eight years.

“As the NRD team conducted its search for a permanent CEO, we sought out an executive with a proven track record of successful restaurant management, combined with innovative thinking, extraordinary team-building skills and a shared philosophy on the importance of strong unit level performance. Ray Blanchette checks all those boxes,” said Hashim.

Since Ruby Tuesday has had recent struggles with declining traffic and sales, Blanchette knows there’s a number of changes that need to be made to compete. These initiatives will include menu improvement, quality of operations, the overall restaurant experience and getting the right people in the correct roles. Luckily, he will have help from the experienced NRD Capital team.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- ceo appointment (topic)
- restaurant management (topic)
- Ruby Tuesday (company)
- NRD Capital (investor)
- unit performance (topic)
- Ray Blanchette (person)
- NRD Capital investment in Ruby Tuesday (deal)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/nations-restaurant-news-ruby-tuesday-names-permanent-ceo-ahead-of-schedule-2705205). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/1014a8c3-5dd6-4bae-ab4c-48b450ece15d).