Ruby Tuesday Continues Aggressive South American Expansion Push with Landmark Signing in Chile

Ruby Tuesday, the innovative American family dining experience concept, is continuing to build on its success in South America and its international growth momentum with the announcement of additional expansion plans in Santiago, Chile under a new partnership with VanTrust Capital. With three successful locations in Santiago now, including a location at the Santiago Airport, and a plan to open a new location in the new International terminal by 2020, the brand sees massive growth potential in an area where the popularity of American casual dining has never been higher.

The brand’s iconic approach to family dining continues to resonate with consumers around the world as tech advances plant Ruby Tuesday at the forefront of FSR innovation. The dining experience at Ruby Tuesday remains steeped in traditional American food favorites centered around the unique Fresh Garden Bar and other American classics like burgers, ribs and steaks that have already become quick favorites with hungry diners across the Santiago area.

"Santiago is multicultural city that is always open to new varieties of food and that makes Ruby Tuesday a perfect fit for this growing region,” said Patricio Nazal, Founding Partner and General Manager of VanTrust Capital. “American cuisine is an excellent fit for Chilean citizens because it was introduced a long time ago through other American brands. But, Ruby Tuesday’s great menu and the culture of service the brand provides has really resonated with local customers and the fresh look of the brand and the modernization of the restaurants and menus makes it very attractive to those who haven’t tried it yet.

Huge efforts have been made in marketing and service to make sure Ruby Tuesday is able to meet all of the customer's needs.”

Chile expansion plans

One of the new locations targeted for development will be inside the new Santiago International Airport. Currently under construction, the airport’s first phase is scheduled to open in November 2018. Passenger count is expected to increase by more than 70% during the next five years, accelerating from 10.4 million visitors in 2017 to a projected 17.1 million visitors by 2023.

“We very purposely targeted Ruby Tuesday for this airport opportunity because the brand is very recognizable by Latin American passengers that visit the U.S.,” said Nazal. “Ruby Tuesday already has a successful airport location in the Santiago Airport now, and we believe that success will only accelerate when the new airport opens. In addition, we are looking at other locations for Ruby Tuesday in key airports across the region like Buenos Aires, Lima and Sao Paulo, and what we see is a very good business opportunity in all of those markets.”

Ruby Tuesday has nearly 600 units worldwide, built on the brand’s 45-year legacy and long-standing established reputation as quality franchise investment. This positioning has boosted the brand’s broad appeal to a wide variety of franchise prospects around the world. This success is particularly evident in areas like Central and South America where Ruby Tuesday has existing locations in Panama, Honduras and El Salvador. Additional international locations are open in Iceland, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Guam, Canada, Kuwait, Chile, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Trinidad.

International growth momentum

The partnership with VanTrust Capital helps Ruby Tuesday open critical new opportunities across South America. As the foundation in international markets like Santiago continues to strengthen, the brand looks forward to new success across the continent.

To prove its commitment to development abroad, Ruby Tuesday provides the same strong support for international operators as it does to its domestic franchisees, ensuring that they are given the personalized, local support they need to secure strong real estate opportunities, identify and recruit experienced employees and attract customers.

Chile presents a major growth opportunity for Ruby Tuesday, and by pairing with driven, entrepreneurial minded partners, like VanTrust Capital, who are primed for rapid multi-unit growth helps drive franchisees’ success by giving them access to the leadership of a veteran organization at a local level. Ruby Tuesday provides unparalleled support to those looking at growing internationally and that will continue to drive new success for the brand for years to come.