But Ruby doesn’t actively seek out new locations for his restaurants, with the exception of his first restaurant, The Precinct, which opened 30 years ago. Rather, Ruby said he is courted by developers and civic leaders alike.
“Everyone approaches us. I don’t have a vice president of real estate development and we’re not getting one,” Ruby told the JournalNews. “I don’t ask the girl to the prom, she asks me, and if she’s pretty, and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun — pays for the limo, pays for the tux, pays for everything — I’ll go.
“That’s the way we do our restaurants,” he said.
Meaning, developers, such Randy Gunlock of RG Properties Inc., approach Ruby with an attractive plan to bring one of his restaurants to a development. Austin Landing, a 142- acre site in Springboro, is the one Gunlock approached Ruby with.
“Randy seems like a great guy and would really like to bring a restaurant there,” Ruby said. “We’re trying to see if we can make the numbers work.”
Ruby recognizes his restaurants attract people from the Dayton area to Cincinnati, but isn’t sure if there is enough clientele in the area to support a fine-dining steakhouse, he said.
When The Greene Town Center in Beavercreek was completed in 2006, he was approached about opening a restaurant there, but turned it down under the advisement of Chuck Lowe, actor Rob Lowe’s father.
“A lot of people come to my restaurants (from Dayton) for dinner,” Ruby said. “They come to Carlo and Johnny’s from Dayton, they come to The Precinct from Dayton, but he said there isn’t enough money out there to support one in Dayton, so I passed — that was my research and development.”
Fleming’s steakhouse is now in the location Ruby turned down.
Opening a restaurant in West Chester Twp. near Union Centre Boulevard appears to be a more viable option. Ruby cited hotel business and how supply lines would be shorter than an expansion to the Dayton area as to why West Chester Twp. is more attractive right now.
But Jag’s, a high-end restaurant located in the township, will likely lead to splitting sales with the competition, Ruby said.
“Right by the hotels there, that’s an advantage, it’s closer to Cincinnati, which is a bigger market,” Ruby said. “The immediate demographics are similar to Springboro, but the 20-mile demographics are much better in West Chester.”
Ruby has to juggle whether competing with a steakhouse in an area closer to his supply line is better than opening a restaurant farther away with no immediate competition in Springboro.
But it appears Austin Landing might be in competition with two more Dayton-area locations, according to Ruby. The Cornerstone of Centerville and The Exchange at Spring Valley have also recently expressed an interest in housing one of Ruby’s restaurants, according to Ruby. Both are mixed-used developments.
The Exchange at Spring Valley has offered nearly 2½ acres for development, but any expansion into the Dayton area is contingent on whether there is enough traditional clientele to support a restaurant of Ruby’s caliber.
“I have to feel sure there’s enough people within a 10- to 15-minute drive that will support this price point,” Ruby said. “Otherwise, I will take the biggest black eye if the place fails.”
If a deal comes to fruition, existing supply lines will have to run from Cincinnati, and employees will have to be trained in Cincinnati, he said.
“All of this emotion, all of this excitement for Springboro and if that area is not enough in terms of demographics, the socioeconomic and the psychographics, I have screwed up terribly,” Ruby said.
A West Chester Twp. or a Dayton-area location are being considered, but not both, Ruby said. But for any expansion deal, a developer would have to provide a physical restaurant location and share in the equity of it, Ruby said.
And the interest in expanding north of Cincinnati isn’t because of the region’s growth, but simply because he was approached.
“A developer told me one time, ‘If you take Jeff Ruby out of Cincinnati, you have Dayton,” Ruby said. “That would be funny if you had a restaurant in both locations.”
Meanwhile in Cincinnati, Ruby is working on a 1,700-square-foot tavern expansion at The Precinct. The $750,000 expansion project only adds more to what Ruby has on his mind.
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or kelgazzar@coxohio.com.
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