The Drive-Thru: Amazon's 'Brilliant Clark,' Tuesday Morning's bankruptcy, and Ruby Tuesday quietly closes restaurants

Welcome back to The Drive-Thru, where you can get all the info you need on what happened in restaurants and retail this week. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can subscribe here to get me (Kate Taylor) and my colleague Shoshy Ciment giving you the rundown on restaurants and retail every Friday.

Onto what happened this week!

The mastermind behind Amazons coronavirus response

dave clark amazon svp profile 2x1 Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Lindsey Wasson/REUTERS; Stephen Brashear/Getty Image; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

Hayley, Eugene Kim, and Rachel Premack published a retail-tech-logistics collaboration, looking into the career of Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations. Clark is leading Amazon's response to the pandemic, making this an extremely timely investigation into what makes him tick.

The piece is full of great tidbits, including:

Amazon's classic 6-page reports typically would have an appendix of over 50 pages with additional data when presented to Clark, to impress the data-oriented executive.
Some Amazon workers are so worried about pushback from Clark that they fashion themselves into what one former exec called "Dave whisperers."
Internally, Clark is considered to have handled the pandemic well, with one executive saying, he "is definitely earning his cookie points right now."
Some fun details: Clark was a tuba-playing music major at Auburn, had a brief teaching stint at a Florida middle school, and is an avid Diet Coke drinker.

Read the full report here.

Matt W. / Yelp

The off-price home-goods retailer Tuesday Morning is planning to close at least 132 stores across the US, after filing for bankruptcy on Wednesday. Madeline has a roundup of all the locations that are closing .

Tuesday Morning is the 15th major retailer to file for bankruptcy this year you can read the full list here. Plus, all 3,600-plus stores that are closing this year.

Ruby Tuesday quietly closes dozens of restaurants

Flickr/Mr. Blue MauMau

As Tuesday Morning plans to close stores, Irene discovered Ruby Tuesday has already quietly closed 147 locations.

"During these uncertain times, and after careful consideration, we have made the decision to close select locations in an effort to better position our restaurants for future business," the restaurant chain told Irene.

Get the list of closed restaurants here.

Business is booming at local butchers

Courtesy of Jacob Wingeback

Carson Vaughan reports that demand has increased at small meat processors and butchers, as the country's industrial-scale meatpacking facilities have become coronavirus hotspots.

"Feedlots in this country are full, and ranchers and feeders cannot find anywhere to get this stuff processed," Jacob Wingebach, owner of Sandhills Beef Company, said. "Our business has increased drastically, and that means new opportunity."

Read the full story here.

Were seeking nominations for the top women transforming the sneaker industry

Maya Moore x Aleali May Air Jordan Court Lux Collection Nike

Shoshy is seeking nominations for women are making their voices heard in the multi-billion dollar sneaker industry. If that sounds like someone you know whether they're designers, resellers, collectors, executives, or deal-makers send in in your nomination here.