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TGI Fridays closes more U.S. restaurants as troubles continue

The casual-dining chain has shuttered at least a dozen locations over the past month after closing 36 earlier this year.
A TGI Fridays in Houston. | Photo: Shutterstock

TGI Fridays has closed at least a dozen U.S. restaurants over the past month, including six this week, as problems continue for the casual-dining chain.

The closures were concentrated in the East Coast, Southeast and Midwest. They come about 10 months after the chain closed 36 underperforming restaurants as part of what it called “an era of transformation.”

Since then, the chain has lost control of most of its assets and had a proposed acquisition by U.K. franchisee Hostmore PLC fall through.

TGI Fridays had not responded to a request for comment as of publication time.

The reason for the recent wave of closures was unclear. Signs posted to the doors of closed restaurants said only that it was a “difficult decision” and directed customers to nearby locations, according to local media reports.

TGI Fridays has been struggling for years as consumers shift away from legacy casual-dining brands. It has closed half of its U.S. restaurants over the past decade, and systemwide sales fell 15% last year, according to data from Restaurant Business sister company Technomic. It has also been through four CEOs since the beginning of 2023.

As of Friday, TGI Fridays’ website indicated that it has 215 locations in the U.S.

The chain’s issues bubbled to the surface last month, when a trustee terminated TGI Fridays as the manager of its whole business securitization and put a backup manager in charge of some of its operations, including its franchise business and royalty stream. The termination was due in part to an overpayment of a management fee from the securitization to TGI Fridays.

Days later, Hostmore called off plans to acquire Fridays, citing the uncertainty brought on by the termination. Hostmore then filed for the U.K. equivalent of bankruptcy and closed 35 locations.

Previously, the two companies had been working to sell their remaining corporate stores to pay down debt.

TGI Fridays was founded in New York City in 1965 as a laid-back singles bar. It would later evolve into one of the first casual-dining chains and then into an international brand, with more than 600 restaurants worldwide as of last year.

The closures this week were in Leesburg, Virginia; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Middletown, Poughkeepsie and Clifton Park, New York; and Enfield, Connecticut.

Earlier closures were in Charlotte, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Grand Chute, Wisconsin; Saginaw Township, Michigan; Schererville, Indiana; and St. Louis Park and Edina, Minnesota.

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