TGI Fridays plans to more than double its global restaurant footprint over the next five years as part of a new strategic vision for the casual-dining franchise.
The 400-unit, Dallas-based chain wants to reach more than 1,000 restaurants and $2 billion in revenue by 2030. That will include new openings in its key U.S. and U.K. markets as well as emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, the Balkans and Africa, CEO Ray Blanchette said in an interview.
The development plans entail both traditional restaurant locations as well as outlets in hotels and airports, where the brand has performed well.
It is part of a reset for TGI Fridays after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024. That year, half of the chain’s domestic restaurants closed, and U.S. sales fell by 43%, according to Technomic data. The U.S. is still its biggest market with about 130 locations, but it now has restaurants in 40 countries, and has positioned itself as a global brand with American roots. In 2024, its total revenue was just over $1 billion, about 60% of which came from outside the U.S., per Technomic.
Last year, the company tapped Blanchette to lead its post-bankruptcy revival. Blanchette has spent most of his career with TGI Fridays, first from 1989 to 2007 and then from 2018 to 2023 as CEO. He also operates 12 locations himself through his Sugarloaf Hospitality business.
Blanchette remembers the spirit that defined TGI Fridays in its heyday, a spirit that seems to have been lacking during the brand’s recent decline. Part of the new plan is to rekindle that energy.
That will include doing more around big events, like holidays and sporting events, to create a lively atmosphere in its restaurants throughout the year. The chain took a stab at this during the holidays, when some franchisees decked out their stores with holiday decorations for an immersive dining experience.
The “holiday takeover” was a big success: TGI Fridays’ traffic and ticket averages increased, as did online ratings and chatter, and the chain saw more demand for parties and corporate events.
“It was well executed, and a lot of fun, and just really true to what you expect from a TGI Fridays,” Blanchette said. “You want it to be a little irreverent, and you want the service to kind of be over the top, in your face.”
The company is now plotting how it can do other activations tied to global events, like the World Cup. And to further boost the customer experience, it plans to invest more in staff training and push the boundaries on the menu with unique limited-time offers.
It may tap into consumers’ taste for spicy food or “new-stalgia,” for instance, or create some theater around its signature Jack Daniels glaze, like pouring it tableside from a special carrier, Blanchette said.
But the food has to be backed up by great service, he said. In looking over positive reviews from the holiday takeover, Blanchette noticed that they always mentioned the server or bartender. "The food was usually mentioned, but not always," Blanchette said. Service "is how the brand is brought to life." Thus, it plans to spend more on employee standards and training moving forward.
It hopes these efforts will help re-establish TGI Fridays as a destination for fun and celebration at a time when consumers are limiting their dining budgets.
“Where people don't pull back is they still go out and celebrate their birthday, you're still gonna celebrate your anniversary, you're still gonna celebrate graduations and all the key life moments,” Blanchette said. “Given that we've always been a brand that performs well in those areas, how do you strengthen your position and create more perceptual distance between you and the competition?”
Officially titled the “1-2-3 Strategic Vision,” for 1,000 restaurants and $2 billion in revenue by 2030, the plan has four pillars: Activate the brand, flexible growth across markets, strengthening the franchise system and fueling the performance through people. TGI Fridays declined to reveal how much it will invest in 1-2-3.
To steer the new plan, the company promoted Phil Broad to president. Broad was hired in April as president of international franchising. He previously served as managing director of its U.K. business from 1997 to 2001, and has led its recent overseas development push.
Blanchette said there is strong demand for TGI Fridays around the world, both in mature markets, where it is a fixture of the restaurant ecosystem, and in places with an emerging middle class, like Thailand, Vietnam and India. In the fall, the company announced franchise agreements to open more than 50 restaurants in Japan and Peru and more than 100 in India and Mexico.
Growth has lagged in the U.S. and the U.K., where the brand recently closed 35 locations amid a separate bankruptcy filing. But Blanchette said the holiday activation sparked momentum domestically. Fridays’ airport business continues to perform “staggeringly well” and it sees more opportunity to open up shop inside hotels. It is also seeing renewed franchisee interest in opening traditional restaurants in the U.S.
“We see real clear growth,” Blanchette said, “and it seems like every time we send out a press release about a new market expansion, we get a lot of incoming.”
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