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TGI Fridays shuts down 36 restaurants

MADRID, SPAIN - 2022/04/18: Pedestrians walk past the American casual dining restaurant chain TGI Fridays in Spain. (Photo by Xavi Lopez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — TGI Fridays announced Wednesday it has closed dozens of its locations. The casual dining chain said the restaurants were “underperforming.”

In a news release, TGI Fridays said the closure of 36 underperforming locations is “part of the brand’s ongoing growth strategy.”


“By strengthening our franchise model and closing underperforming stores, we are creating an unprecedented opportunity for Fridays to drive forward its vision for the future,” Ray Risley, U.S. president and chief operating officer at TGI Fridays, said.

The closures impact restaurants spanning 12 states with the highest number in New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York. The company said it’s offering more than 1,000 transfer opportunities, which represents more than 80% of affected employees.

Moves made by TGI Fridays also included selling eight previously corporate-owned restaurants in the Northeast to its former CEO Ray Blanchette.

Here’s the full list of recently closed TGI Fridays restaurants, according to multiple reports: