TGI Fridays Is Closing 36 'Underperforming' Restaurants In 12 States

ACROSS AMERICA — The casual dining chain TGI Fridays is closing 36 “underperforming” stores in 12 states as part of an “ongoing growth strategy” that includes the sale of eight restaurants to a former CEO who created one of the chain’s most popular appetizers.

The TGI Fridays closures affect seven restaurants in New Jersey, six in Massachusetts, five in New York, four each in Texas and Virginia, and two in Colorado. Restaurants in California, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are also part of the closure, though the company did not specify where they are located.

Shuttered TGI Fridays locations announced the abrupt closing, “effective Jan. 2, 2024,” to customers with signs on their doors, according to social media posts and the New York Post.

At the same time, former CEO Ray Blanchette, creator of the Loaded Potato Skins appetizer, will acquire six TGI Fridays restaurants in Massachusetts and two in New Hampshire.

About 1,000 workers will lose their jobs as a result of the closures, but about 80 percent of them will be offered transfers within the company, according to the news release.

The chain has about 275 U.S. locations.