Former TGI Fridays CEO Ray Blanchette will take over management of TGI Fridays’ remaining restaurants as the company works on its bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
Blanchette’s company, Sugarloaf Hospitality, had bid on several locations of the Dallas-based casual-dining chain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Nov. 2.
Last January, Fridays agreed to sell eight restaurants in the Northeast to Blanchette. He later added locations in Maryland and at DFW International Airport during bankruptcy proceedings.
Blanchette, who served as CEO of TGI Fridays for five years, stepped down from the position in May 2023.
TGI Fridays has experienced challenges in the years since the COVID pandemic was declared in March 2020.
Fridays has tried to revitalize its brand through a partnership with C3’s virtual brands (which got sushi on the Fridays menu for the first time) and revamped its bar program to lean more on its singles bar heritage.
In October, the company’s U.K.-based master franchisee, Hostmore, filed for administrations (The U.K. equivalent of bankruptcy.) and put its 87 stores up for sale after its reverse takeover plan of the entire Friday’s system failed.
After closing 36 underperforming restaurants last January, TGI Friday’s was down to 39 remaining domestic company-owned restaurants by November. It also had franchised locations.
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