Weldon Spangler has been appointed CEO of TGI Fridays, effective immediately. He succeeds Brandon Coleman III, who was named CEO of the casual dining chain in August and who has resigned for personal reasons.
Spangler is a longtime member of the TGI Fridays board and has a deep history in the restaurant industry, including customer experience, store operations, and marketing roles at Subway, Papa Murphy’s, Dunkin’ Brands, and Starbucks. He will help guide the company through a new strategic plan targeting growth – both domestic and international – and innovation, according to a release. There are currently 700 TGI Fridays locations in 51 countries.
TGI Fridays recently updated its menu to include a new appetizer lineup, new salad and bowl entrees, and a new non-alcoholic beverage. The company also expanded its existing partnership with digital restaurant company C3 to put sushi offerings from Krispy Rice on more menus across its system. This collaboration began in 2021. TGI Fridays estimates that expanding Krispy Rice’s menu offerings has the potential to deliver $163 million in run rate revenue annually.
Rohit Manocha, co-founder of TriArtisan Capital, a New York-based private equity firm and the controlling shareholder of TGI Fridays, will continue to collaborate with Spangler and the TGI Fridays team as part of his role as the active chairman.
"I thank Rohit and the board for their trust in me and look forward to working closely with the board on executing on our new growth-oriented business plan focused on revitalizing TGI Fridays. We are a well-loved brand around the world, which is a strong foundation on which to build our business and brand,” Spangler said in a statement.
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