TGI Fridays signs first U.S. development agreement in 10 years

TGI Fridays’ comeback plan continues as the casual-dining chain announced the signing of its first U.S. development agreement in more than a decade.

Franchisee Bliss Bites LLC will take over one of two remaining TGI Fridays locations on Long Island and has plans to open five additional restaurants across New York State.

This is the third development agreement Fridays announced over the past month, including stores opening in the Balkans region for the first time, and an agreement to expand across Pakistan. It’s all part of the casual-dining chain’s turnaround plan, as laid out by CEO Ray Blanchette this past January. As part of that strategy, Fridays hopes to pass $2 billion in annual revenue and have 1,000 restaurants open by 2030.

“Growth only matters when it’s built with the right partners, and this five-restaurant development agreement is exactly what we envisioned for our ‘1-2-3 Strategic Vision,’” Ashley Kirkley, COO of TGI Fridays, said in a statement. “Guests are increasingly looking for casual dining that delivers real value without sacrificing experience, and Fridays is well positioned to meet that demand as we grow. New York is an important part of our domestic growth story.”

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Fridays got its start in New York City when the casual-dining brand opened as a singles bar on the Upper East Side in 1965, and the company now looks to kick off its new U.S. expansion chapter two years post-bankruptcy in New York.

Since January, TGI Fridays has already added more than 150 restaurants to its slowly expanding portfolio, with development particularly focused on international franchise agreements in countries including Kenya and the Maldives, Peru, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Greece, Cyprus, and Spain.

TGI Fridays currently has nearly 400 restaurants in almost 40 countries, though less than one-quarter of those are in the United States. At its peak, Fridays operated more than 600 restaurants in the U.S. and is now down to 69 domestic locations.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]