"There is little doubt that TGI Fridays made waves when it first opened its doors on the corner of 1st Avenue and 63rd Street in New York in 1965, even requiring barricades to keep revelers at bay. It wasn't long before the venue became known as a hip hangout for singles, including flight attendants who lived in the neighborhood, whom the restaurant's founder, Alan Stillman, was dying to meet."
"When TGI Fridays filed for bankruptcy in 2024, the chain was down to 163 locations in the U.S. This number stood at 269 the previous year, before a sweeping wave of closures drastically reduced the restaurant's footprint. In addition, the pandemic hit full-service, sit-down chains, such as TGI Fridays, particularly hard, with many diners opting for takeout, delivery, and quick-service alternatives. While the chain attempted to experiment with ghost kitchens and delivery models, the strategy didn't make up for the decline in foot traffic."
"While it may have seemed like this collapse came out of the blue, the warning signs had been there for some time. Red Lobster was founded in 1968 by Bill Darden, who had a vision of making seafood affordable to the average American family -- even those living far from the country's coastlines. The burgeoning chain was a resounding success, eventually gaining backing from General Mills."
TGI Fridays began in 1965 as a popular singles hangout in New York and expanded to 601 locations by 2008 with menu staples like wings, ribs, and fajitas. The chain lost traction over subsequent decades, saw a rapid reduction from 269 to 163 U.S. locations before filing for bankruptcy in 2024, and now operates fewer than 100 restaurants after failed delivery and ghost-kitchen experiments. Red Lobster launched in 1968 to make seafood affordable nationwide, grew into a major casual-dining brand backed by General Mills, and faced mounting warning signs that preceded a Chapter 11 filing in 2024.
Read at The Takeout
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