TGI Friday’s Restaurants Closing? Are They Closing Here?

If you are a fan of TGI Friday's restaurants you could be in for a big surprise.

The restaurant business is a tough business, especially since the COVID pandemic of 2020-21. Many never did survive, some scaled back, but the dining scene changed forever and no restaurant has been immune.

TGI Friday's is one that has survived but is scaling back and closing restaurants. There have been dozens of Friday's locations that abruptly shut down around the U.S.

Friday's folks said that 36 "underperforming" restaurants have been closed. Yikes! So, is there any good news for us here? Yes, because no Michigan location is slated for shut down! Our Grand Rapids Friday's are safe, hopefully for the long haul.

Most of the closures are on the east coast, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York with several in Texas and Virginia.

TGI Friday's, a 60-year old chain of restaurants, had about 270 locations but has been shrinking.

In order to stay up with or ahead of competition, especially Applebee's and Chili's, they have been changing up their menu by adding sushi, refreshing its cocktail menu and giving its appetizer selection a makeover.

TGI Fridays is owned by a private equity firm, so financial results aren’t released. However, the company said last year that total sales were projected to reach $1.6 billion in 2022 with same-store US sales growing at 8% compared to 2019.