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- TGI Fridays closed 36 under-performing restaurants on January 3.
- The chain closed locations in 12 states, including California, Florida, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.
- An analyst said he expects more casual dining chains to close locations this year.
Casual dining chain TGI Fridays said Wednesday it closed 36 company-owned restaurants throughout the US this week, impacting hundreds of workers.
The company also said it unloaded eight company restaurants by selling them to the chain's former CEO, Ray Blanchette.
TGI Fridays is closing corporate stores as part of an ongoing effort to transform the brand under new leadership. TGI Fridays has had two CEOs since Blanchette left the chain in May.
"We've identified opportunities to optimize and streamline our operations to ensure we are best positioned to meet — and exceed — on that brand promise," Ray Risley, chief operating officer, said in a statement. "By strengthening our franchise model and closing underperforming stores, we are creating an unprecedented opportunity for Fridays to drive forward its vision for the future."
Restaurant consultant Tim Powell said he expects more casual dining restaurants to shutter stores this year.
"This trend of closures will continue as casual dining has been faced with a sea of sameness for years," Powell, the managing principal at the industry consultancy Foodservice IP, told Insider. "Fridays lacks a position or reason to visit. Few customers want to spend time and money at a casual dining restaurant, and many of them are dated."
Fast-food chains are also downsizing and cutting staff.
Last year, Burger King said it would close up to 400 restaurants during its current fiscal year. Dozens have already closed. While Pizza Hut isn't closing stores, two California franchisees took the unprecedented step of laying off more than 1,200 delivery drivers as restaurants in the state brace for an upcoming minimum wage hike to $20 an hour in the state.
The 36 TGI Fridays restaurants closed on January 3, with most of the closures targeting locations in New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. New York and New Jersey raised their minimum wage on January 1.
The chain, which has 650 restaurants in 51 countries, said it is offering more than 1,000 transfer opportunities for employees. That represents over 80% of the total workforce impacted by the 36 closures, the chain said.
Here's a list of the stores closing:
California
1077 East Herndon Avenue, Fresno
Colorado
125 Ken Pratt Boulevard, Longmont
8104 Northfield Boulevard, Denver
Connecticut
3025 Berlin Turnpike, Newington
Florida
24 Ocean Shore Boulevard, Ormond Beach
580 North State Road 7, Royal Palm Beach
Massachusetts
601 Donald Lynch Boulevard, Suite 4258, Marlborough
49 Newbury Street, Danvers
750 Providence Highway, Dedham
1105 Fall River Ave, Seekonk
280 School Street, Suite A100, Mansfield
1385 S Washington Street, North Attleborough
Maryland
8330 Benson Drive, Columbia
15207 Major Lansdale Boulevard, Bowie
New Hampshire
124 NH-101A Suite 28, Amherst
New Jersey
401 Gill Lane, Iselin,
411 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack
71 Route 23 South, Wayne
180 NJ-35 Ste 6000, Eatontown
40 US-22, Springfield
970 Route 73 North, Marlton
3535 US-1 #275, Princeton
New York
1475 Western Avenue, Albany
1725 Sunrise Highway, Bay Shore
5 Centre Drive, Central Valley
3045 Expy Drive North, Islandia
5204 Sunrise Highway, Massapequa Park
Pennsylvania
2500 West Moreland Road, Willow Grove
Texas
5217 South Padre Island Drive, Corpus Christi
1524 North Collins Street, Arlington
12895 Gulf Fwy, Houston
1105 Lake Woodlands Drive, The Woodlands
Virginia
6751-B Frontier Drive, Springfield
7401 Sudley Road, Manassas
1160 Carl D Silver Parkway, Fredericksburg
13237 Worth Avenue, Woodbridge