TGI Fridays abruptly shuttered nearly 50 locations in the US over the past week – bringing the company’s total to approximately 100 closures so far this year as the company reportedly approaches a bankruptcy filing.
The 59-year-old burger-and-wings chain — which had 270 locations in the US at the start of this year — had shrunk its footprint to 213 open locations as of the beginning of last week. Now, only 164 restaurants remain, according to the website’s store locator.
The abrupt 49 store closures come soon after Bloomberg reported TGI Fridays is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in the next few weeks.
TGI Fridays did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It is the casual dining chain’s largest round of store closures since January, when it shuttered 36 “underperforming” locations across the US, including five in New York.
Unlike the closures in January, TGI Fridays did not release a list of the affected stores this week, but local media outlets reported restaurant closures in California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio and Missouri. Store closures in Columbus, Ohio and Buffalo, New York represented a total exit from the two cities.
The restaurant has been closing stores left and right this year. Just two weeks ago, the company shut down a dozen locations in the US.
TGI Fridays has struggled to stay afloat as consumers have pulled back sharply on spending amid sticky inflation, avoiding casual dining chains in favor of cooking at home and saving on costs.
The company “will likely use Chapter 11 to seek a buyer for some portion of its business, to reject leases for unprofitable locations and to restructure its debt so it can emerge from bankruptcy with a smaller but still viable footprint,” John Bringardner, head of Debtwire, told CNN.
Bringardner said a bankruptcy filing could come in November before the company’s next round of lease payments on its remaining restaurants.
TGI Fridays is not the only restaurant chain in recent memory to crumble under pressure.
Red Lobster, the nation’s largest seafood chain, filed for bankruptcy in May. Italian dining chain Buca di Beppo filed for bankruptcy in August, and BurgerFi followed suit in September.
The first TGI Fridays location opened in 1965. The company was acquired in 2014 by private equity firm Triartisan Capital Advisors, which also holds a stake in P.F. Chang’s.
TGI Fridays had announced plans to merge with its UK franchisee Hostmore before making its public debt on the London Stock Exchange, but the deal fell through in September. The company has been trying to go public since 2019.