As sit-down restaurants continue to struggle after the pandemic, yet another popular chain has rolled out ‘disaster protocol’ amid reports of mounting debts.
After years of consistent decline, popular restaurant chain TGI Fridays has filed for bankruptcy protection, claiming it is looking for ways to ‘ensure the long-term viability’ after closing many of its branches this year.
The Dallas-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Texas federal court on Saturday.
‘The primary driver of our financial challenges resulted from COVID-19 and our capital structure,’ Executive Chairman Rohit Manocha said in a statement following the filing.
Sit-down chain restaurants have more broadly faced challenges in recent years as diners choose to get food delivered or visit upscale fast food chains like Chipotle and Shake Shack.
Founded in 1965, the popularity of TGI Fridays peaked in 2008 with 601 restaurants in the U.S. and a $2 billion business, according to Kevin Schimpf, director of industry research at Technomic.