Self-made entrepreneur reveals his simple plan to save TGI Fridays amid more restaurant locations closing

A self-made entrepreneur believes he has a simple plan to help revive beleaguered restaurant chain TGI Fridays. 

After years of consistent decline, the chain filed for bankruptcy in early November. It is now down to under 200 locations after shutting almost 50 the month before - and more earlier in the year.

Bosses are using Chapter 11 protection to keep the business running while they cut costs and look for ways to 'ensure the long-term viability' of the near 60-year-old chain.

One man offering them advice is Ray Blanchette, 58, who started as a restaurant manager-in-training at one of their locations in Philadelphia in 1989 before rising to become CEO between 2018 and 2023.

He owns eight Fridays locations - and has bid to buy nine more - and believes he has a masterplan to bring the company back from the brink. 

Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Blanchette said he wants to sell people an experience again. 

He says the company bet on people looking forward to unwinding with a cold beer, friendly staff and solid American food. 

Blanchette told the outlet: 'This isn’t rocket science. You have to sell people a good time. We sell experiences, not groceries.'

According to Blanchette, his first restaurant pulled in 2,000 guests a day and had weekly sales totaling $140,000.

He added: 'The casual-dining sector I grew up in was bursting at the seams. When someone got up to leave, I wanted another butt pushing down in that seat.'

With impressive sales behind him, he was eventually picked to head up the company's European division, before leaving in 2007 to head a holding company casual-dining companies. He then later returned to TGIs as CEO in 2018. 

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. 

Its sales in the U.S. were $728 million in 2023, down 15 percent from the prior year, according to Technomic.

It now counts 163 restaurants in the U.S., down from 269 last year. It closed 36 in January and dozens more in the last few months. 

Restaurateur Alan Stillman opened the first TGI Fridays in 1965 as one of the first singles bars.

The chain's vibe was featured heavily in the blockbuster flick 'Cocktail' starring Tom Cruise, with some scenes filmed inside the original TGIs location in Manhattan. 

The company went public in 1983 and then reverted back to being privately owned in 1989 when hotel conglomerate Carlson Companies bought it for $52 million. 

Carlson sold the chain to private-equity firms Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners in a deal reportedly worth $800 million in 2014. 

At the time there was some 900 owned and franchised TGIs around the globe, with 70,000 employees.

The new owners then sold off company-owned establishments to franchisees to reduce debt, cutting most of their locations by 2015.

That same year, sales declined 24 percent from 2008 levels to $1.5 billion and its store count shrunk to 480. 

In 2019 Blanchette went inside TGI restaurants as part of the reality TV show 'Undercover Boss'.

He found a lot that needed improvement, saying that: 'Repairs and maintenance get bottlenecked at corporate. Something in the chain is broken.' 

In April, a plan was laid out by TriArtisan to merge the company with its largest UK franchisee, Hostmore.

The plan was to go public on the London Stock Exchange, with the $220 million deal hoped to stabilize the finances. 

In June, TGIs auditor warned that the chain was now running out of any money to meet debt obligations. 

In September it then fell short of its obligations and Hostmore backed out of the deal, causing four top execs to quit. The company then filed its move for bankruptcy protection. 

Blanchette submitted a bid worth $30.5 million to buy nine of the 39 bankrupt establishments earlier this month. 

He also told the WSJ that he held discussions to manage the company's debt entity and is waiting to see if his bid for the restaurants is the winner.  

Blanchette added: 'I’ve spent the vast majority of my career here. It’s an entire body of work. I don’t want to see the brand go away.'