{"id":1823057,"date":"2026-10-01T12:01:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T10:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lexpress-franchise.com\/en-us\/news\/tgi-fridays-signs-its-first-us-franchise-development-deal-in-over-a-decade\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T11:33:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T09:33:44","slug":"tgi-fridays-signs-its-first-us-franchise-development-deal-in-over-a-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lexpress-franchise.com\/en-us\/news\/tgi-fridays-signs-its-first-us-franchise-development-deal-in-over-a-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"TGI Fridays Signs Its First US Franchise Development Deal in Over a Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2024 and closed a net of over 200 US locations in two years, leaving the chain with just 69 domestic restaurants by mid-2026. On October 1, its new owner Sugarloaf Hospitality announced the brand’s first US franchise development agreement in more than a decade: six restaurants in New York State, a market where the franchise chain <\/a>was born in 1965.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Founded on Manhattan’s Upper East Side 61 years ago, TGI Fridays<\/strong> once operated hundreds of US locations before a combination of pandemic fallout, rising food costs, and franchisee<\/a> instability led to the Chapter 11 filing in November 2024. The bankruptcy process, which concluded under the oversight of the US Bankruptcy Court, transferred ownership to Sugarloaf Hospitality<\/strong> and cleared the path for a restructured operational footing. CEO Ray Blanchette<\/strong>, who returned to lead the company in 2025, has since unveiled a recovery roadmap the brand calls its “1-2-3 Strategic Vision.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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TGI Fridays<\/p>\n <\/a>\n

That Fridays Feeling\u2122<\/p>\n <\/div>\n