Back to search
🔴 PRIVATE EQUITY OWNED
TGI Friday's
casual dining · Dallas, TX
PE Firm
TriArtisan Capital Advisors
Year Acquired
2014
“From 600 locations to 85. Thank God it's not Friday anymore.”
The PE Playbook
- •TriArtisan Capital acquired TGI Fridays for $890 million in 2014; by November 2024 the chain filed Chapter 11 with $37 million in debt
- •Collapsed from ~600 U.S. locations at peak to roughly 85 remaining — a loss of over 500 restaurants
- •UK operations also went bankrupt in September 2024, closing dozens of restaurants and costing 1,000 jobs
- •TriArtisan's other restaurant investment, Hooters of America, also filed Chapter 11 in March 2025 — a pattern, not a coincidence
Since the Acquisition
- ▸Went from 601 U.S. locations in 2008 to just 79 by end of 2024 — an 87% collapse under PE ownership
- ▸Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024 after closing 134 restaurants that year alone
- ▸System-wide U.S. sales dropped 63%, from roughly $2 billion in 2008 to $728 million by 2023
- ▸In January 2024, abruptly closed 36 locations with little warning — most employees were told they could transfer but had no nearby location
- ▸Menu went largely unchanged for almost two decades while competitors modernized