T.G.I. Fridays is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners, who purchased the company from Carlson Companies in May 2014.[1] The name is asserted to stand for "Thank God It's Friday", although as of 2010[update] some television commercials for the chain have also made use of the alternative phrase, "Thank Goodness It's Friday."[2]
Sentinel Capital Partners, L.L.C. is an American privately held investment firm focusing on Leveraged Buyouts, Mezzanine capital, Management Buyouts, Corporate Divestitures, Industry Consolidations, Going-Private Transactions, and Growth Capital transactions in the United States and Canada. The company is headquartered in New York, New York.
Alan Stillman opened the first T.G.I. Fridays restaurant in 1965 in New York. He lived in a neighborhood with many airline stewardesses, fashion models, secretaries, and other young, single people on the East Side of Manhattan near the Queensboro Bridge, and hoped that opening a bar would help him meet women. At the time, Stillman's choices for socializing were non-public cocktail parties or "guys' beer-drinking hangout" bars that women usually did not visit; he recalled that "there was no public place for people between, say, twenty-three to thirty-seven years old, to meet." He sought to recreate the comfortable cocktail party atmosphere in public despite having no experience in the restaurant business.[3][4]
The Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th Street Bridge – because its Manhattan end is located between 59th and 60th Streets – and officially titled the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City that was completed in 1909. It connects the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens with the neighborhood of the Upper East Side Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island.
A cocktail party is a party at which cocktails are served. It is sometimes called a cocktail reception. A cocktail party organized for purposes of social or business networking is called a mixer.
With $5,000 of his own money and $5,000 borrowed from his mother,[3] Stillman purchased a bar he often visited, The Good Tavern at the corner of 63rd Street and First Avenue, and renamed it T.G.I. Fridays after the expression "Thank God! It's Friday!" from his years at Bucknell University.[5][6] The new restaurant, which opened on March 15, 1965, served standard American cuisine, bar food, and alcoholic beverages,[4] but emphasized food quality and preparation.[5] The exterior featured a red-and-white striped awning and blue paint, the Gay Nineties interior included fake Tiffany lamps,[4] wooden floors, Bentwood chairs, and striped tablecloths, and the bar area added brass rails and stained glass. The employees were young and wore red-and-white striped soccer shirts,[5] and every time someone had a birthday, the entire restaurant crew came around with a cake and sang T.G.I. Fridays traditional birthday song. The first location closed in 1994[3] and is now a British pub called "Baker Street"; the brass rails are still there.
First Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from Houston Street northbound for over 125 blocks before terminating at the Willis Avenue Bridge into The Bronx at the Harlem River near East 126th Street. South of Houston Street, the roadway continues as Allen Street south to Division Street. Traffic on First Avenue runs northbound (uptown) only.
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The university consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. Bucknell was founded in 1846, and features programs in the arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, engineering, management, education, and music, as well as programs and pre-professional advising that prepare students for study in law and medicine. It offers nearly 50 majors and over 60 minors. South of central Lewisburg, the 445-acre (1.80 km2) campus is along the west bank of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, at an elevation of 530 feet (160 m) above sea level.
The Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term and a periodization of the history of the United States referring to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the United Kingdom as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedly decadent art of Aubrey Beardsley, the witty plays and trial of Oscar Wilde, society scandals and the beginning of the suffragette movement.
Malachy Gerard McCourt is an Irish-American actor, writer, and politician. He was the 2006 Green Party candidate for governor in New York State, losing to the Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer. He is the younger brother of author Frank McCourt.
Betty Friedan was an American feminist writer and activist. A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book The Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the second wave of American feminism in the 20th century. In 1966, Friedan co-founded and was elected the first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), which aimed to bring women "into the mainstream of American society now [in] fully equal partnership with men."
The Feminine Mystique is a book written by Betty Friedan which is widely credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States. It was published on February 19, 1963 by W. W. Norton.
I don’t think there was anything else like it at the time. Before T.G.I. Fridays, four single twenty-five year-old girls were not going out on Friday nights, in public and with each other, to have a good time. They went to people’s apartments for cocktail parties or they might go to a real restaurant for a date or for somebody’s birthday, but they weren’t going out with each other to a bar for a casual dinner and drinks because there was no such place for them to go.[4]
T.G.I. Fridays was one of the first to use promotions such as ladies' night,[5] and Stillman achieved his hopes of meeting women; "Have you seen the movie Cocktail? Tom Cruise played me!...Why do girls want to date the bartender? To this day, I’m not sure that I get it."[4] He and the restaurant benefited from its location—according to Stillman, 480 stewardesses lived in the apartment building next door[3]—and received publicity in national magazines. T.G.I. Fridays became so popular that it had to install ropes to create an area for those waiting in line, also unusual at the time for a restaurant. A competitor, Maxwell's Plum, opened across the street, and others soon followed.[4]
A ladies' night is a promotional event, often at a bar or nightclub, where female patrons pay less than male patrons for the cover charge or drinks. In the United States, state courts in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have ruled that ladies' night discounts are unlawful gender-based price discrimination under state or local statutes. However, courts in Illinois, Minnesota, and Washington have rejected a variety of challenges to such discounts.
Cocktail is a 1988 American romantic drama film directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Heywood Gould, whose screenplay was based on his book of the same name. The film tells the story of a young New York City business student, Brian Flanagan, who takes up bartending in order to make ends meet. The film stars Tom Cruise, Bryan Brown, and Elisabeth Shue. Released by Touchstone Pictures, the film features an original music score composed by J. Peter Robinson.
Thomas Cruise is an American actor and producer. He started his career at age 19, in the film Endless Love (1981), before making his breakthrough in the comedy Risky Business (1983), and receiving widespread attention for starring in the action drama Top Gun (1986) as Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. After starring in The Color of Money (1986) and Cocktail (1988), Cruise starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the Academy Award for Best Picture-winning drama Rain Man. For his role as anti-war activist Ron Kovic in the drama Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Cruise received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
The former T.G.I. Fridays logo used until 2013. It is still used in older locations.
With fellow Bucknell graduate Ben Benson,[6] Stillman opened other restaurants, including Tuesday's, Thursday's, Wednesday's, and Ice Cream Sunday's. Franchising of T.G.I. Fridays began two years after the Manhattan location opened, in Memphis, Tennessee's [4] Overton Square district; that location has since closed. In 1971, Daniel R. Scoggin acquired the rights to eight major midwest cities. In 1972, he opened with the first of a new prototype in Dallas. The raised square bar and multilevel dining became the company standard. Dallas doubled the sales and tripled profits of T.G.I. Fridays previous best.[citation needed] Families began visiting the new suburban locations during the day for casual food; "it took six or seven years, but T.G.I. Fridays became a very different animal", Stillman said.[4] Attracted by this performance, he merged into the Dallas franchise forming T.G.I. Fridays, Inc. and Scoggin was the CEO for the next 15 years. He is credited with the then-new 200 seat prototype as well as many of the T.G.I. Fridays innovations including a large from scratch menu, potato skins, bartender Olympics, and frozen drinks.
The company was sold to Carlson Companies in 1975. With this sale, Stillman and the original investors departed. Stillman kept the original location and now married, founded Smith & Wollensky in 1977 with Benson. Scoggin continued as CEO on an earn-out contract and finalized his sale in 1980.[8][3][4][6][9][10]
When the sale was finalized, Scoggin signed a new contract to continue as the company's CEO. When the company was passing through the 100 store mark it issued an Initial Public Offering in 1983 with Goldman Sachs. Scoggin developed the first international franchise and the template for future international development. The first restaurant was opened in the UK with Whitbread. Prior to his departure in 1986, the company was positioned to appeal to a broader consumer profile. Alcohol consumption was de-emphasized, emphasizing quality over quantity.
The company became privately held again in 1989.[5] The focus was then switched from singles to families.
Historically, the chain's highest grossing location is at Haymarket Leicester Square, which opened in 1992 in Central London. The Haymarket branch is also regarded as the 'most popular' branch as well as being financially most successful. In October 2009, Haymarket broke the world record for biggest profit made in any week, throughout T.G.I Fridays history, and has also been home to several past winners from the bartenders Olympics, a contest started by Dan Scoggin.[11]
T.G.I. Fridays is a franchising operation, with franchisees owning most of the outlets. The largest franchisee is The Briad Group in New Jersey.[13] An international franchisee was Whitbread PLC, the owner of T.G.I. Fridays UK. Up until 2007, it had 45 locations in the UK. On January 17, 2007, Whitbread sold operating rights of all 45 restaurants back to T.G.I. Fridays UK Limited (a consortium consisting of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc. and ABN Amro Capital) thus exiting a partnership formed in 1986.[14] T.G.I. Fridays has also been used as a restaurant for hotels run by Country Inns & Suites by Carlson brand.
The newer T.G.I. Fridays franchises (as well as redesigned restaurants) are more contemporary, with wallpaper, granite exteriors, and red-and-white striped lamps instead of Tiffany. The exteriors have stucco, the entrance doors have "F"-shaped handles, and a metal cup above the door has a stripe saying "In Here, It's always Friday". Most T.G.I. Fridays have a propeller and a rowing scull on display as part of their antiques, which are actually a part of a story told to all T.G.I. Fridays employees; the scull always contains a pair of saddle shoes and a bottle of champagne to remind employees of the value of teamwork, leadership, and celebrating success. The propeller is always above or near the bar. The thought is that the bar "propels" the restaurant.
T.G.I. Fridays formerly served Atkins-approved appetizers, entrées, and desserts. In 2006, the Atkins name was removed from the menu, but the restaurant continues to offer both low-carbohydrate and low-fat menu items. The UK and US menus offer gluten-free items.
Global operations
T.G.I. Fridays currently has over 900 restaurants in around 60 countries (excluding the United States).
↑ T.G.I. Fridays in Ireland is operated on an All-Ireland basis.
Controversy
In 2013, as part of "Operation Swill", investigators in New Jersey raided 13 T.G.I. Fridays franchised restaurants owned by The Briad Group. They found that the bars were replacing premium brand alcoholic beverages with lower-cost brands while charging them for the more expensive liquor.[19][20][21]
Applebee's is an American company which develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain.
Ruby Tuesday Inc. is an American multinational foodservice retailer that owns, operates, and franchises Ruby Tuesday restaurants. The concept was started in 1972 by Samuel E. (Sandy) Beall III.
Carlson is an American privately held international corporation in the travel industries. Headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a Minneapolis suburb, Carlson brands and services, including franchised operations, employ more than 175,000 people in more than 160 countries and territories. The company's 2012 sales, including those from franchised operations, totaled $37.6 billion. It is one of the largest family-held corporations in the United States.
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Whitbread plc is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. The company has its origins in brewing.
Fern bar was an American slang term for an upscale or preppy bar or tavern catering to singles, usually decorated with ferns or other greenery, as well as such decor as fake Tiffany lamps. The phrase came into common use in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
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Potato skins are a snack food or appetizer made of unpeeled potato halves, hollowed and dressed with bacon, cheddar cheese and green onions. They are commonly found on the menus of casual dining restaurants such as T.G.I. Friday's, which is known for serving them. While commonly eaten in restaurants, these snacks are also commonly made at home.
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Dan Scoggin is an American businessman and the person credited with the creation of the casual-theme restaurant industry and the founder of T.G.I. Friday's.
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