USA TODAY International Edition
As TGI Fridays transforms, a burger is a tweet away
While industry suffers, chain is going digital, tweaking its menu and moving toward delivery
Looking to innovate in a tough corner of the restaurant business, TGI Fridays is going digital.
And that’s not all. The 52- yearold chain is getting a thorough revamp that includes everything from a sleek new look to the restaurants to a revised menu. The digital part? Since January, Fridays has been accepting orders via Twitter. It’s even getting serious about making its food available for delivery.
The changes are all being done in order to distance itself from peers who’ve been steadily losing customers over the last decade.
Change was necessary, the Dallas- based company says. Chain restaurants across the board have seen sales plunge amid competition from not only traditional rivals, but new consumer choices such as supermarkets that sell prepared meals and delivery services such as Blue Apron. But casual eateries such as Fridays are struggling the most.
“When we look at the competitive landscape ... I’m forced to think about the fact consumers have a lot of alternatives,” said John Antioco, Fridays’ CEO. “So we think the key to Fridays is to make the experience worth going to.”
That means transforming the 473 restaurants in the U. S. By the end of next year, 80% of Fridays’ locations should have an updated look, with a renewed focus on the bar as “a core and center of the restaurant,” Antioco said.
Currently, roughly 35% of the restaurant chain’s revenues flow from the bar space, including the food that is ordered there. “We want to drive that higher and higher because we think that’s the key to increasing traffic and customers,” Antioco said.
Fridays restaurants, known for their festive atmosphere and bountiful appetizers, are busy operations with annual sales averaging $ 3 million per location. But the chain competes in one of the toughest areas of the dining business. Chain restaurants lost roughly 14% of their foot traffic between 2008 and 2016, according to retail analytics firm TDn2K. Last year, casual dining, a category that includes chains such as Fridays, Applebee’s and Chili’s, did the worst of any sector, posting the poorest results 10 out of 12 months.
“There just doesn’t seem to be any sign that the customer is coming back,” said Peter Saleh, managing director, restaurants, for global financial services firm BTIG. Casual dining eateries have lost roughly 25% to 30% of their customers over the past decade, he says. Customers are being lured away by a variety of options, from fast casual favorites such as Panera Bread to fast food chains such as Wendy’s, that now often offer fresher ingredients and improved food.
“You can get a pretty good bur- ger or a pretty good sandwich” for the same price or less than what may be charged at a Fridays or Applebee’s, Saleh said. And “you don’t have to pay a tip.”
Fridays executives say that more creative marketing and products can help make it a destination. In February, Fridays made all- you- can- eat refills of appetizers such as boneless buffalo wings and pot stickers a permanent offering on its menu. And the restaurants also introduced a “burger bar” with choices that include sandwiches slathered with Jack Daniel’s glaze and a black bean and avocado burger for those who don’t want meat.
“We innovated around shareable food, and social occasions and creative drinks,” said Antioco, who called TGI Fridays the original “gastropub” that has a lot in common with the independent, cocktail couture spots that are soaring in popularity. “It’s really the local competitors that have become the innovators in the category.”
To boost innovation, Fridays also announced last month that it hired Stephanie Perdue, former chief product marketing officer at Taco Bell and part of the team that helped create the successful Doritos Locos Tacos. She will be Friday’s chief marketing officer.
Janet Lowder, president of consultants Restaurant Management Services, said the various steps being taken by Fridays could spur future growth.
Perdue “will play an integral part in strategically turning the concept around,” Lowder said. And “with those updates, they are definitely on the right path to improve the customer experience. With a consistency of menu and guest service, the changes should result in improved sales and traffic volumes.”
Saleh said Fridays’ moves to offer delivery and online ordering could yield some success.
“Reaching the consumer digitally is very important,” Saleh said, and “value, convenience and accessibility are all items that should help improve the sales, or at least stem the decline of the traffic.”
“Consumers have a lot of alternatives. So we think the key to Fridays is to make the experience worth going to.” John Antioco, Fridays’ CEO