The new owners of Carrollton, Texas-based TGI Fridays, announced a program Friday to sell most of the 247 company-owned and operated locations in the U.S. to “highly experienced franchise operators.”
Owned for years by Minneapolis-based Carlson, the casual dining pioneer was sold earlier this year to investors Sentinel Capital Partners and TriArtisan Capital Partners.
New and current franchisees will be offered the opportunity to buy groups of restaurants in exchange for a commitment to speed up the timetable to revamp existing restaurants and build new ones.
The nationwide reimaging program began two years ago and so far includes 93 U.S. locations.
Fridays has about 900 locations globally, including about 500 in the U.S.