Listen and subscribe to Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

From a manager trainee program in 1989 to a CEO who steered a sit-down restaurant chain through COVID-19 to another stint as CEO after the once-beloved chain went bankrupt.

That pretty much sums up the 35-year career of Ray Blanchette, the returning CEO of TGI Fridays.

"It's been drinking from a fire hose, really [since I have been back]. I mean, we had to stand up an entire support infrastructure and get a new office," Blanchette told me on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast (video above; listen in below). Blanchette said he was able to get space back in the original TGI Fridays office in Dallas, allowing them to use the test kitchens they had built.

Blanchette, who was CEO of TGI Fridays from 2018 to 2023 before returning this year after buying several locations out of bankruptcy, has a tall order on his hands.

TGI Fridays filed for bankruptcy in November 2024 with about $37 million in debt, following years of weak sales and store closures. The chain had long fallen out of favor as it cut corners on food quality, serving up prepackaged offerings instead of hand-making items as it once did.

The company's formerly popular bar scene, which featured mixologists twirling bottles and was featured in Tom Cruise's 1988 cult classic "Cocktail," also fell by the wayside. Overly sugary drinks lacking punch drove customers to seek other options.

The shift to online ordering from fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle (CMG) also dented demand. It has contributed to financial troubles at once-formidable TGI Friday rivals like Hooters, which recently filed for bankruptcy, and Red Lobster, which emerged from bankruptcy last fall.An on-demand delivery worker pushing a bike walks past the American casual dining restaurant chain TGI Fridays in Madrid, Spain. (Xavi Lopez/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)·SOPA Images via Getty Images

Blanchette now leads a brand with a ton of history that is primarily franchisee-owned. TGI Fridays has 391 locations around the world, with 85 in the US, according to its website. Blanchette himself owns eight locations, having purchased them from bankruptcy. One of the prized spots is a TGI Fridays in Hollywood, housed in a hotel.

To begin a turnaround, Blanchette said he's taking a page out of Kevin Hochman's playbook. Hochman has orchestrated a somewhat miraculous turnaround at Chili's (owned by Brinker International (EAT)) by focusing on improved food quality, a slimmed-down menu, and eye-catching marketing.

Blanchette said that in May, consumers should expect a new "Hard Pours" drinks promotion that promises two-ounce alcohol pours. Cocktails will weave in fresh ingredients. Chicken tenders are already back to being hand-breaded in the restaurant instead of pulled from a frozen bag.

Story Continues

See more from the Opening Bid podcast

Why the bond market may not be in a crisis This is the new investing portfolio for the next 10 years How to invest in Nvidia successfully during Trump tariff turmoil

And yes, Blanchette has started bringing back the trademark striped server uniforms to give them the "flare" the chain was known for. Blanchette added that the brand should be referred to as TGI Fridays, not Fridays, as had been the case during the past troubled decade.

"As we're working on our brand strategy, 'flare' is a word that we own. Flare doesn't just mean, you know, Tom Cruise when we trained him to juggle bottles behind the bar. Flare is also the way in which our servers interact with the guest. It's part of our personality. So we are absolutely committed to flare. We know that celebration is part of Fridays. It's inherent in our brand. It's in our DNA," Blanchette said.

Blanchette said that a year from now, the company will have opened new locations and refurbished others. Most importantly, he sees TGI Fridays as capitalized enough to remove another trip to bankruptcy from the equation.StockStory aims to help individual investors beat the market.

Three times each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email [email protected].

Click here for all of the latest retail stock news and events to better inform your investing strategy

View Comments