This week, TGI Fridays patrons and employees were taken aback with the sudden closure of multiple locations nationwide. Could this mean an end to the chain restaurant?

Employees of the now-closed restaurants expressed their shock online and reported that they hadn’t received any warning. Some mentioned that they were offered assignments to other eateries in the same chain, while others revealed that they had been let go with no job prospects.

On Wednesday, TGI Fridays announced the sale of 8 restaurants in the northeast and the closure of 36 locations in 12 states, indicating that it is part of the company’s plan for long-term growth. The sale of the restaurants was to Ray Blanchette, TGI Fridays’ former CEO.

TGI Fridays declared that it had provided more than 1,000 job transfers as part of the shutting down of certain restaurants, covering over 80% of the affected staff.

Topping the list of closures was New Jersey with 7, followed by Massachusetts (6), New York (5), and Texas and Virginia (each with 4). Additionally, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania all had closings.

The shops that were closed on Tuesday all had notices with the same wording printed on them.

A sign posted at the now-closed Corpus Christi location sadly informed that, effective January 2, 2024, Fridays had made the hard decision to shut their doors. Unfortunately, there is no nearby location, but it can still be found in airports and other cities in the U.S.

The two TGI Fridays locations that remained in Colorado, those in Denver and Longmont, were among the establishments that shut down.

The website of the company states that there are 850 TGI Fridays restaurants operating in over 55 nations. ScrapeHero, a data company, reported that there were 278 in the United States as of October 2023.