An Unexpected Restaurant Now Closes Locations in New Jersey

January 5, 2024

A massive restaurant now closes locations in New Jersey after announcing several of its chains will shutter nationwide.

TGI Fridays confirmed Wednesday that it was closing 36 “underperforming locations” in 12 states as “part of the brand’s ongoing growth strategy.”

The company also announced it was selling eight previously corporate-owned restaurants in the northeast to its former CEO Ray Blanchette.

The company said it had offered more than 1,000 transfer opportunities as part of the store closures, representing more than 80% of impacted employees.

New Jersey had the most closures with 7, followed by Massachusetts with 6, New York with 5 and Texas and Virginia with 4 each.

There were also closings in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania.

The following TGI Fridays in New Jersey have now closed:

ISELIN/WOODBRIDGE, NJ: 401 Gill Ln, Iselin, NJ 08830
HACKENSACK, NJ: 411 Hackensack Ave, Hackensack, NJ 07601
WAYNE TOWN CENTER, NJ: 71 Route 23 South, Wayne, NJ 07470
EATONTOWN, NJ: 180 NJ-35 Ste 6000, Eatontown, NJ 07724
SPRINGFIELD, NJ: 40 US-22, Springfield, NJ 07081
MARLTON/EVESHAM, NJ: 970 ROUTE 73 N, Marlton, NJ 08053
PRINCETON, NJ: 3535 US-1 #275, Princeton, NJ 08540

Each of the stores that were shut down on Tuesday had a printed sign with similar language posted.

“We regret to inform you that Fridays has made the difficult decision to close our doors at Corpus Christi effective January 2, 2024,” a sign posted at the now-closed Corpus Christi location explained.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a nearby location, but look for us in airports and other cities across the country.”

While the locations that closed Tuesday are no longer listed on the company’s directory, “404 Error” pages now appear if you go to their former websites from Google.

According to the company’s website, there are over 850 TGI Fridays restaurants in more than 55 countries.

As of October 2023, there were 278 in the U.S., according to the data company ScrapeHero.

Also Read: A Massive Bank Now Closes Several Branches in Florida

Other Economy News Today

A massive shoe company now plans to cut a whopping $8bn in costs leading to talks of continued layoffs across the retail industry.

Nike has laid out a plan to cut up to $2 billion in costs over the next three years in a bid to “accelerate future growth while building a faster, more efficient” organization, executives shared during the company’s fiscal 2024 Q2 earnings call.

The company plans to trim expenses in ways including simplifying its product assortment, increasing automation and use of technology, and leveraging its scale to drive greater efficiencies across the business, although no details on the form these initiatives will take were shared, reports RetailTouchPoints.

“An organizational and fiscal restructuring is also in the cards.”

Specific details on workforce cuts were not shared, but earlier in December The Oregonian reported that Nike had already begun quietly laying off some employees, and executives did note that they expected to incur restructuring charges of approximately $400 million to $450 million in the company’s current quarter, primarily associated with employee severance costs.

A leadership revamp is also in the works, with new C-suite appointments in the company’s design, innovation, marketing and tech divisions announced in November 2023.

As part of these shifts, Nike cut its revenue outlook for fiscal 2024, saying that it now expects full-year revenue to grow approximately 1%, compared to a prior outlook of growth in the mid-single digits.

“This new outlook reflects increased macro headwinds, particularly in Greater China and EMEA,” explained EVP and CFO Matthew Friend said on the earnings call.

“Adjusted digital growth plans are based on recent digital traffic softness and higher marketplace promotions, lifecycle management of key product franchises and a stronger U.S. dollar that has negatively impacted second-half reported revenue versus 90 days ago.”

In the company’s second quarter, which ended Nov. 30, 2023, Nike saw total revenues increase 1% to $13.4 billion, but this reflects a decrease of 1% year-over-year when taken on a currency-neutral basis.

Direct sales revenues were up 4% on a currency-neutral basis to $5.7 billion, while digital sales increased 1% year-over-year (currency-neutral).

However, currency-neutral wholesale revenues were down 3% to $7.1 billion, reflecting the continued impact of Nike’s DTC pivot and subsequent reversal.

Also Read: A US Company Now Declares An Unexpected Bankruptcy

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