T.G.I. Friday’s locations closed
Five in state affected, including Valley spot
Five franchise-owned T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants in Washington closed last weekend, the chain’s Sacramento, Calif.-based owner said Monday.
The Spokane Valley T.G.I. Friday’s, 14728 E. Indiana Ave., shut down Thursday night and remained closed through the weekend, said the local general manager, Patrick Gaither. He said the Spokane Valley restaurant opened at that location five years ago, in the parking lot area of the Spokane Valley Mall.
Gaither said the Spokane Valley restaurant was profitable and the final decision fell to the parent company.
The other four Washington locations that closed are in Puyallup, Tacoma, Kirkland and Seattle.
Franchisee Pacific Dining Inc., based in Sacramento, also shut down four T.G.I. Friday’s in Sacramento and one in Portland, Gaither said. There are no franchise restaurants in North Idaho, according to Pacific Dining.
The founding company of T.G.I. Friday’s is Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, based in New York.
The Spokane Valley restaurant had about 50 full- and part-time workers, Gaither said.
On Monday morning some of the restaurant’s Spokane employees cleaned out the building and prepared to donate nonperishable food to local service agencies, Gaither said.