THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY!!!

T.G.I Friday's

T.G.I Friday’s also known as “Thank Goodness It’s Friday,” is an American restaurant that serves bar food and alcoholic beverages. It was developed in 1965 on June 18^th in New York City on 63^rd street and First Avenue. Its headquarters is located in Carrollton, Texas. Friday’s started to become a chain having its second location restaurant build in 1970 in Memphis, Tennessee’s Overton Square District, which today is not open. Friday’s highest grossing location is at Haymarket Leicester Square. It opened in 1992 in Central London. It was the most popular branch and was the most financially successful branch winning the world record for biggest profit headquarters. Friday’s restaurant serves Atkin’s approved appetizers, entrees, and desserts. They are licensed to serve Heinz line of frozen foods and lines of snack items. The alcohol mixed drinks are licensed as well.

Chief Executive Officer

President and Chief Executive of T.G.I Friday’s is Richard Snead. He was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Miami, Florida. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in engineering. He spent 15 years as a project manager for Burger King constructing 80 stores. He also spent time developing international business for Lens Crafters in London and then later at Casual Corner Clothing. Only spending a year and a half at Casual Corner Clothing, he soon got a call from the Carlson Restaurants Worldwide to start doing business with them. Soon after in March 2002, he became CEO of T.G.I Friday’s. Every since he became CEO, he has been known for his energy and ability to listen and commitment to human- resources diversity. Within four years after becoming CEO, he helped double the number of T.G.I Friday’s location. When he started, there were only 90- unit chains, now there are 230- unit chains that operate in 48 states and 55 countries.

Business Strategy

T.G.I Friday’s business strategy is differentiation. Since Fridays' opened they focused on a unique design, products and services. They started in 1965 in Manhattan, New York. Quickly turning into a meeting place for single adults, and totaling 1 million the first year. The unique style of Fridays’ menu was the chalkboard. At this time most used paper menus. Making the tradition of welcoming Friday in at midnight on Thursday night, Fridays was somewhat like a New Years Eve party. They offered champagne, confetti, and noisemakers to bring in Friday. Another way of their differentiation strategies was the appetizers. With loaded potatoes and other unique eatery on the menu the company was able to become very successful. Many years later the look changed and stood out from the rest. They used tiffany lights and interior wood to create the best late night dining and appetizers spot. Eventually, TGI Fridays’ offered happy hour specials leading to the best after work hangout in 2002. Today most of the success is because they offered unique products and services long before others.

FEATURING HOT MEAL CHOICES

Ethical and Social Responsibilty

T.G.I. Friday’s abides by strong ethical and social responsibility policies. They believe in that all employees (including management) should conduct themselves in a respectful and honest fashion. Due to the fact that Fridays is so diverse in both employees’ and guests, it is vital that the workers understand this and act appropriate when dealing with these diverse situation (racism will NOT be tolerated). Some of the main ethical polices that Fridays has in place are Human Rights, Social enterprise, and Ecological impact. As far as the social responsibilities go, Friday’s main focus is hygiene. They even have a company called ECOsure that measures that cleanliness and over hygiene of the restaurant to see if you are meeting standards. Failing one of ECOsure’s visits can result in immediate shut down depending on how poorly the restaurant did on the test. This is why Fridays stresses the importance of their social responsibilities.

T.G.I. Friday’s Target Market is Driven by Value and not Price

TGI Friday's target market is the middle and upper middle class ages 22 to 55. TGI Friday’s business strategy is to spend 3% of revenue for advertising and promotion. Spreading the name in the market to improve its awareness is one of the company’s main focuses. The company is always looking to expand while maintaining the food and quality service. TGI Friday’s has more than 1,000 restaurants in 61 countries which is very impressive for only being around for 45 years.

Link to article: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/2/20/business/5652483&sec=business