T.G.I. Friday's(R) Restaurants Celebrate 40th Birthday
March 14 2005 - 6:56PM
PR Newswire (US)
T.G.I. Friday's(R) Restaurants Celebrate 40th Birthday Restaurants
in 54 Countries, from New York City to Tianjin, China Hold Toast
Around the World to Commemorate Milestone CARROLLTON, Texas, March
14 /PRNewswire/ -- T.G.I. Friday's restaurants, a pioneer in
American casual dining, officially celebrates its 40th birthday on
Friday, March 18, 2005. The legendary restaurant brand marks its
40th year in business with a series of national and international
events. Starting at 5:30 p.m. locally at 756 T.G.I. Friday's
restaurants in 54 countries around the world, staff and guests will
lift their glasses to toast 40 years of success. The 'Toast Around
the World' was selected from an internal toast competition among
T.G.I. Friday's employees around the world. The winning toast was
written by David Sourk, the general manager of the Saint Charles,
Missouri T.G.I. Friday's restaurant, and will be unveiled
internationally during the birthday celebration. The March 18 toast
will mark the beginning of a new tradition at Friday's(R)
restaurants. Following the birthday celebration, the tradition
continues every Friday at 5:30 p.m. with a member of the staff at
each Friday's restaurant worldwide giving the commemorative toast.
"Friday's has always had a legacy of fun," says Carlson Restaurants
Worldwide President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Snead. "The
toast around the world creates unity amongst our restaurants
worldwide and is an excellent way to celebrate our first four
decades of fun." Complementing the worldwide toast, local Friday's
restaurants will host a birthday bash for their guests. "Hitting 40
is a landmark occasion," says Snead. "We are throwing a party --
birthday cake, balloons, party favors -- the whole thing. The party
is for everyone -- current and former team members, managers, long
time guests and anyone who wants to join the fun." Although the
party will be held around the world on March 18, Snead and Friday's
executives will kick off the 'Toast Around the World' and launch
the 40th birthday festivities from the Addison, Texas restaurant.
To find a restaurant location, visit http://www.fridays.com/. To
add to the festivities, Friday's restaurants will also introduce a
new line of beverages. Credited with inventing the popular Long
Island Iced Tea, the Friday's brand tips its hat to its 40-year
heritage of cocktail and beverage innovation with the introduction
of Sparkling Iced Teas. Available for a limited time, the beverage
line includes The Long Island Iced Tea, Long Beach Iced Tea,
Caribbean Iced Tea and Texas Iced Tea, all of which are topped off
with Korbel sparkling wine. As part of the 40th birthday
celebration, T.G.I. Friday's restaurant is bringing back a few of
their infamous 'buttons' for a limited time. "People have been
talking about Friday's buttons for 40 years. We know the buttons
will bring back a lot of great memories for guests," says Mike
Archer, executive vice president and chief operating officer,
T.G.I. Friday's U.S.A. "Who could resist asking someone wearing a
'Spuds Were Never The Same Again After '74' button, 'what does that
mean?' This type of trivia is an engaging way to educate guests and
team members about Friday's unique culture." The button trivia
features fun facts about how the Friday's brand has changed the
face of casual American dining over the past 40 years. For example,
Friday's invented Loaded Potato Skins, is credited with naming
'happy hour,' and popularized frozen and ice cream drinks, all of
which are now staples within the industry. To further celebrate
their 40th birthday with staff, the restaurant is set to launch '40
Days of Friday's Fun' from March 18, 2005 through April 26, 2005. A
major feature of this internal promotion is a system-wide team
member game of F-R-I-D-A-Y-S Birthday Bingo, which tests employee
knowledge about Friday's history and menu, their skills at sales
and speed-of-service, and their familiarity with the restaurant's
recipes. For 40 consecutive days, Bingo participants can win daily
and weekly prizes. In 1965, Alan Stillman opened the first T.G.I.
Friday's restaurant to create a meeting place for young
professional singles. The restaurant was located in New York City,
on the corner of First Avenue and 63rd Street, and experienced
instant success. Over the past 40 years, Friday's restaurants have
played a vital role in popularizing the casual dining experience,
ultimately making it an icon within the restaurant industry. In
2003, the Friday's brand demonstrated that it continues to be in
touch with what diners are looking for when it was the first
national restaurant chain to partner with the Atkins Nutritional
Approach(R) to offer low carb menu items. Friday's restaurants are
currently in the middle of a major brand revitalization totaling
more than $200 million for remodeling and millions more in menu
development, training, and a manager-retention program, making it
the largest capital investment in Carlson Companies' history. With
250 company owned U.S. restaurants already in the midst of the
update, the Friday's brand celebrates its 40th year with a
decidedly younger new look, and an experienced eye on the future.
Note to Editor: Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent
company of T.G.I. Friday's Inc., is a privately held company owned
by Minneapolis-based Carlson Companies, Inc., a world leader in the
hospitality, travel and marketing industries. As of today, Carlson
Restaurants operate, franchise and license 756 restaurants in 54
countries, including T.G.I. Friday's(R), Friday's(R) Front Row(R)
Sports Grill and Friday's American Bar(R). Carlson Restaurants
Worldwide is a division of Minneapolis-based Carlson Companies. For
more information on Friday's brands, visit http://www.fridays.com/.
T.G.I. Friday's(R) Forty Years of Fun Facts * In 1965, Alan
Stillman founded the first Friday's(R) restaurant in New York City
to meet single women. * According to Newsweek and The Saturday
Evening Post, the opening of the first Friday's(R) restaurant
heralded the dawn of the singles age. * Friday's(R) restaurants
have been the employer of several well-known celebrities -- Kathy
Mattea, Sean Patrick Flannery of "Young Indiana Jones" and Brad
Garrett of "Everybody Loves Raymond." * Friday's(R) restaurants
have a long history of innovation, including being credited with:
-- Naming 'happy hour'. -- Inventing the Long Island Iced Tea and
Loaded Potato Skins. -- Popularizing frozen and ice cream drinks.
-- Pioneering non-alcoholic Smoothies and Flings in honor of the
1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. * Friday's(R) restaurant is
synonymous with 'flair bartending.' In the mid 1980s, the
restaurant created the first World Bartender Championships to honor
the famous, trend-setting, bottle-tossing style of Friday's(R)
bartenders around the globe. This tradition continues today! * From
roller skating to singing to buttons and suspenders to showing off
our 'flair,' Friday's(R) employees are legendary for providing the
best America has to offer in service and atmosphere. * Friday's(R)
red and white stripes are one of the most recognized restaurant
trademarks in the world, next to the Golden Arches. * The
Friday's(R) brand was the first casual dining restaurant chain to
offer stone-ground whole wheat bread, avocados, bean sprouts and
Mexican appetizers. * In 2003, Friday's(R) restaurant was the first
national casual dining restaurant chain to partner with Atkins
Nutritional Approach(R) to offer low carb menu items. * In the past
40 years Friday's(R) restaurants have: -- Served approximately
185,380,000 guests in more than 700 restaurants in 54 countries. --
Served 19,800,000 hamburgers in an amazing number of
guest-specified combinations ... which is also equal to over
9,900,000 pounds of burger. -- Went through 69,522,520 pounds of
french-fried potatoes, 8,634,436 pounds of chicken wings, 454,784
dozen eggs and 114,207,632 ounces of ketchup. -- Served enough
Oreo(R) Madness desserts to equal the height of 174 Sears towers.
DATASOURCE: T.G.I. Friday's CONTACT: Wendy Aiello or Robin
Lybarger, both of Aiello Public Relations and Marketing,
+1-303-355-3838, for T.G.I. Friday's Web site:
http://www.fridays.com/
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