Let’s cut to the chase here because you’re at work and trying to figure out if Hooters will be open this summer after your golf league night.
After weeks of speculation on the future of the Hooters brand and a bankruptcy announcement from the Hooters of America group that handled franchising out of its Atlanta operation, news broke Monday night that the original founders of the Hooters brand (the group owned a bunch of Florida locations, including the ORIGINAL Hooters in Clearwater) have a plan to “acquire over 100 Hooters restaurants from Hooters of America and keep the lights on.
Translation: Hooters is staying, but brace yourselves, changes are coming.
From the official Hooters Inc. press release sent to OutKick Monday night:
Hooters Inc., in partnership with another successful Hooters franchisee, Hoot Owl Restaurants LLC (together, the “Buyer Group”), has reached an agreement in principle with Hooters of America, LLC and certain of its affiliates (collectively, “HOA” or the “Company”) to acquire over 100 HOA-owned Hooters restaurants. In addition, the parties have negotiated the key terms of a management agreement under which Hooters Brand Management, LLC (“HBM”), an entity owned by the Buyer Group and other parties with deep experience with the Hooters brand, will provide the majority of the franchise support functions on behalf of HOA.
Translation?
“For many years now, the Hooters brand has been owned by private equity firms and other groups with no history or experience with the Hooters brand,” Neil Kiefer, CEO of Hooters Inc., said in the press release. “As a result of these transactions, the Hooters brand will once again be in the hands of highly experienced Hooters franchisees and we will be well-positioned to return this iconic brand to its historic success. On behalf of all Hooters employees, customers and franchisees, the Buyer Group is excited and optimistic about our future plans for the Hooters brand”.
What does the future of Hooters look like now that the original owners have their hands on the full operation & private equity firms have been pushed out?
Last week, Kiefer announced publicly that there would be a “re-Hooterization” of the brand which meant that bikini nights would be out and there would be a pivot towards making the place more family-friendly.
“You go to some parts of the country and people say, ‘Oh, I could never go to Hooters, my wife would kill me,'” Kiefer told Bloomberg. “That’s depressing to us. We want to change that.”
I’m going to need to hear more from Neil on this strategy when family-friendly places like Red Robin are closing locations across the United States.
Applebee’s has been closing locations. TGI Friday’s is all but dead.
Ah, but what about Chili’s? The casual restaurant reported a 31% increase in sales in the last quarter of 2024 and an incredible increase of 20% in foot traffic over the quarter. What’s working? Axios says the brand’s marketing strategy of going after younger customers is working.
Two promotions — the 3 for Me entree combo and the Triple Dipper appetizer platter — had people flocking to the chain.
Also, the company is crediting its new updated dining rooms and smaller menus for its success.
So what do we do with Hooters? Here’s where to start:
- Kiefer and his team would be best suited hiring a young COO who can bring fresh ideas. The family-friendly thing scares me. You’re going to rebrand Hooters into some watered-down Buffalo Wild Wings? That sounds like a mess in this economic environment. You might as well rename the company so suburban moms don’t have to explain the definition of Hooters to their little Xanders.
- Social media — The Twitter account is a mess. Hooters TikTok isn’t active.
- The food — it’s time to market combo meals at a competitive price, drive the price-conscious consumer into your door and then suck them in with margarita “specials” and TALL draft beers.
- Hooters locations could use a good power-washing. Let’s face it, some of the stores feel like they’re from the wrong side of the tracks. I remember going to the downtown Charlotte store a few years back and it just felt dirty and I’m not even talking about some of the women working in there with what looked like prison tats. Hooters needs a secret DOGE-like Army of analysts to do secret-shopper missions into these stores to determine who should stay and who should go.
- Hooters should be in airports. I don’t know if they’re cost-prohibitive or what the deal is, but Google says there are two airport locations — Orlando and Raleigh. That needs to change. I would have Hooters in airports across the country.
- How can Hooters combine forces with someone from the country music world? Does Morgan Wallen like Hooters? Let’s face it, there are a BUNCH of red-blooded American men who would follow that guy into Hooters. Get him to write a Hooters song.
- Can we please bring back the John Daly RV setup in Augusta, GA. Last year, I learned that there was some sort of disagreement that prevented Daly from parking his RV on Hooters property to sell gear during Masters Week. That needs to be corrected by the Kiefer team on day one.
- American men need to be reminded that it’s OK to go suck down a couple of beers, responsibly, and enjoy this American institution. We know that young men are sitting their asses on couches and gambling like crazy and ordering DoorDash. How do we correct this trend? The brand that solves this issue is going to be around for 100 years.
Good luck to the original Hooters founders.
For the love of god, don’t turn this place into Applebee’s.
How would you turn around Hooters?
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