The closure of TGI Fridays in Kungsträdgården has now led to bankruptcy for the company behind the American chain’s Swedish restaurants.
‘);
$iframe.addClass(’embed-responsive-item’);
} else {
try {
var el = $iframe[0];
var actualHeight = el.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight;
$iframe.height(actualHeight);
} catch (err) {
console.log(err);
}
$iframe.wrap(”);
}
} catch (err) {
console.log(err);
}
});
});
//]]>
After a rent dispute, TGI Fridays in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm was closed at the end of January. Even then, owner Tony Challma warned that it could be the beginning of the end for the chain in Sweden. Now the fears have come true. The American chain’s Swedish franchisee, American Bistro Sweden, has been declared bankrupt at its own request, which the site Nu.se was the first to report on.
– It did not work. We did our utmost, but it became difficult when the locomotive disappeared and everything else is far in the future, says Tony Challma to The county newspaper in Södertälje, where TGI Fridays had planned to open a restaurant in autumn 2025.
Tony Challma believes that the chain would have been fine if the restaurant had been allowed to remain in Kungsträdgården over this summer, but the rent committee did not agree.
– We don’t understand how they reasoned and who won from this. The premises are empty, so not even the landlord has profited from this.
Until recently, TGIF had five restaurants in Sweden, three of them in Stockholm. Since both the flagship in Kungsträdgården and the restaurant in Gamla stan have closed, there is only one restaurant left in the Stockholm area, the one in Täby center since 2016. In addition, there are TGIF restaurants in Malmö and Uppsala.
Representatives of TGI Friday have previously told Fastighetsvärlden that they do not intend to extend the contract in Malmö. What the bankruptcy notice means for the newly started restaurant in Uppsala remains to be seen, says Michel Barmoro, bankruptcy trustee for the company.
– It is difficult to judge in these times. We will do what we can to pass on the restaurant’s premises, but this will be done in consultation with the property owner, says Barmoro to Uppsala New Newspaper.
During the latest official annual report for the financial year 2022, American Bistro Sweden had a turnover of SEK 115 million.
In the US, TGI Fridays announced at the beginning of the year that 36 of the country’s restaurants will be closed. Before that, the chain had more than 270 restaurants around the world.
