Looks like America's favoured breastaurant is a big bust lately

real_aurgathor

Looks like America’s first breastaurant is a big bust lately, and now it may be in a need of a major face-lift,

Hooters has filed for bankruptcy protection to manage its $376 million debt, planning to sell all company-owned restaurants to a franchise group backed by its founders. The company aims to complete the transaction and emerge from bankruptcy within three to four months while continuing to operate its restaurants normally during the process.

Apparently, the pl;an is de-Hooterize hooters even though their CEO calls is a bit differently.

Hooters’ notorious “bikini nights” are set to be axed as the raunchy eatery attempts to avoid bankruptcy and be more family-friendly.

“I’m calling it re-Hooterization,” Neil Kiefer, CEO of parent company HMC Hospitality Group, told Bloomberg.

The so-called “breastaurant” is attempting to overhaul its image, too, according to Kiefer. Infamous for its scantily clad waitresses in bright orange hot pants and revealing baby tees and tank tops, the eatery is now undergoing a PG revamp.

“You go to some parts of the country and people say, ‘Oh, I could never go to Hooters, my wife would kill me,'” Kiefer said. “That’s depressing to us. We want to change that.”

Bloomberg also reported that Hooters plans to implement fresher ingredients into the kitchen and provide faster service.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hooters-institute-hooterization-big-change-163957039.html

Given the recent bankruptcies of other chains, I think they have their work cut out for them.

Hooters was founded in 1983 by six Florida men with no restaurant experience who wanted to “open a place they couldn’t get kicked out of.” They were all in their 30s, except for the oldest, whom they lovingly referred to as Uncle Billy. The business was a joke—the friends expected it to fail, and incorporated the company on April Fools’ Day. Instead, the sexually explicit restaurant, with its Hooters Girls and boob-forward logo, became a hit.

For a long time, the “titillating naughtiness of Hooters” was a draw, Sarah Pedersen, an expert in women in the media at Robert Gordon University, in Scotland, told me. But lately, the brand has gotten dated. The menu is tired; people can get chicken wings anywhere. What made Hooters special was the Hooters Girl, and the Hooters Girl seems to be going out of style. “This idea of sort of smacking the ass of the woman wearing the tight shorts,” as Pedersen put it, isn’t attractive to younger people who have grown up with the explicit sexuality of porn and OnlyFans and learned to be “very careful about consent.”

Interestingly, their main competition is supposedly doing well.

And yet even while Hooters falters, another chain of “breastaurants” is booming. Twin Peaks, which was founded in Texas in 2005, also uses sex to sell bar food: Draft beer comes in Dirty Blonde, Knotty Brunette, and Drop Dead Redhead. Uniforms at Twin Peaks are even skimpier than the ones at Hooters—on holidays and specific weekdays, waitresses wear only lingerie. And the company plans to open at least 10 new locations this year.

Which makes you wonder: Is Hooters too naughty, or not naughty enough?

https://www.yahoo.com/news/end-hooters-113000567.html

timcuth

I have never been to a Hooters.

broknsymetry

I have only ever been to one Hooters. A few years ago on Veterans Day they offered a free hamburger with purchase of a drink. When I arrived there was only one other person waiting to be seated. I’m standing there being ignored and it took about 20 minutes before I was seated. The restaurant had only a few patrons inside including some other military and some families with children. I’m waiting on my meal when the manager started loudly berating and cursing at one of the waitresses. He was loud enough for everyone to hear him including the kids. I apologized to the waitress for his actions and she said he does that all the time. When I got back home that evening I gave the restaurant manager a scathing review on the Hooters website. That restaurant was closed during the first round of Hooters closures.

telcodad

real_aurgathor breastaurant

LOL

I also thought it was a good idea when someone said that they should open a similar restaurant with men servers - called “Peckers” - with a woodpecker logo on their tight shorts. 🙂

dave

The restaurant for those who think Benny Hill is funny to watch.

egeezer

I understand they had great breast milk flavored shakes.

px_eliezer_

dave The restaurant for those who think Benny Hill is funny to watch.

Well he [was] funny in his time.

His first show premiered in 1955 (70 years ago) so a rather different time….

He stayed on TV in one form or another for 34 years so clearly was popular until it petered out….

dave

px_eliezer_ Well he [was] funny in his time.

Like, the 1950s.

Somewhat-Reticent

px_eliezer_ Like the 3 stooges, or Lucille Ball?

px_eliezer_

dave Like, the 1950s.

On December 27, 1971, the show’s Christmas special drew 21.1 million viewers to ITV.
https://www.historyoasis.com/post/benny-hill

px_eliezer_

Somewhat-Reticent Like the 3 stooges, or Lucille Ball?

Some overlap there.

Benny Hill more followed from the bawdy British vaudeville tradition.

Despite differing opinions, many notable figures expressed their admiration for Hill and his work. Legendary comedian Charlie Chaplin was among his fans and would watch Hill’s tapes in his later years. Additionally, celebrities like Michael Jackson, Burt Reynolds, Michael Caine, and Snoop Dogg openly praised and appreciated Hill’s comedic genius.

https://britishheritage.org/benny-hill

HooRU

I like women as I’m straight, but that chain is downright dumb. When I was 20, I went to a dentist that had very pretty assistents, but I realized what was happening to me and grew out of it. I can’t imagine the place is that popular.

The other day when my friend and I went to Boston to buy guitar gear (I got a dream guitar, one that had been stolen from me when I was 17 or 18), we stopped at Cracker Barrel. Yuch. Chain restaurants are just garbage. I’ve worked for food chains a few times and I know what crap they put in the “food”.

What I like about where I reside now, there are a great deal of indy restaurants that use good ingredients and cook with love.

You won’t see me at Hooverville (hooters or whatever) ever if I can help it.

egeezer

px_eliezer_ clearly was popular until it petered out….

So to speak …

takeahike

broknsymetry

An old girlfriend took me there. She figured I wouldn’t notice anything.😂