Hooters emerges from bankruptcy with founding group CEO focused on original food

As Hooters emerges from chapter beneath new management, the restaurant chain’s CEO says the corporate’s future depends upon one thing deceptively easy: returning the model to its roots.

That begins with the meals.

Neil Kiefer, CEO of the Florida-based founding group Hooters which, together with one other franchisee, received again management of the model from non-public equity-backed Hooters of America, informed Fox Information Digital that many purchasers have not seen the true menu in many years.

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“I can let you know that of the 110 shops we acquired, [those locations] I have not had the unique sauce in 20 years,” he mentioned.

The corporate needed to filter out inherited stock “that didn’t meet our specs” earlier than restoring the recipes to their authentic “taste profiles,” Kiefer mentioned.

Hen wings are a preferred menu selection at Hooters, however the CEO informed Fox Information Digital in an interview that many places “have not had the unique sauce on them in 20 years.” (Peter Burke/Fox Information Digital)

Kiefer referred to as the unique Hooters sauce “a craveable sauce” that was lacking in sure places from El Paso, Texas, to Fairfax, Virginia.

“That they had a substitute sauce, which wasn’t the true sauce,” Kiefer mentioned. “It is the desirability that makes our meals so good.”

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To make sure consistency, Hooters has shaped a brand new meals process committee, which now contains franchisees who beforehand had no say in menu selections, Kiefer mentioned.

“All of us run the identical shops,” Kiefer mentioned, describing a system of obligatory, non-compulsory and regional menu gadgets designed to re-establish uniformity amongst markets.

Hooters has shaped a brand new meals process committee to assist obtain continuity with the menu. (Peter Burke/Fox Information Digital)

The model’s “re-Hooterization,” as Kiefer calls it, additionally contains undoing what he described as years of missteps in tone and presentation.

A few of the shops Hooters not too long ago regained had ended up in what he bluntly calls “little boys’ membership shops,” the place the eating expertise went too far towards sexualization.

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Uniforms had been a flashpoint. Hooters of America launched tighter shorts that led to a backlash from workers, Kiefer mentioned.

“They actually weren’t given a selection,” Kiefer mentioned of Hooters’ servers. He mentioned they had been “ashamed” to put on the uniform.

The brand new administration has traded them in for an “athletic look,” modeled after the model’s authentic dolphin shorts, which Kiefer says are “sporty in nature.”

However he insisted Hooters shouldn’t be revealing its id.

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“There’s nothing mistaken with being a sexy girl,” Kiefer mentioned.

Though bikini competitions in eating places are a factor of the previous, the swimsuit calendar stays, he added.

Hooters waitress Alli Lamb poses with a signed 2025 swimsuit calendar on the Boca Raton, Florida location. She seems on the again of the calendar. (Peter Burke/Fox Information Digital; Hooters)

“This was the lady subsequent door, the cheerleader…possibly not as prevalent as it’s in right now’s society, however we nonetheless assume it is an iconic individual in our society,” Kiefer mentioned.

One of many chain’s most dependable goal teams right now consists of adults over 60 years outdated.

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Hooters opened its first restaurant in 1983 — many in that demographic grew up with the model and now have the money and time to eat out repeatedly, Kiefer mentioned.

They “in lots of circumstances have extra disposable {dollars} and like to not eat at dwelling,” he mentioned.

Hooters opened its first location in 1983. A Hooters waitress is taken into account “the lady subsequent door” — nonetheless “an iconic individual in our society,” CEO Neil Kiefer mentioned. (Torin Halsey/Occasions Document Information)

Hooters gives an environment that’s “snug, but not too stuffy,” Kiefer mentioned. He believes it is a spot to observe a sport whereas the “grandkids can run round.”

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The brand new Hooters in The Villages, Florida, retirement neighborhood has turn out to be a weekly six-figure retailer because it opened in June, Kiefer mentioned.

“We wish to get the model proper once more all over the place.”

However growth shouldn’t be a precedence for Hooters’ new management, Kiefer mentioned.

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Earlier than Kiefer’s group reopens markets that beforehand had a Hooters or seems for brand spanking new franchisees, it desires to stabilize operations and rebuild confidence.

Some Hooters places, like this one in Tallahassee, Florida, had been completely closed. (Kyla Sanford/Tallahassee Democrat/USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Photographs)

“We wish to get the model proper once more all over the place… earlier than we begin signing folks up simply to herald cash,” Kiefer mentioned.

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“It is about getting it proper,” he added. ‘We’re not doing this to promote this. I am not a teenager. We began this to maintain this perpetually.”