ATLANTA, July 17 (Our Florida Times) — Hooters is trying to recast itself as a family-friendly neighborhood stop — and employees in South Florida say that part of the brand never went away.
The chain’s chief executive, Neil Kiefer, has said Hooters is returning to what he describes as its original concept: a beach-themed restaurant built around Hooters Girls, food and a place to relax. In interviews with PEOPLE and Fox News Digital, Kiefer said families have always been part of that model. He also said the company is moving away from stores he described as oversexualized or “renegade” and putting more emphasis on food, hospitality and community involvement.
Michela DellaMonica, a company representative, told USA TODAY that the change is a “return to our roots” rather than a major rebrand. She said the company plans family-oriented promotions, including children’s deals.
Why is Hooters talking about families now?
The message comes as the company works through a broader turnaround. Fox News Digital reported in April that Hooters of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of a founder-led buyout and restructuring effort. In that reporting, Kiefer said the company wanted to broaden its appeal while standardizing service across its restaurants.
Kiefer has also said some longtime Hooters features will stay. In earlier reporting by Fox News Digital, he said the company planned to keep the swimsuit calendar and Miss Hooters International Pageant, even as it tried to change the feel of some locations and end weekly bikini nights.
What are South Florida employees saying?
At two Fort Lauderdale locations, Hooters employees Gracie Williams and Micayla Williams told Fox News Digital that families, teenagers, older adults and children have always been welcome, especially during the day and at beach-area restaurants.
Gracie Williams, whom Fox News Digital identified as the July cover model for the Hooters calendar, said she has worked for the company for nearly six years. “Here in South Florida, nothing is changing for us,” she said. “We are the same Hooters girls that we have been from the start.”
She also said, “We get families. We get elderly people. We get teenagers, even kids.”
The employees described their stores as part of the local community, not a new experiment. “We are always building an oasis for others to come,” Williams said in the Fox News Digital report.
How does Florida fit into the turnaround?
Florida keeps coming up in the company’s reset because Kiefer has pointed to the state as an example of the kind of Hooters he wants to restore. In PEOPLE’s reporting, he said Hooters is meant to be “a neighborhood place that many families frequent, and singles and couples,” and that the chain has “always” been that way.
Kiefer also told PEOPLE that stores in Florida and Chicago that were under original ownership were performing better in sales. The New York Times reported that the original owners had acquired about 140 locations as part of the effort to restore the brand’s original identity.
For diners, the practical takeaway is simple: Hooters is trying to tell a different story about itself. The company is not saying it is abandoning wings, beer or the servers known as Hooters Girls. Instead, it is trying to put food, service and a wider customer base back at the center of the brand — while South Florida staff say that local version has been there all along.
