TGI Fridays is planting its flag in a new corner of Europe, signing a development agreement to open 10 restaurants across Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia. The deal, the iconic casual dining brand’s first venture into the Balkans, was announced Friday and marks another step in its global franchise expansion.
The agreement pairs TGI Fridays with Devolli Group, one of the Balkans’ largest diversified business groups, which will develop the 10 restaurants and holds exclusive rights to sub-franchise the brand across the territory. That structure gives the brand a single, well-resourced local partner and a platform to keep growing across Southeast Europe. Founded in 1965, TGI Fridays operates nearly 400 restaurants in almost 40 countries and runs on a franchise-first model supported by global hubs in Dallas, Dubai and London.
Company leaders tied the choice of market to the brand’s identity.
“The Balkans represent one of Europe’s most exciting growth opportunities, combining entrepreneurial energy, a thriving hospitality sector and a culture that values gathering around the table,” Phil Broad, global president of TGI Fridays, said in the announcement. “Devolli Group is the right partner to introduce TGI Fridays to the Balkans. Their market expertise, operational excellence and long-term vision give us tremendous confidence in what we can build together.”
The Balkans deal is the latest move in TGI Fridays’ 1-2-3 Strategic Vision, a plan to operate more than 1,000 restaurants worldwide by 2030. Over the past nine months, the brand has signed development agreements in Kenya and the Maldives and extended partnerships across Peru, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Greece, Cyprus and Spain, adding more than 150 restaurants to its global pipeline. That kind of pace rests on the repeatable systems that let a brand scale cleanly across borders, and it complements an established European footprint that already includes Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Norway and the United Kingdom.
For the local partner, the appeal was the brand’s global recognition.
“We are proud to bring TGI Fridays, one of the world’s most recognized American casual dining restaurant brands, to Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia,” Blerim Devolli, president of Devolli Group, said in the announcement. “This partnership reflects our commitment to investing in world-class brands and delivering exceptional hospitality experiences across the region.”
For a legacy brand, the Balkans agreement shows how franchising fuels international growth without heavy corporate capital. A single experienced operator with sub-franchise rights can seed an entire region, a model that rewards strong local partners over piecemeal deals and the kind of brand strength and long-term economics experienced partners weigh before signing.