Hooters is revamping its menus and its controversial staff attire as the company’s owners desperately try to save the beleaguered chain.
Known for the revealing white and orange outfits worn by its servers, the brand was reacquired by its original owners after it filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.
Now, Original Hooters LLC wants to scrub away some of the more polarising aspects of its brand and will begin that process by ditching its servers’ orange shorts, in a process owners are calling “re-Hooterization.”
After gradually getting shorter and shorter over the years, the garments will be replaced with the original athletic shorts used by Hooters in the 1980s, according to Fox Business.
And the weekly bikini nights held in its restaurants will be discontinued too, a move which Jordan Lee, a brand specialist at The PR Group, told Fox Business was a smart decision.
"Gen Z and Gen Alpha are showing a clear decline in sexual prurience, and as the ‘dirty old man’ demographic ages out, restaurant chains are going to have to compete on the strength of their food and the quality of the overall experience," Lee said.
“Younger consumers care about authenticity, inclusivity, and the dining experience itself,” he added. “Focusing on food, service, and atmosphere will do far more for the brand than a reliance on outdated sexual gimmicks."
Neil Kiefer, a 73-year-old lawyer running the brand, put it more simply.
“I don’t think you’re going to see a bunch of butt cheeks hanging out,” he told the New York Post.
The overhaul will also involve streamlining its restaurants’ menus and swapping frozen wings for fresh ones, as part of an effort to use “higher quality ingredients.”
Charity work will become a priority too, as the rebrand offers an “opportunity to return” to its charitable roots, according to Hooters of America CEO Sal Melilli.
"We do programs like Wings for Children, for education,” Melilli told Fox Business. “We sponsor first responders.
“We do Veterans' days, breast cancer programs with the V Foundation, the Moffitt Cancer [Center], Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital.”
Original Hooters LLC agreed to buy back some of the company’s restaurants after the chain filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. Now, Original Hooters runs 140 of the company’s 198 locations in the United States.
Before filing for bankruptcy, Hooters had battled with rising costs, mounting debt and declining footfall. Over 50 of the company’s sites were shuttered in March, as the bankruptcy crisis raged.
The company opened its first sports bar in 1983 and has undergone many changes, including the controversial introduction of micro-shorts in 2021, which critics described as “porn” and “embarrassing.”
Executives told The New York Post that they did not want to abandon Hooter’s identity. Instead, they wanted to transform the company into a “fun” hangout for families and longtime fans.
