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Two pilots walk past the Bon Voyage retail store at the entrance to the B Concourse at Pittsburgh International Airport.
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TGI Fridays being forced out at Pittsburgh International Airport

Bill Wade/Post-Gazette

TGI Fridays being forced out at Pittsburgh International Airport

TGI Fridays has gotten its pink slip at Pittsburgh International Airport.

After 25 years, the restaurant chain is being forced to close its three locations there when its leases expire at the end of December.

The operator of the franchises — The Bistro Group based in Cincinnati, Ohio — isn’t happy about leaving.

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“We don’t want to come out of the airport. This isn’t our choice at all,” said Daryl Beckles, director of human resources for Bistro Group. “We tried for more than two years to renew our lease, even to keep one unit,” she said.

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Airmall Pittsburgh, which operates the concessions at the airport, confirmed that it declined to renew the leases.

“Our focus has been on bringing in more local brands to give passengers a sense of place and the opportunity to experience our region’s rich offerings,” Airmall Pittsburgh said in an emailed statement.

“We thank [TGI Fridays] for their years of service and being a part of the airport’s growth and success.”

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The company said it expected to announce replacements for the locations “in the near future.”

It said the roughly 70 TGI Fridays employees being displaced would be offered jobs with other food and retail operators at the airport.

Ms. Beckles said employees also were being offered jobs at Bistro Group’s eight other TGI Fridays locations in the Pittsburgh area, but believed that most employees would prefer to continue working at the airport.

TGI Fridays has locations in Concourse A, Concourse D and in the main area of the airside terminal known as the center core, where customers can eat their meals while watching airplanes taxiing to their gates.

Altogether, Bistro Group operates 21 TGI Fridays restaurants in four states.

Patricia Sabatini: PSabatini@post-gazette.com; 412-263-3066.

First Published: November 2, 2017, 8:43 p.m.

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