There's no denying that Hooters with its scantily-clad waitresses and looks-based hiring practices
has always targeted a certain client base.
It's hard to believe the chain's been doing it for more than 30 years, but according to
USA Today, Hooters is in a slump.
There's only one year in recent memory that the chicken wing slinger saw a sales increase,
and even then it was just one percent.
In 2008, there were 400 Hooters restaurants.
By 2011, 35 locations had closed and the company lost an annual revenue of more than $100 million.
According to Business Insider, between 2012 and 2016 they closed a further seven percent
of their locations.
So what's going on with this bro-centric chain?
Boycotts and protests
You know what's not good for any company's image?
People staging protests and picketing your plans to open new locations.
That's exactly what happened when Hooters announced it was expanding in the UK.
In 2010, protesters started campaigning against the imminent opening of a Hooters in Cardiff,
with one spokesperson saying,
"Everyone should have a job but they should be good jobs with dignity.
Not only is it a sexist institution, but it encourages a sexist culture."
According to The Telegraph, in 2010 British retailer Marks & Spencer was threatened with
boycott when a Bristol location announced they would sublet space to Hooters.
A Birmingham location was only open for a year before closing, and Sheffield's Hooters
got such strong opposition that it never even opened.
I just came to eat some wings.
And these people are out here telling me I'm a w--- and going to hell and stuff."
Times have changed
Hooters' message of objectifying women has never looked more dated than it does post-2017.
Thanks to movements like Me Too and Time's Up, the world is listening to women who are
sick and tired of suffering sexual assault and harassment in silence.
And that makes the hot pants and low-cut tops of Hooters' waitresses even more uncomfortable.
The presence of a Hooters restaurant and an increase in the potential for sexual assault
was connected by Cathy Jamieson, deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party, who told The
Independent,
"Violence against women is a big problem, and these types of establishments do nothing
to promote equality of women in the workplace."
Psychological toll
Not only are we more aware of sexual harassment these days, we're also more aware of the damage
that can be done by objectifying women.
In 2015, faculty from the University of Tennessee's psychology department set out to discover
what impact working in a Hooters environment had on waitress's mental health, and the findings
were pretty disturbing.
According to The Conversation, all the waitresses they interviewed suffered from some degree
of depression, anxiety, anger, confusion, and feelings of degradation.
They also reported feeling demeaned on a regular basis, suffering from poor work relationships,
and becoming more susceptible to eating disorders.
Legal discrimination
Today, headlines are dominated with movements to give women equal rights, equal pay, and
equal opportunities… and that makes it pretty weird that Hooters is legally allowed to discriminate
during the hiring process.
Business Insider looked at why Hooters can get away with only hiring young, well-endowed
women as servers.
In 1997, two men sued the company after being turned away on the basis of their gender.
Hooters settled, but was not forced to employ men as servers.
The chain claimed it wasn't hiring waitresses, it was hiring "entertainers" who didn't interview
as much as "audition."
Hooters did agree, however, to offer some gender-neutral positions.
Casual dining
Part of Hooters' struggles is a decline in the industry that's also affecting its competitors.
Chains like Applebee's and Outback Steakhouse are closing, too, and these places all have
something in common: millennials just don't like their style.
According to Business Insider, millennials in particular are abandoning casual dining
restaurants in favor of fast-casual chains like Chipotle, meal delivery services, and
trendier new chains like wine bars.
In 2013, USA Today looked at how Hooters was trying to get more millennials in the door,
and the chain started by overhauling locations with new technology, outdoor seating areas,
and better AV systems for more sports.
Hoots
Another reason Hooters restaurants may keep disappearing is because in their place, their
parent company is trying out a fast-casual version of the chain called Hoots.
Hoots has a smaller menu and counter service for take-out and dine-in customers and Hooters
higher-ups are hoping that will get millennials in the door.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, they're also hoping that switching to employing both
men and women and dressing them a little more modestly will help shift their image to something
a bit more wholesome.
Depending on how well Hoots does, it could mean a few different things.
The two versions of the chain may coexist, or the entire chain might be rebranded into
Hoots.
Only time will tell if this fast-casual, more conservatively-dressed restaurant can save
the brand.