T.G.I. Fridays doesn’t open just anywhere. It may not carry the cachet of, say, a Cheesecake Factory or a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, but the restaurant chain has a brand to protect just like anyone else.
That’s why it’s significant that the 56-year-old restaurant chain has chosen District Heights to open its fourth Prince George’s County’s location, scheduled for a ribbon cutting ceremony Saturday and open to the public Monday. The chain also has locations in Greenbelt, Laurel and Bowie.
District Heights is mostly black and households there earn a little more than $62,000 annually, according to the Census Bureau’s American Fact Finder. So while the area’s residents can financially support a mid-priced chain restaurant, the relatively small town — about 6,166 people — might raise an eyebrow.
That is, until you look at a map. Like most things in real estate, it’s location, location, location. District Heights is nicely placed near Andrews Air Force Base, the up-and-coming National Harbor area and is convenient to I-495 and Pennsylvania Avenue, a major traffic artery to D.C.
And we wouldn’t be surprised if Jackmont Hospitality Inc. and T.G.I. Friday’s scored a deal on the property at 5470 Silver Hill Road.
District Heights, meanwhile, gets to brag about wooing a national chain — which will be a welcome addition to the slew of fast-food joints in the area — and adding 170 full- and part-time jobs, according to Prince George’s County officials.
