I for one shake my head in wonderment every time I’m reminded Hooters is still around. The oft-demonized resto chain started as a family ‘beach club’-themed spot. But it’s gone through a number of ‘reimaginings’, And Hooters is now segueing back to a ‘family place’…
Original Hooters Girls: Personifying a wholesome, ‘beach bar’ concept?
Throughout its many metamorphoses, the chain has stuck with its original ‘owl’ logo. The double ‘O’ in the name, which was intended to represent owl eyes, also reminded some folks of… something else more closely associated with the scantily-clad all-female serving staff…
The chain pretty much hit bottom in 2025, when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and was sold to a new owner who set about evolving the brand’s image yet again.
Today…
Hooters is in the midst of a facelift – both thematically and physically. New CEO Neil Kiefer says the brand has ‘drifted too far from its original beach bar concept’. An assertion which no one who is familiar with the story would argue with.
Keifer told PEOPLE magazine his vision for Hooters is, “a beach-themed place centred around the Hooters Girls, good food, [and being an] easy place to relax.”
But at the same time, he wants it to be, “a neighbourhood place that many families frequent, and singles and couples.” Hooters original menu featured Wings, Burgers and Shrimp. The new menu will revive that emphasis.
Though the Hooters Girls did cover up more as time went on, Keifer says he’s planning to revert to a uniform style more like the original ‘hot pants’ and t-shirts.
As of a recent New York Times report, the new ownership has acquired around 140 locations that it intends to ‘re-Hooter-ize’ in its first round of ‘renewals’.
About those uniforms…
There was an internal fight about the skimpy uniforms a few years ago, Keifer says. Seems some franchisees were operating under their own set of rules – including uniform requirements.
When the resto first opened in the mid-80s, the girls wore ‘dolphin’ running shorts, which Keifer says were commonly used as swimsuit coverups. “It was a sporty athletic look at the time, and I think in the last 10 or 15 years, a lot of the country has seen a more sexualized version of that,” Kiefer ex-plained.
“[The rogue franchisees] had changed the uniforms of the girls, and put them in almost what ap-peared to be a thong,” Keifer explained. “That chased away a lot of customers.”
No kidding.
My take
Keifer, now 74, was a young lawyer when he joined the Hooters organization at the beginning, in 1983. He rose to CEO by 1992. And then things started to fall apart. He seems determined to get the concept he co-created back on the rails.
We’ll see…
~ Maggie J.