Anita Phillips Named President and Chief Operating Officer of T.G.I. Friday's® USA Company-Owned Restaurants

CARROLLTON, Texas, Feb. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- T.G.I. Friday's®, the casual dining leader, today announced Anita Phillips as the president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday's USA company-owned restaurants. She has been serving in this role on an interim basis since November 2010 and will report to Nick Shepherd, president and chief executive officer of Carlson Restaurants, parent company of T.G.I. Friday's, and serve on the executive team.

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Phillips will be fully responsible for leading and executing strategy across the 300 company-owned Friday's restaurants throughout the US, ensuring guests enjoy the legendary "In Here, It's Always Friday" experience.

Phillips will serve alongside Lee Sanders, president of Friday's USA franchise business, as they strive towards delivering Friday's Ambition 2015 goals of being the guest-preferred restaurant and bar, the employer of choice and the investment opportunity of choice in the industry.

"Anita has an infectious energy that embodies what T.G.I. Friday's represents," said Shepherd. "Her broad business and management experience makes her highly qualified for this position. Anita is a natural leader, which enables her to engage the right people in doing the right things to deliver the right results."

Phillips has worked for Minneapolis-based Carlson for more than 20 years. She has served in various leadership positions including chief financial officer for Carlson Marketing, vice president, finance and strategic sourcing for Carlson, group finance director for Carlson Leisure Group in the United Kingdom and vice president for Carlson Travel Group. She began her career at Carlson as assistant corporate controller. Phillips is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.

Most recently, Phillips was the senior vice president and chief financial officer for Carlson Restaurants. She resides in Lewisville, Texas, with her husband Jim and daughters Marie and Nicole.

About T.G.I. Friday's

T.G.I. Friday's restaurants offer authentic American food and exciting drinks in an atmosphere that provides an energizing Friday feeling – any day of the week. Friday's guest recognition program, Give Me More Stripes®, rewards our loyal guests with great deals and fun events year-round, creating an engaging customer experience. As the original casual dining restaurant, T.G.I. Friday's differentiates itself with a unique point of view which promises to exhilarate its guests with the feeling of Friday. T.G.I. Friday's, which operates more than 900 restaurants in more than 60 countries, is also famous for its knowledgeable and charismatic bartenders, approximately 8,000 of whom compete annually for the title of the "Greatest T.G.I. Friday's Bartender in the World."   

T.G.I. Friday's is part of Carlson, a privately held, global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.  Carlson encompasses more than 1,070 hotels including, Radisson®, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson(SM), Park Inn® and Park Plaza®; more than 900 T.G.I. Friday's restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the global leader in business travel management.  Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and its brands employ about 150,000 people. For more information, visit www.carlson.com or www.fridays.com.

SOURCE T.G.I. Friday's