The Untold Truth Of Hooters

Hooters knows the revealing uniforms of their waitresses don't appeal to everyone, but even if their environment isn't appealing, the chicken wings might be. "Many people wouldn't step foot in our restaurants, but they want our product," said Hooters' Chief Executive Terry Marks. In order to broaden their client base, the franchise announced it was expanding its delivery and pick-up services in January 2018.

"Now if your partner sees a credit card charge that says Hooters, you can say it was delivered," said Clark Wolf, a restaurant consultant.

A class-action lawsuit was brought against Hooters in the '90s, alleging discrimination in their hiring policies. The lawsuit was filed by several men who had been denied jobs by the company. While Hooters paid out a total settlement of $3.75 million and agreed to open up more jobs open to any gender, they were not ordered to hire men as wait staff.

David Sherwyn, a law professor at Cornell University, explained the loophole to Business Insider. While gender-based hiring is generally not allowed under the law, Hooters claimed that hiring women as Hooters Girls is a necessary aspect of their business model. "While we offer world famous wings and burgers, the essence of our business is the Hooters Girl and the experience she provides to our customers," said Hooters in a statement. "Hooters Girls are entertainers. They audition for their roles and, once hired, they must maintain a glamorous appearance, and sing, dance and engage the customers to provide a unique Hooters experience."

While many people might go to Hooters to look at pretty women, a lot of clients really are drawn in by the food — especially their chicken wings. While co-founder Ed Droste admitted that Hooters wasn't the first to serve the boneless chicken wing, he noted they did help to popularize them. "Back then, wings were a throwaway," said Droste. "No one served them anywhere."

Since the restaurant opened in 1983, chicken wings have become a staple in bars everywhere, and still count for a large portion of Hooters' sales.

Hooters offers excellent benefits to their employees, including help with paying for school. Courtney Dietz, who worked for Hooters for several years, told Cosmopolitan about her experience working at the restaurant. "Hooters helps pay for books and schooling, so it's really awesome," she said. "You have to work up to it. If you're there for a year or two, they offer scholarships, too. My managers would let me do homework in the office as long as I was taking care of my tables."

Hooters' business model has proven to be successful for more than three decades, but nothing lasts forever. Lately, they've had trouble gaining a following among the millennial generation, causing a dip in sales. This could be for a couple of reasons. Millennials are less likely to frequent casual dining chains than people of their parents' generation. They are also "less interested in breasts than their elders," said Business Insider, which does not bode well for a casual dining chain which entices many of its customers with the cleavage-baring uniforms worn by their servers. 

Millennial attitudes are a big change from previous generations, and are forcing Hooters to rethink their brand. The franchise is working on expanding their menu and updating their decor to appeal to the younger demographic. "For years they've only been working toward Generation X, but now they need to try to get millennials to come through the doors," Darren Tristano, who works for a food industry consulting company called Technomic, told Time.