Panda Express has signed a lease to take over the former TGI Fridays property at 17840 Garland Groh Blvd in Hagerstown, filling a storefront that sat empty since the casual-dining chain's restaurant there closed. The site sits directly in front of a Walmart and offers visibility from both Interstate 81 and Route 40, placing the new restaurant in one of Hagerstown's major retail corridors.
The lease was reported by Thomas English of Hilco Real Estate, who noted the property was acquired less than a year before the lease announcement. According to that account, the deal is meant to transform what had been a vacant restaurant site into, in the poster's words, “a long-term, value-generating asset for the community.” The same post gave credit to Jake Wilson and John Schultz of H&R Retail for helping bring Panda Express to the location, adding, “We look forward to seeing Panda Express open its doors.” No opening date has been announced.
Why the TGI Fridays Space Sat Empty
The Hagerstown TGI Fridays, located in the Centre at Hagerstown in the city's West End, closed in January 2025, as The Herald-Mail reported at the time. The closure came after TGI Fridays filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the previous fall, a filing that involved 39 U.S. restaurant locations owned by TGI Fridays Inc. Property records listed the site's owner as NADG NNN TGIF (HAG-MD) LP, a Dallas, Texas-based entity, according to the same report. Per The MoCo Show, the Hagerstown location had directed customers to other TGI Fridays restaurants in Frederick, Winchester and Gettysburg after it shut its doors.
The Hagerstown closure happened around the same time as another TGI Fridays closure in Maryland. The Rockville Pike location, at 12147 Rockville Pike in the Pike Center, also permanently closed in January 2025, and according to The MoCo Show, no new tenant has been announced for that site. A separate report from Store Reporter noted that the Rockville Pike and Hagerstown closures both followed the bankruptcy filing, while locations in Silver Spring and Greenbelt remained open at that time. Other TGI Fridays restaurants, including one in the White Oak area at 12281 Tech Rd and one in Frederick, also stayed open.
A Second Panda Express Already in the Works Nearby
This is not the only Panda Express headed to Hagerstown. The Herald-Mail reported in April 2024 that a separate Panda Express was planned for part of a parking lot across a Valley Park Commons entryway from the Chick-fil-A on Wesel Boulevard, with that location expected to open by summer 2025. That earlier project called for two drive-thru lanes for ordering that would merge into a single lane for food pickup, with an approved site plan showing driveways on the Sam's Club side of the lot and a third on the southwest side. Whether that Wesel Boulevard location opened on schedule has not been confirmed.
For now, the Garland Groh Boulevard storefront remains the more immediate development, with a signed lease in place but no construction timeline or opening date made public. The spot's location in front of a major Walmart and along a heavily traveled stretch near I-81 and Route 40 gives the fast-casual chain a prominent foothold in a part of Hagerstown that has seen significant retail turnover since the TGI Fridays bankruptcy.
