Friendly's restaurant chain files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, closes 63 stores

[The Straight Story]

Is Nostalgia Enough To Save Friendly's?

Ever since two brothers opened the first Friendly's ice cream shop in Massachusetts 75 years ago, the company has been serving up as much "family and feel good" as it has french fries and frappes.

"My grandma would take me and my brother out, and we would always get the watermelon slice," says 23-year-old Lisa Lane. "Ah! The watermelon slice!"

Fans like Lane helped Friendly's expand to more than 600 locations by the 1980s. The chain filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, news that the iconic ice cream parlor may be heading for bankruptcy drew a visceral reaction at a Friendly's in Watertown, Mass.

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/05/141062091/is-nostalgia-enough-to-save-friendlys

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Friendlys also could whip up a pretty tasty breakfast.

[jtown1123]

2. Probably not. all the ones I've been to have been very poorly run.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. ate at one once. There was a reason for

my not becoming a repeat customer. The service was horrible, the food sucked.

[ChoppinBroccoli]

4. Friendly's Still EXISTS???

I remember eating at a Friendly's when I was a kid, and I always thought the food was pretty good (and the ice cream was VERY good). I haven't even SEEN a Friendly's in probably 10-15 years. I would go back and eat there just for the ice cream if I ever found one, though.

That's kinda like Rax. I used to love Rax, then they all disappeared.

[ohiosmith]

5. Went to one a few years ago near Buffalo. It was disgusting. Lousy food, filthy restaurant, terrible

service. Good riddance.

[FarCenter]

6. Friendly’s closes 63 stores as ice cream chain files for bankruptcy

In a recent survey published last month by Nation’s Restaurant News, Friendly’s ranked 10th among 12 chains across the country in a consumer-preference survey. Friendly’s scored poorly on questions on value, food quality, and reputation. Only one chain among the dozen ranked lower when consumers were asked if they were likely to return.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/businessupdates/2011/10/friendly-close-stores-ice-cream-chain-files-for-bankruptcy/Edfvs887yD2ypHaYmyZBRN/index.html

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The founders sold the chain to Hersheys in '79. Hersheys exited in the late '80s and it underwent expansion and a hype cycle in the '90. Since then it has pretty much languished. Owned by buyout specialist now. About half the restaurants are owned and the rest are franchise operations.

[Major Hogwash]

7. It was the only restaurant that offered so many flavors of ice cream. I loved it when I went there.

It's sort of odd that I always get hooked going to stores and restaurants that are old fashioned or going to close.
Like Red Lobster.
It was a great restaurant, but it only lasted here a few years.

Maybe it was the times that we had there that made it seem so great, that we didn't pay much attention to the service or the quality of the meals themselves.

[Sinistrous]

8. Friendly's hasn't been the same since the brothers sold the chain.

They used to be wonderful places to go, but they really went down hill when the bean counters took over.

[DainBramaged]

9. When my beautiful daughter was little, we ate at a Friendly's at the mall every week in the 90's

when she was old enough to work at the mall about 2004, she let me know that the Friendly's was the last place she would ever eat again because it had turned into a shithole.


I still have fond memories of her and Mom and I sharing a huge sundae after eating, and the prices were good.

[lapislzi]

10. Where, oh where, will I get my Fishamajig?

Seriously...Friendly's was a weekly treat with Grandma when I would spend summers with her in New Jersey in the 70s. She would have the Swiss Chocolate Almond sundae, and I'd have hot fudge.

The last time I went to a Friendly's was about 10 years ago. The service was terrible and the restaurant wasn't clean.

[Old and In the Way]

11. Pretty much my recollection of Friendlys...they made a damn good HFS.

In the 70's, I lived close by to a Friendly's and I preferred their breakfasts/lunches to the fast food places that were already springing up all over the place. Sadly, it's been at least a decade for me as well since my last visit to a Friendly's. Another signpost from the past is gone...