Friendly's

[Zayre88]

Fire Destroys Friendly's Restaurant In Concord NH

7:29 am EDT October 3, 2009

CONCORD, N.H. -- Investigators are trying to determine the cause of an overnight fire that destroyed the Friendly's Restaurant on Loudon Road in Concord early Saturday morning.

http://www.wmur.com/news/21190760/detail.html

[GothicPrincess]

that's so sad about that restaurant. I read the article, and seen the pictures they had in it. Glad no one got hurt though

[wwefan101]

 thers avid of it on youtube

[Zayre88]

Originally posted by GothicPrincess
that's so sad about that restaurant. I read the article, and seen the pictures they had in it. Glad no one got hurt though

I agree, I've had breakfast there in July 2008 when I took this picture.  Like I've read in one article, the place was "friendly", calm and food was good.  Nice to know they will re-open, but that feeling might not be there.  

However, the new restrurantit will be the new Friendly's concept, so I can't wait to see what it is.

[wwefan101]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PpU8dOgiPg i found this vid of that friendys on youtube

[Zayre88]

Did Friendly's ever had Drive-Thrus ?  It looks like this location in Dover Nh had one:

[BillyGr]

Did Friendly's ever had Drive-Thrus ?  It looks like this location in Dover Nh had one:

Sure looks like it was one (even the lane with the arrow pointing toward it).  I've never seen one with a drive thru though - only a few that have a separate area enclosed for walk in orders (ice cream mainly, but other items can be ordered for take-out).

Maybe this building was something else before Friendly's?

[Zayre88]

From the outside and inside, it looks like an original Friendly's.  Maybe the building was a bank but the arrow on the ground would have been removed a long time ago...

[TRJ22487]

From the outside and inside, it looks like an original Friendly's.  Maybe the building was a bank but the arrow on the ground would have been removed a long time ago...

That is strange, however I have seen one Little Caesar's with a drivethru and never another, so I suppose there can be abnormalities. I find it hard to imagine it would be for anything other than ice cream, but who wants to eat ice cream in their car? Odd.

[Crawford]

The Friendlys on Newport Avenue in Rumford RI had a drive thru when they first opened. One could order from the full menu then they cut it back to just ice cream and eventually did away with it.

[greg8370]

The one on West Main street in Norwich, CT recently had to close because of a fire

[nysw3636]

The Friendly's on South Road (RT.9) in Poughkeepsie,NY closed on April 24, 2011. Lease expired is reason for closure. Other locations near Poughkeespie that are still open are Kingston, Newburgh, and Fishkill...

[Bdubs]

Friendly's that burned in Norwich is scheduled to re-open in the fall of this year.

[d_fife]

Friendly's that burned in Norwich is scheduled to re-open in the fall of this year.

why do Friendly's  burn? First Concord Nh now this

[Bdubs]

Friendly's in Norwich just reopened last week. 
The new decor and styling inside is great.  I haven't been in another Friendly's other than the one on the opposite side of town in close to 10 years though.  Maybe I'm just used to the local drab style.

[retailisking]

A typical Sun Capital scam: take a company private, load it up with debt, collect huge management fees then go Chapter 11.  The more things change...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204138204576601232726499962.html

By MIKE SPECTOR

The Friendly's restaurant chain is preparing for a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and potential sale, said people familiar with the matter.

Friendly Ice Cream Corp., which employs roughly 10,000 people and operates more than 500 restaurants known for sundaes and hamburgers, could seek protection from creditors as soon as next week, the people said.

The Wilbraham, Mass.-based company would then try to sell itself through a bankruptcy auction, the people said.

A slumping U.S. economy has forced many consumers to dine out less frequently, crimping Friendly's sales just as rising prices for corn, butter and other ingredients drained its cash.

The company's struggles are familiar to many restaurant chains, from Quiznos to Sbarro, that have endured a similar squeeze.

Friendly's, which carries more than $250 million in debt, is in talks with Wells Fargo & Co. for about $70 million in so-called debtor-in-possession financing that would keep it afloat during bankruptcy proceedings, the people said. The bankruptcy financing would consist of about $25 million in new funds and other existing debt that would "roll up" into the new loan, the people said. Wells Fargo declined to comment.

Sun Capital Partners Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla., buyout firm with a history of restaurant deals, paid $130.81 million in cash for all of Friendly's stock in 2007. The private-equity firm is also a Friendly's creditor.

Some of Sun's other investments include Boston Market Corp. and Real Mex Restaurants. Real Mex, like Friendly's, is pursuing a debt restructuring.

Sun could put in a "credit bid" for Friendly's by forgiving debt in exchange for retaining ownership, the people said.

A Friendly's spokeswoman didn't provide a comment. Sun Capital didn't respond to requests for comment.

Friendly's hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis and Zolfo Cooper, a turnaround advisory firm, to negotiate with creditors and prepare its bankruptcy filing, the people said.

Declining sales, meanwhile, have triggered a condition in a Wells Fargo credit line that prevents Friendly's from borrowing as much as it would like, the people said. Friendly's has about $3.5 million in available cash between its borrowing abilities and cash on hand, one of these people said. That is enough for Friendly's to operate in the near term, this person said.

Friendly's already owes another $30 million or so to Wells Fargo.

Separately, it also carries roughly $225 million in secured bond debt owed to Sun, its private-equity owner.

Friendly's began as a small ice cream shop opened by two brothers during the Great Depression in Springfield, Mass. It later added hamburgers and started expanding along the East Coast through the 1950s and 1960s.

By the 1970s, the company operated hundreds of locations in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. In 1979, the Blake brothers who founded the company sold it to Hershey. It changed hands again in the 1980s before Sun's eventual buyout in 2007.

â€"Shira Ovide contributed to this article.

Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com

The scam could involve dumping debt and re-buying the company on the cheap...
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/09/30/cream-kills-the-friendlys-spiral/

A Friendly's spokesperson says the "High 5" promotion of $5 menu items is being well-received; the first time I saw it I thought it was a sign of desperation...guess I wasn't wrong about that!
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9Q2G3301.htm

[shore72]

We used to eat at the Seaford,DE location on a regular basis but my wife began to like it less and less. Not clean enough and the service wasn't what it should have been. They still seem to be doing well without us! I seem to recall them having had a drive through at one time. It was mentioned about a Little Caeser's drive through, and the LC in Seaford has one of those, as well.

[retailisking]

Ground Round redux: Friendly's files Chapter 11, abruptly closes 63 restaurants -  full list here:
http://www.boston.com/Boston/businessupdates/2011/10/friendly-files-for-bankruptcy-delaware/sTYrWP648dshtzFjVqSqcP/index.html

[retailisking]

Since no other suitors stepped forward (and why would they when Sun Capital had the inside track all along) the only restructuring plan on the table is approved by the judge overseeing Friendly's Chapter 11 case.  With the sham auction out of the way, hopefully Sun Capital will invest in the brand.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204720204577128813255393348.html

[ynkeesfn82]

Friendly's closed more restaurants last night. Some were in the Albany, NY area. Some in the Springfield, Mass area including the one at the Holyoke Mall.

http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Friendly-s-closes-5-more-stores-2449649.php
http://www.wggb.com/2012/01/09/friendlys-closes-additional-springfield-area-locations/

[ynkeesfn82]

CT area locations closed too.

[ynkeesfn82]

From FOX 61 WTIC-TV here are the 9 Connecticut locations that closed:

Branford, Leetes Island Rd.

Clinton, West Main St.

Glastonbury, Main Street

Manchester, Spencer Street

Middletown, Washington Plaza

North Haven, Washington Avenue

Norwich, West Main Street

Wallingford, North Colony Road

Waterbury, Watertown Ave.


This would be the 2nd Friendly's in Waterbury to close.

[Bdubs]

Very surprised at the Norwich closing.  There are two in Norwich, and both are top performers in the Northeast.  I suppose they figured if they just close one, customers will just travel across town to the one still open.

[retailisking]

This was published back in November, but it's worth mentioning now in light of the events of the last couple of days; I wonder how many of these above-market leases were formerly Friendly's-owned properties...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eileen-appelbaum/no-happy-ending-for-frien_b_1105278.html

A total of 37 stores closed in this phase of the "restructuring"

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2012/01/09/friendly-stores-closed/dvFCTBhKMkMoJ1k31A9D6K/story.html

Friendly’s Ice Cream shuttered another 37 stores yesterday, including 10 in Massachusetts, before emerging from bankruptcy protection today, the company said in a statement. Here is a list of those stores:

Massachusetts

Bedford - Great Road
Great Barrington - Stockbridge Road
Holyoke - Holyoke Mall
Longmeadow - Bliss Road
Mansfield - School Street
Shrewsbury - Route 9
Springfield - Page Boulevard
Springfield - Cooley
Westborough - Turnpike Road
Worcester - Chandler Street

Connecticut

Branford - Leetes Island Road
Clinton- W. Main Street
Glastonbury - Main Street
Manchester - Spencer Street
Middletown - Washington Plaza
North Haven - Washington Avenue
Norwich - West Main Street
Wallingford - North Colony Road
Waterbury - Watertown Avenue

Maine

Portland - 139 Riverside Street

New Hampshire

Exeter - Portsmouth Avenue
Keene - West Street Plaza

Vermont

Colchester - Mountainview Drive
South Burlington - 1 Dorset Street

Florida

Daytona - International Speedway
Kissimmee - West Vine Street

New York

Albany - Central Avenue
Colonie - Colonie Ctr
Glenville - Saratoga Road
Latham - Troy Schenectady Road
Latham - New Loudon Road

Pennsylvania

Carlisle - Walnut Bottom Road
Clarks Summit - Northern Boulevard Routes 6&11
Dallas - Route 309 & Route 415
Hanover - North Hanover Mall
Palmyra- East Main Street

Pennsylvania

Franklin Street (this partial address is as published by the Globe; no idea what city or town it's in...)

[Zayre88]

Exeter, Keene and Portland all gone...

The chain has less and less footprint in Northern New England.... out of Portsmouth, Bangor,Lewiston/Auburn...

[retailisking]

Friendly's and Burger King are experimenting with a co-branding format that combines BK food and Friendly's ice cream
http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-27/business/30666888_1_ice-cream-whopper-new-location

[ynkeesfn82]

The one that closed at the KMART Plaza in Waterbury, CT looked like a nice one. They were the first location in Waterbury to close. The sign in the window says visit our nearest location on Watertown Avenue in Waterbury. That location has since closed too.  :D

[Bdubs]

The Friendly's on West Main St. in Norwich was the one they just remodeled after a fire had shut it down for a while.  Crazy.  They haven't even been reopened for a year.  I can't believe they would go through all that trouble to practically rebuild a whole new restaurant, then close it. 

However, the one on the other side of town hasn't been redone in ages and has survived the closures.

[buzz86us]

Friendly's has completely moved out of the Albany Area not one to be found.

[retailisking]

Friendly's has completely moved out of the Albany Area not one to be found.

Troy, Clifton Park and East Greenbush aren't considered the Albany area?