The Decline of Friendly's Ice Cream...What Happened?
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- Опубліковано 27 чер 2023
- Friendly's is a classic New England chain of restaurants, known for their ice cream, that has been having trouble. Evidenced by closed locations, multiple bankruptcies, and an uncertain future. This video highlights their various owners over the years, while attempting to explain where things went wrong.
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My father was a manager for them who apparently had a reputation for turning stores around. Then they laid him off for... declining sales
That’s sucks Man
The irony….
That wasn't very friendly of them...
He certainly turned their sales around
Sounds like my spouse’s aunt. She was known to be well liked and ran a good store. She ran one of the last ones near us. But she always complained about dealing with higher ups.
As a hard-working but quite poor single mother of three, I was SO grateful for kid’s night and the kid’s menu at Friendly. It was one night a week that I could afford to do something special for them.
@mm0221 it takes $0.00 to mind your business. You ever heard of divorce after having a family and kids? Did you think of possible DV is a reason to leave one's relationship? Quit judging people you don't take care of.
@@msuhurdmeWow you got really butthurt over that
@@msuhurdme He's got every right to comment against poor single mothers. They're helping to destroy this country. You sound like an irresponsible poor single mother or raised by one. May be you should mind your business.
My mom was 15 when I was born, was just her and I growing up together. Growing up, never had my own soda or Cale or whatever, but she def brought me to friendlly`s a bunch. Moms ended up getting a career and was doing good, until the mid 90`s when shit went to hell. Anyway we had that restaurant and it was good as we never ate out. I def what you said. Much better times now, but I won’t forget how shit it was though.
Why do you have 3 kids if you are poor.
Growing up in NY, Friendly’s was the place your parents brought you to celebrate your little achievements as a kid. I loved it there. The food was good and the ice cream was great. Then the restaurants started getting dirty, the food started getting terrible and we stopped going. I recently started heading back to a somewhat local Friendly’s just to see how things were and I was pleasantly surprised that things were clean again and the food was pretty good. I try to go there every once and while to support the business that shared in a lot of my favorite childhood memories. If Friendly’s can hold onto the nostalgia but look to the future, I think they can make it. I sure hope they will
I guess it’s mostly for children and families. But then are people having less families and people are just going to other places to eat
I remember Friendly's growing up in New York. Years later, my wife and I went to one in Florida and the burgers weren't as good as I remember.
Oh, sadly I watched Friendly's leave me before I left Friendly's.
Yes, same here. Report card day andbirthdays.
Same, also Howard Johnsons also gave a meal and a mini cake for kids birthdays. Friendly's was great, great ice cream and food, great patty melts
I grew up in Connecticut, and in my teens Friendly’s was the place to go for ice cream and burgers. This story mirrors much of what happens with American business. Initial owners put their heart and sole into the business not just for the financial rewards, but because they love what they are doing. At some point, accountants take over and management no longer has their eye on the ball….it’s all about balance sheets.
I learned first hand in later years….you cannot run a company without a good accountant but you should never let an accountant run the company. Accountants - and they are like flies in these private equity firms - are all about business….but not about THE business. Two different perspectives.
I agree. It's not just private equity. When companies are publicly traded, stockholders will not tolerate founders' visions and quality service for long. With a few bad quarters, or a publicly traded competitor showing better annual results, the founders and the quality will be shown the door.
Damn good word's my friend, damn good word's
I was an assistant manager at a Friendly's in the mid-1980s. What went wrong was Hershey bought them. The usual: cut costs on ingredients & overhead & facilities, raise prices. Increase profit in the short run by making its reputation eat itself.
Yeah, I grew up in Springfield just a block from that very first shop on Boston Road, so this all hits home for me. When Hershey’s bought them and all this other stuff began appearing on the menu it was really the beginning of the end. They had a successful popular brand and they changed it. No reason to other than greed. They got away with it in the beginning because of the rapid expansion, but as noted here it all caught up to them with the reduced sales per store. Idiotic shortsighted greed. It worked for eight years, but they fatally changed the product. Prime example of FAFO.
Got to agree with you on that. Hersheys started the downward spiral. They were just too large to focus on the food service business. As for the follow-on corporate raiders(Sorry, now called investment groups), they load the companies up with debt, then parachute out leaving a shell of a dying company.
Yep agreed, and now Hershey seems to have it's own problems, Their chocolate and candy bars definitely don't taste as good and are way skimpier then when I was a child. Much of the classic reliable name brand candy today is being made to taste like what we'd expect from cheaper off brands.
Sounds like I-hop also. Gone downhill badly in quality and service.
As a kid in the 1990s there were two near me that were popular. The problem was most people thought of them as ice cream, but they offered a full menu. In addition, the 1990s were the heyday of restaurant chains and most were far better. That plus leveraged buyouts almost never work as it puts debt on the company that is already in trouble.
Once I heard the term "leveraged buyout," I knew things were going to get pretty brutal
Soon as Mike says the word "debt" on this show, we ALL know where this is going.
@@SimuLord Exactly. A repeating theme.
It’s a theme. They NEVER work. Call it a poison pill or a “speedball”. It will make you feel great for 5 minutes (or 2-3 years in retail) and then BOOM…you’re in the hospital or the Doctor is pronouncing you dead 😳😰🫠
I was a waitress at Friendlys from 87 to 91. When I started they had the blue and white checked uniform and the food was pretty basic but good, mostly burgers and fries. As time went on they changed everything, the menu became more complicated and the quality of the food and ice cream really went out the window. During that time some new restaurants had started coming in, like Ruby Tuesday and TGIFridays, and I think the new menu was a poor attempt at trying to replicate that newer kind of restaurant. They would have been better off sticking with what made them popular in the first place.
Ha! I grew up going to Friendly's, and always loved the iconic uniform. I started working there in 87 as well. My 1st yr I got to wear the blue and white houndstooth dress before they "updated" the uniforms, and I felt like I was a part of something special! I totally agree with you-the expansion of the menu was the beginning of the end.
That was my experience too: bigger menu, less quality, kinda dirty. But also it took forever to get your order. At some point no amount of crayons are going to keep the kids entertained while waiting for warmed over food that you could have microwaved at home an hour earlier.
There we have it all above “honest” opinions.
My sentiments as a costumer, I’m not coming back for low quality with a take it or leave it attitude…
Yeah, gumming up the product mix will do that.
That's exactly why Uno Pizzeria, Perkin's, Rainforest Cafe and (ironically) Ruby Tuesday are also falling off: trying to compete with and copy TGI Fridays, Applebee's and Chili's.
I worked in the engineering dept, that developed and built the restaurants, during the years cited in the video. Until Smith’s ownership all the restaurants were mortgage free and didn’t rely on sales to maintain their existence. New buildings were built the same way. Once the stores were mortgaged and the sales couldn’t pay the bills they were closed. Very poor financial activity set the stage for the collapse.
I've got a friendly's story. I closed out my tab and paid with a $20 bill and the manager came out about 10 minutes later and claimed that I gave them a fake $10 bill. The cops surprisingly actually listened to reason when I asked them who would pay with a counterfeit Bill and then sit back and relax and finish their ice cream? I was also able to show them my ATM withdrawal receipt from five minutes before I went in the restaurant and the fact that I only had $20 bills on me
@@account-manager Yeah, but nobody would expect it because it isn't cost effective. Counterfeiting costs too much to produce to justify printing $10 bills.
That is absolutely batsh&t insane. I am glad you didn't have to go to the clink over your Fribble. That guy had to be skimming off the top or one of his employees was. I can't believe the cops came!
You hit on the one of the main reasons it failed, garbage staff. Dropouts and potheads, at best you might get a college girl as your waitress and they didn’t give a shit either. The other problem is the place just has a dirty reputation, because no one cares about the low paid job, dishes are not clean, tables are gross bathrooms are a nightmare. And with all that you then have to sit next to the type of people who need the cheap meal, who let their rat kids run rampant. Who wants to deal with all that? Forget it.
@@account-managerApparently this manager would.
@@jbjacobs9514 someone was running a scam, for sure.
The quality of the food majorly decreased over time along with prices increasing. I consider it mediocre at best at this point. This restaurant chain is a relic of the past that is still limping along somehow. You can tell that they are desperate to save money when they don't even have napkin dispensers at the tables anymore. I'd be surprised if this chain lasts much longer.
All restaurant chains are relics of the past. I refuse to take my family to any chain restaurant anymore. Nothing but terrible service, out-of-stock menu items, and food that is only a shadow of what it once was.
My grandparents took my parents to Friendly's, my parents took me and I took my own kids. My experience during their decline is first that they tried to expand too much. The traditional locations in my area did great but always seemed like the newer locations struggled. At one point, they had three locations in my hometown with two locations within a half mile of each other. Second, they changed. The whole charm of the place was that old timey feel and knowing you could take your kids and they would have the same experience you had as a child. The ones around me started modernizing the decor, made menu changes, tried to add changes in ordering including picking up your own food after ordering electronically. That hurt their business for sure. In the meantime, there is an old school dairy bar similar to Friendly's nearby that hasn't changed a thing in 80 years and they have a line out the door every night.
We have a dairy barn here, too. I always see a line when I drive past it. Friendly's, Sonic, Carvel, etc. have come and gone but the hometown one is still there, for now. 🤞
I worked for Friendly's between 2009-2012 as a Manager on Duty. I worked for a franchise restaurant for a company based out of Rochester, NY. My restaurant was in Oswego, NY; a pretty economically depressed area. Not much competition in the area for anything like it so we didn't have to worry about an Olive Garden or something similar in town. The restaurant itself was pretty run down as I'd have to perform emergency repairs on plumbing and air conditioning, and the freezer and ice maker often broke down as well. In my time working there I was denied the ability to have health insurance, sick days, or a cost of living raise, so my $9.25 hourly wage was all I ever got there. I ended up taking serving shifts in an effort to make tips since that would often bring me more money than being a manager.
The menu was all over the place and we were definitely trying to do too many things. The hope was always to get the customer to dessert so we could get them to the ice cream. If they wanted ice cream then at least their last part of the experience would be good and memorable.
The difference between milkshakes and Fribbles was this: milkshakes were made with hard ice cream and Fribbles were made with soft serve. Extra fun fact: legally, soft serve cannot be called ice cream, because soft serve is not made with enough milk or cream product to qualify as ice cream.
"Manager on Duty"? We didn't have that title at the Massachusetts Friendly's where I worked in the late '70s. That sounds like the role we would have called Shift Supervisor.
When I was there, the difference between milkshake and fribble was that milkshakes were made with ice cream, and fribbles were made with "fribble mix," which was hard serve ice milk. I seem to recall that it was rather bland, with a slight vanilla flavor, and a somewhat choppy (i.e. not at all creamy) texture. It wasn't particularly pleasant to eat by itself, but then again, it wasn't intended to be consumed that way.
That's interesting trivia about soft serve; I didn't know that. One additional bit of Friendly's trivia: when I was there, we didn't serve Coke; we served "Friendly's Cola." Because it wasn't Coke, it would have been fraud for us to represent it as such. For that reason, whenever anyone asked for a Coke, we were required to respond, "Friendly's Cola okay?"
Oh, and BTW... Friendly's Cola consisted of a glass of seltzer water with one pump of cola-flavored syrup mixed in. Kind of gross to think about, LOL.
My family went to Friendly's when I was in elementary school, probably, and the service was so bad that we thought it was funny. It took an hour to get our food and the waitress was angry that the person to take her shift hadn't shown up yet, so she basically threw the food down at us and mumbled "Enjoy your meal," to which my dad enthusiastically responded, "Thank you!" It was memorable because of how bad it was.
Tbf being screwed over and quite possibly having plans for the day is a fucking damn solid reason to be pissed
@@FitzChivalryFarseer2take it out on the other employee not the customers though
Not the customers fault. 😮
@@Hypno_BPM pffft that is pansy shit your saying cause going by OP that is not taking it out on anyone. Doing the job properly... anything else matters fuck all. Only point of waiters is take orders bring food in regards to people
My family also used to go to Friendly's when I was a kid. Whenever we went shopping or to the movies, and my grandmother was with us, she would insist on treating us to Friendly's for lunch. There was a running joke in my family about how long it took to get your food. Also, this was a very long time ago so my memory is very fuzzy. But I remember that I always thought the food at Friendly's was just a tad bit odd. I can't put my finger on why though.
As someone who grew up going to Friendly's, their decline for me started when they tried to do the "I wanna go to Friendly's" ad campaign using those rather disturbing cut and paste children.
It felt creepy and alienating, and I can't imagine I'm the only one who thought that.
Of course I had to look that up. Creepy as all get out 😆
Grew up in Springfield and drove by the headquarters often. My uncle worked there delivering ice cream. Just went there Friday. Still has the best burgers and whole belly clams for the price. Hope they stick around.
I actually loved those commercials! I still sing the song any time Friendly’s is mentioned, lol.
grew up w Friendly's in philly thru the 80s and 90s and dont remember that
I looked it up and I think it's pretty awesome personally. Classic 90s
friendly’s played such a big part of my childhood, we didn’t have a lot of money growing up so whenever we went out to dinner it was such a treat. we had a friendly’s about 10 minutes from our house but it closed down a few years ago. i turned 18 this past may and i don’t know if it was nostalgia or what but for some reason i was just craving that friendly’s environment so we decided to go for some ice cream. the closest one is a good half hour away but it was so worth it. we went inside and ordered some sundaes and it felt like we’d taken a time machine back to the early 2000s. i really hope that location sticks around
Our family found Friendly's in 1986 when we took the kids on a vacation to the historical sites. As Californians, we had never heard of Friendly's before, but we soon were watching for them. A Friendly's was just what our family needed after a day of sightseeing. A few years later in 1990 our daughter's graduating class -- about 30 kids -- went on a Senior Class Trip to Washington, DC. She told the teachers in charge how great Friendly's was and they tried it and it was exactly what a group of hungry high-schoolers needed! I am so glad we experienced it at its best. Once a company starts being run by an enormous organization it won't last long.
I grew up with Friendly's. After every school play or chorus concert, a giant group of us would always end up at Friendly's. The food was honestly a bit on the 'meh' side, not the best quality, but comfort food. But the ice cream was the best. It's one of the few things I miss about moving away from New England, honestly. It's a little sad to hear they're almost gone.
this was literally the tradition, went after any event that involved a large group of kids
Same. I always was down for the Reese's Pieces Sundae. As the brand started to go down I'd often eat dinner some place else then go for a sundae afterwards.
@@jackbits6397 Peanut butter cup for me! It was the only place around that used peanut butter as an ice cream topping, too. I was in heaven!
Same thing in Fayetteville, NY. After every big event -- roller skating party, dance, sports -- we walked down the street, past the cemetery, to Friendly's. I always got the strawberry Fribble with sprinkles and a big plate of crinkle-cut fries. They weren't always so friendly there, though. One evening, a big, round guy in a yellow shirt was treating all the kids badly, so we started singing: "We all hate the yellow submarine..." Also, there was a rumor that the workers would brush dead flies from the window sill directly into the hot fudge. After a three-decade hiatus from going there, we returned, and it wasn't the same. I think I even got the chicken cordon blue that's mentioned in the video. Friendly's had its day, but I think it's over.
My main memory of Friendly’s is the same - it was a special treat you got to enjoy after big events - like a school music concert or sports event. I guess because the parents liked getting a meal while the kids pigged out on ice cream together with friends. You wouldn’t want to bring a pack of kids to Chilis or Applebees. This may have been a blessing and a curse to Friendly’s as a pack of kids probably doesn’t please many of the other guests.
It’s a conundrum - kid friendly places are great when you are a kid - but often not so much for other adults. And occasion places like Chuck-e-cheese that is exclusively a birthday kind of place is a place no one goes to other than at another kids birthday - and the parents probably hated being there.
My grandfather used to take my brother and I to Friendly's for lunch. When we got older, it was just grandpa and I every Tuesday every summer through high school. When he died, I stopped going. Thought I'd wait until I had my own kids to share the same memories with. If Friendly's goes, that'd be devastating, but at least I have such great memories that aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Friendly’s was my first job, 1972 in Lindenhurst NY. The hourly wage was 1.62 plus tips. I remember counting tips after closing and discovering that we had made a dollar an hour in tips- everyone cheered! I had a lot of fun working there. I worked with some great people I’d love to see again. It closed eventually and I think its now a 7-11.
My first date with my greatest love was at Friendlys, as it was less than a mile walk from our dorms. About 14 years later, it was the one place I could take our kids on my own, two kids under 3 yrs old, following his early death. The nostalgia and tears in my Fribbles... I was so sad when they tore down the Friendlys near our home.
When I was 10 years old (in 1963) I went shopping with a classmate. We had permission to "eat out" (alone) for the first time ever and chose to go to Friendly's in Vinnin Square. I felt so grown up and important as I reviewed the menu and placed my order. Years later, when I was in high school, Friendly's was THE place to hang out after football games and dances. Happy memories and phenomenal food!!!
I know that shop well as I lived in Salem from '78 - '84!
Vinnin Square...yikes! That place takes me back. As in decades ago!
I frequented that Vinnin Square location quite a bit. A chocolate Fribble on a hot summer afternoon always hit the spot.
Knew that location well!! Grew up in Lynn from '73 to 91.
I had my first ever date at a Friendly's in the 90s. My mom "supervised" from a couple tables away hahaha
Friendly's was only a couple blocks from my high school. It was a popular hangout spot, especially after homecoming when families would bring all the kids for dinner and dessert.
The Friendly's in my hometown is still there but it's so bad now. They should have just given up and made it an Olive Garden or something. That would do better business than the ghost town Friendly's.
Oh my... Nostalgia overload!
You hit the nail on the head in regards to the new owners not knowing their customer base.
Friendly's was a blue collar ice cream parlor that served simple meals as a secondary option.
It was where teenagers wanted to go before catching a movie. It was where kids wanted to go after receiving their report card in the mail (celebratory or to commiserate).
It was not a place for fine dining.
Cheap food, but fantastic ice cream, sundaes, and shakes.
By far the best peanut butter sundae anywhere in the world.
Exactly! A five dollar sandwich for $7 in the 1990’s. Taco Bell if you want cheap food or Applebee’s if you’re willing to spend a little more.
Did they actually have the tastiest creamiest shake though?
@@israeldelarosa5461 they were awesome! Great ice cream and great fribbles, no doubt.
Yeah, I always went for the ice cream but usually tolerated the food because you have to eat something before dessert! Although, I never hated their food. Prices may have gone up since I've been there though
@@israeldelarosa5461they were fine. I believe they used soft serve for those shakes instead of frozen. They were good sure- but nothing anybody should have any FOMO about
My mom is 92. She dines like a queen at her assisted living, but her favorite meal of the week is when we go to Friendly’s. It’s not the Friendly’s we grew up with, the ice cream after events, after school or just because. But there is still no better cheeseburger set up on grilled bread or Fishamajig. ♥️
Fishamajig
I feel like that’s something I’d try just because it’s fun to say
That's the issue. Only old people like their food and old ppl don't spend much money. Which isn't a good business model. Then there's the fact old ppl typically tip really bad so then it's hard to keep good front of the house staff because they're not making good money. If they were smart they'd just keep their ice cream. The food is just so so bad it makes diner food look good.
lol keep lying to yourself there’s no way your mom is eating well in an assisted living facility
Friendly’s has always be a part of my life. A classic was a cheeseburger and grilled cheese or fishamajig on a “set up” (grilled bread). Best sandwich ever, add a fribble and ice cream sunday and you’re in good shape. Sadly, they are so few and far between now.
Sad story. I've eaten at Friendly's many, many times. Always loved their franks, fish and chips and French Vanilla Ice Cream. It's no coincidence that the company flourished under the Blake Brothers, who originally founded and built the company, then began to decline in the world of corporate acquisitions. "BIG" isn't always better.
As a New Englander, I grew up with Friendly’s restaurants. I went to their restaurants until early 2003. The hamburgers and ice cream were delicious. They even had good salads, good breakfast choices, and some Tex- Mex food. It was good basic food. Now, in the past 20 years, they closed so many Friendly’s restaurants that I doubt they will ever come back. Also, the open Friendly’s restaurants seem to be struggling to compete with other restaurant chains. It’s sad for Friendly’s restaurants.
Plus there ad campaign possibly turned people off to them too. Everything pretty much went wrong with Friendly's
Been in Connecticut my whole life. Since 1977. Going to Friendly's was always a treat back in the 80's when I was a kid. And then when I got to high school my friends and I would go there a lot.
But then my thirties came and all of a sudden the food and service was just horrible.
I never went to one. I did go to Perkins which I really liked for a while. I wonder if they time they started going downhill was the same time Friendy's was having issues.
There melts were so good and had a deal with the meals you would get 2 scoops of ice cream for free if you had the happy ending meal I believe it was called that. All mine near me have closed not sure if that is offered anymore.
@@Cotelw8345 Did they invent the melt. I never saw one prior to Friendly's.
I started as a dishwasher in 1993 and left in 2016 as a store GM. Loved this video. Original Fribbles “secret” was they used frozen milk and flavor syrup, not ice cream. It was called “dribble mix” but was frozen milk. When they declared bankruptcy, the first time, they nixed the dribble mix and now use ice cream…like everyone else.
Reminds me, remember frozen yogurt....My mother bought that sometimes because it was cheaper than real ice cream. I think it was suppose to be a health food thing?
Where on earth do I find frozen milk?
@@iworkout6912 What do you mean "remember frozen yogurt"? Like it's a dead dessert that people don't eat anymore?
Fribbles were made with milk, syrup and ice milk, (less creamy ice cream)
@@Dan4CWyou could probably freeze milk
I grew up 2 miles from the original Friendly Ice Cream and Friendly’s was a huge part of my life. Going to Friendly’s was a treat that we enjoyed on the weekends. I brought my kids there from 2010-2018ish. The service eventually became horrible no matter what restaurant we visited. The last time we ate a meal with ice cream dessert, it was almost 3hrs from start to finish. 😠
My uncle worked in the production plant in Wilbraham from the 70’s into the late 90’s. I worked in the plant from 92-99. I worked in most every department in the plant from making the ice cream pies, rolls, cakes, cups, 1/2 gallons, 4&6 gallons cubes. I made hot fudge, whipped cream, marshmallow topping, and maple flavored syrup. I even worked in the -40 degree hardening & palletizing room.
It always felt like there was no focused direction or mission. The plant workers had great ideas but were looked down on. When I worked in shipping, they went from floor loading restaurant deliveries in the trailers to palletizing the loads. We told the engineers it wouldn’t work and it would add twice the time…. Well they didn’t listen. The engineers never took into account how much volume the pallets used and the fact that one store delivery ended with a light crushable box then the next load was a 40 pound box of fries going on top of it on the same pallet…. Needless to say it was a mess for a while.
I would hate to see them close completely but that day may come….
A few years back I went to a location in Seekonk, MA. I stood at their takeout window for five minutes. The staff clearly saw me and not a single person acknowledged me, let alone attempted to take my order. I walked out and said this place will be closed within five years. It only took two. Poor management leads to poor results.
As a New Englander myself, it's been sad to see their demise. All local restaurants near me at this point have been closed for years. I believe my closest is in MA about an hour away. Had a great meal there a couple of years ago, actually.
I'm a bit north of 60. Friendly's restaurants were very popular when I was young. The prices seemed a bit high for what we got. The food was OK but nothing better. The service was legendarily bad. The ice cream is still available in supermarkets and it's still good, though.
Waterbury, CT native here. We had 4 and they apparently all closed, according to my family that still lives there. The one in Bristol, CT closed in the 90s, I know, because they used it for training. I trained there as a server in 1999. I believe the one in Southington, where I lived for years, is still open.
Marlbourgh mass has a Friendly’s and it seems to be doing well
Just went to one in North Haven, Ct for dinner. Nice people and enjoyed the food.
There’s only one in my area remaining. There used to be 5 in my city.
It is sad. I worked for Friendly's for 15 years, 6 of those as a store manager in the Springfield, MA area. The two stores I managed are gone, Baystate West and Fairfield Mall. The decline started with the sale to Hershey. Hershey is a product only company, while Friendly's is a combination of product and service. Hershey never understood the service part of the equation. They also wanted more profit by cutting labor. A good manager invests in his store by keeping it clean, proper training of personel, and proper staffing of shifts. These things cost, but I believe all here can agree that the steady decline in Friendly's has been from inconsistent service in the last 45 - 50 years. It has steadily gotten worse.
I must have eaten at the Fairfield Mall shop a million times. Eastfield Mall, too. Great place.
Its an increasingly common trend. A company or investment firm takes over another company and runs it into the ground because they don't really understand how it works.
@@cowpuddles4851 And now the Eastfield Mall is being bulldozered to make way for low income housing. Mykonos found a great new spot, and Donovan's is moving to Holyoke.
I remember very vividly the Friendly’s at the Fairfield Mall in Chicopee. I wonder if we ever crossed paths at some point? Another destination at Fairfield Mall is Just Fun. I still have an original set of tokens from the 1970s for their video games.
@@moreaufamily437 I spent a lot of money at that arcade! The mall is long gone now though I believe.
I grew up with a Friendly's in my home town in Connecticut. It was always a treat to eat there. When in High School, it was a great place to bring a date. I remember when Hershey bough them in 1978/1979. The only change I noticed was the incorporation of Hershey candies into the ice cream. A classic was the Friendly's Holiday Jubilee Roll which I got every year up to about 2000. I moved out of New England.
I frequented Friendly’s as a kid with my family back in the mid 1950s into the 1970s. When Hershey’s took it over, there was a noticeable decline in what I thought set them apart. The ice cream was noticeably inferior as it no longer had that distinct high butter fat content that only premium ice cream has. I loved their Big Beef, rare on buttered white toast. That was soon history also. Lastly, the service became horrendous..missed orders and ignored customers. By the way, the Fribble was originally called an Awful, Awful (awful thick, awful good) and made with ice milk, not ice cream.
Friendly's decline is all the more surprising in that it has an unusual combination of a full menu and extensive ice cream offerings. There's a lot of potential there, but they've failed to execute it well.
agreed.
That's because they only allowed their workers to be one trick ponies. No cross training, no proactive action during busy times. Jack In The Box had the same distribution of labor Hire workers based on what's needed that day, to do one thing, and one thing only, with no chance of advancement. After all, during the Baby Boom's teen years, there were millions of us, and we were quite the disposable workers. But they failed to adapt to the times. I've seen so many complaints of JICB workers, standing around, dong NOTHING! It's because they HAVE to! I worked there, frying onion rings. but was not allowed to drop fries! Go figure!!!
I worked as a waiter at the highest-volume Friendly's in the country in the 90s. Nobody seemed to understand how complex the ice cream menu was. Let's say there were 30 flavors, 30 toppings, and multiple ways to present those flavors: cone, cup, small, medium, large, milkshake, multiplied by the fact that everything could be carryout too. After an Islanders game nearby, we would be flooded with customers - and with every SINGLE order, at least one ingredient or component would be missing. The fridge and freezer were both a significant walk to and from the back of the building - and even then there was a good chance something would be out of stock. I think people generally respect the idea that a restaurant kitchen needs to be efficient, but the complexity of the dessert area was clearly a blind spot here. It's one reason why Friendly's was always known for slowwwww service even though we all moved as fast as we could. I went to the same location this past weekend (the last one in the area) and they seemed to suffer the EXACT same problems. Slow service even though we only ordered dessert. TLDR: They never figured out that they need to SIMPLIFY the dessert menu (possibly made too complex by the Hershey involvement). Management never bothered to spend an evening with scoop in hand to see what was up.
Those that work at corporate think they know best. Invariably it is the people at the store level that actually know what works and doesn't work from an operational standpoint.
That is interesting getting your perspective as a former employee. Hopefully jobs you had after that were simple by comparison.
@@athos1974 Just numbers to the corporate types
I used to work summers in the mid 90s at the 2nd busiest Friendly's in the country and used to have actual nightmares where I'd be running around trying to sccop ice cream, make those upside down happy ending sundaes, and get all the orders right. I would wake up in a panic lol. The peopke were overall nice though and it was a "friendly" place indeed. Waiting tables in the smoking section was always worst haha. Anyone remember that? Good times.
The one on Hempstead Turnpike? I worked at the one in Bellmore. I agree on the menu. It was too complex and tried to be too fancy. They should’ve stopped to burgers and dogs and fries and simpler milkshakes.
I was actually an Assistant Manager at the Friendly's in Virginia. I remember commuting over an hour from my home in Maryland to prepare the breakfast menu. One of my most horrible memories was having to stock the freezer in below zero temperatures when the delivery truck come in.😎
Went in a few years back and was ignored by the staff despite the store being mostly empty. When I said "can I ask a question?" the waitress replied no and turned to walk away. The running joke was to refer to it as "unfriendly's". Sad. Got a ton of great memories enjoying Jim Dandy Sundaes and Fribbles,
I sincerely hope they can bounce back. It really was a great place.
My most memorable experience at Friendly's was in college, in 2004. I was a freshman, and my roommate and I were on the school's required dining plan which was routinely awful to borderline inedible.
On one of those nights, we decided to go to Friendly's to get some actual food. After our first few bites, I said, "Man, this corn is _awesome."_ to which my roommate immediately said, "Yeah, so is this broccoli!"
After a beat of silence we both looked up at each other and had a mutual moment of "My god, did we really just wig out over _vegetables?_ Guess that means we're really adults now, huh." 😂
What college was it?
@@israeldelarosa5461 - what difference would the college make, in terms of the story?? or do you ask curiosity questions much in daily life, too?
@@warriormanmaxx8991 No need to be so aggressive, but it’s so I know which college not to go to XD
@@warriormanmaxx8991😂😂😂
What's with the childish "yeah","huh"?
In my childhood, around the ages of 5-10 (I'm 24 now), my grandmother would sometimes take me to this place. Being a typical kid, I was quite the picky eater, so some form of chicken and fries were the safest bet, but at Friendly's, they probably had the single most iconic presentation of this childhood classic. They would serve it in a conical vessel made of metal, where a cup would sit in the center holding the chicken and fries, and it would have three little sauce holders where I would get ketchup, bbq sauce, ranch, or some form of mustard. This was the most iconic thing I remember from that place, the thing I would always get. They had good ice cream too, though I believe I'd opt for some form of milkshake or sundae if the opportunity was there. After watching this video, I checked to see the locations, and it makes me really sad there's no more locations in the state of Virginia. I never knew the situation was so bad honestly. I appreciate you making this video in bringing light to a childhood staple. I personally don't think there's any turnaround for this company, it'd take a real miracle worker to get a fraction of what it would've been.
I RMEMEBR THIS
i miss the tenders on a stick. Idk if they still do that or if maybe it's just a kid's menu thing
The chicken dipper basket was goated! I remember annoying my parents when finishing them I would use the sticks as drumsticks on the table 😂
Dang, no more in VA? I used to go to one in Virginia Beach all the time when I was a kid.
Fond memories of friendlies for sure
i was so sad when the one in my area closed. it shut down really suddenly and nobody really knew what happened. a few years later my family and i were at the grocery store and the cashier looked super familiar and i realized she used to wait on us when we would go to friendlys all the time. she recognized us too, and told us that they didn’t tell the staff they were closing the restaurant in advance whatsoever. she said in the weeks leading up to the closing they had stopped ordering supplies to the store, but didn’t get told they were gonna be out of a job until one day they were scheduled and they each just got a phone call telling them not to come in and that the store was closing. and that was basically it. super sad tbh i have so many good memories there.
I've really been sad about Friendly's closing. They have in my opinion the best ice cream ever (their entrees are pretty great too!), and I went so much as a kid that I often joke that I was raised there. There used to be several where I lived but there's now only one; it's really sad.
I felt like the quality of our local locations was declining a lot, but since closing most of them the local franchise has been able to put more of their resources into the remaining one, and it's a lot nicer. Should definitely go back for a fishamajig while it's still around.
I'd really like to see Friendly's make a comeback, but right now I'm still mad at them for discontinuing the wattamelon roll.
This is so sad! Friendly’s was my childhood in the early 00’s. We went often and had lots of great experiences. My parents went to the same location as kids too. We all loved it. Slowly, the decline started to show. The service got worse as they became understaffed and underpaid. And then I noticed them disappearing. I sought out a friendly’s a few years back. It was just us and some old couples there. And one person working the front counter, tables, bussing, hosting, etc. overworked, she messed up our order. And the quality of the food had plummeted. It took almost 3 hours to eat there when it used to be an easy, fun dinner option with littles. Even the in-store ice cream seems to be harder to find these days.
Q
I grew up going to Friendly's because my Dad grew up going to Friendly's. He's told me that the first food I ever ate other than breastmilk was a Friendly's milkshake. Of course, he says they started going downhill as soon as they were bought by Hershey. They are the quintessential example of how it's better to do a few things well than many things poorly.
Never knew that Hershey ever had any ownership in this chain
As Ron Swanson says: never half ass two things, while ass one thing.
Fascinating . Worked for Friendly’s just after they were taken over by Hershey Co. Transferred from one location to another in New Jersey and at the second location there was total chaos so my lasting impression was not good BUT I had (still have ) many fond memories of being a customer at that second store where I worked from my childhood and when the Blake brothers owned the chain of restaurants. Thanks for compiling the story !
When I was a kid, going to Friendly's was a nice little outing on special occasions. This was in the mid-80s. However, going to Friendly's in the late 90's was a totally different experience. The service was poor and the place was understaffed; at least the local one near me. Friendly's might be the only restaurant I walked out of after waiting to be seated, then waited another 30 mins yet no one had come around to even make contact and take the initial drink order. We went to the diner down the street and that was our last visit ever.
People don't realize it, but that's all it takes to drive away perspective repeat business.
Im 20 and going to friendlys on special occasions was great until about 2012ish, thinking back, it was pretty stingy and specifically food would often take forever. I think I just liked the food and icecream so much I never realized how run down it was/was getting
thats funny, I was going to comment the same experience. I went twice as a child and waited an hour both times, leaving at the hour mark when we never got our food.
In my opinion, Friendly's big mistake was shifting from a diner/ice cream shop to a family restaurant.
Yes, they're trying to compete with people they can't compete with. Friendly's just isn't in that same headspace for most people.
@jimcat68 - re: "In my opinion" = whose other opinion would you be citing? or do you use that wimp phrase in daily life, too?
@@warriormanmaxx8991Time to take your anti-anxiety meds, junior.
@@warriormanmaxx8991 What the hell is wrong with you?
Agreed… they should have remained liked a Johnny Rockets type competitor with their ice cream & shakes as the marquee products, and jumped on the new fast-casual upmarket burger trend with Smashburger & Five Guys and offered awesome burgers & fries.
Used to love going to Friendly's as a kid. Big, juicy, tasty burgers and fries, and finishing it off with some damn good ice cream? It was awesome.
Their food quality definitely went down though and I noticed it even as a kid. It seems the bean counters tried to find areas to cut costs, which lowered product quality and turned people away. It's so typical for dead or dying restaurant chains.
Agreed. The food was a lot better in the 60s. It was very distinctive back then. When I went back in the 80s, the droid had changed and almost seemed generic. Gone were the signature burgers with the buttered bread/bun. The fries tasted different and had a different texture too. Guessing they were with a cheaper supplier. Hence, fewer customers. It is sad.
Quality always equals market share.
What happens is that they experience a short to mid term increase in profits and they are gone by the time customers stop showing up.
The fries are even worse now than from Three years ago.
@@thatguy3332 really a shame. They were excellent in the 1960s. All the tasty trans fats and frying them long enough to be browned and crispy. OMG, I'm turning into my grandfather. " When I was a kid..."🤦♂️
I've been going to Friendly's since the early 1960's and my wife worked in their corporate office before and after Don Smith took over. The idea of returning to its roots happening recently is what Don Smith should have done instead, he tried to make Friendly's into Perkins with ice cream. Needless to say no one wanted to come to Friendly's for a steak! Returning to their roots would have meant building on a successful breakfast menu as well as lunch menu. They had a lot of counter seating always serving a lot via their outside window. They were a sandwich and hamburger joint and that's what people remember. After lunch and into the evening, people mostly just bought ice cream so staff was reduced. This model worked. It's like Dairy Queen Brazier with inside seating. That's all Friendly's was ever intended to be and people loved it. Besides trying to make Friendly's into Perkins, Don Smith tried to tinker with the Ice Cream formula which was a disaster. He also outsourced their hamburger meat plant so they went from a very well known fresh hamburger which was round to a processed frozen burger which was square. So he took what was good about Friendly's and destroyed it. Yes, it was mostly Don's fault, but Hershey could have and should have returned to its roots before that. In the end, when Friendly's became Friendly''s Ice Cream Corporation, things went down hill. Trying to make anything something it is not never works. Bad market research. Don thought he knew better than his customers. All the employees knew all this, but Hershey certainly was not interested and Don definitely was not.
I grew up in Springfield over the years. I’ve seen friendly change so drastically and the quality of the ice cream disappoints me as well as a service in the store. Unfortunately I think they need to close down permanently I rather go to the local ice cream shops around the area, which serve better quality ice cream like the good old days!
I grew up in Springfield Massachusetts in the 1950’swhere Friendly’s was started. The Blake brothers were well known there, also owning a retail department store. It was a true family owned business that emphasized value and customer service. They built an ice cream production plant in nearby Wilbraham Massachusetts that produced all of the ice cream they sold in the restaurants. I did some work for the company in the early 70’s.
The downfall for the company was the sale to Hershey and the successors who emphasized profits vs careful growth and maintaining a debt free balance sheet. It’s a classic case of a family business taken over by the corporate culture. Millions upon millions changing hands, eventually drowning the company in the process.
A few years ago, on a visit to Springfield, I was saddened to see that the original restaurant location that I knew so well had closed. Very sad.
I agree with you 100%. Hershey's cheapened the meat used in the burgers. I started going to Friendly's as a kid in the mid-1970s. It was great. I worked at one in 1995. The corporate buffoons I met were just dumb people. From the division manager to the district manager and store managers. They tried to "upscale" the menu, while trying to get us servers to upsell customers. Makes sense, but then they cut out our Fountain people (ice-cream/dessert makers) because it was cheaper to pay waitstaff two dollars and change rather than $6 an hour for the fountain people. So as waiters we had less support and more stress. All they needed to do was let a division manager wait tables for a day and they would have seen how mutually exclusive their goals were.
A sad acknowledgment of today's corporate culture...
I grew up in West Springfield and regular dinners out for fried clams with my mother in the 1970’s we're always special.
So sad. We used to go to friendlys all the time, especially after a movie. There was one in ct that’s still open I think?
You are right - as is another reply calling corporate people buffoons . That is exactly the word
I have used and I just retired after 27 years as a corporate staff member at arguably the most successful restsurant chain EVER - the one previously known for my pleasure. I can tell you that the success came from the fundamentals - focusing on quality food and service, encouraging solid store leadership
At the local store level with profit sharing and entrepreneurial spirit. That approac allowed the chain to flourish in spite of many stupid ideas and initiatives that
Came out from corporate. Eventually the corporate side gets so far dumb and happy, so disconnected from the operational reality of their own chain that their bad decisions start piling up because sales and profits hide bad decisions …. For a while . But eventually these come home to roost and it starts showing up at the store level and customers notice.
There are many other reasons for a chains decline / many legitimate ones like excess competition, hard labor market, changing tastes, recently covid and the effects of technology leading customers to avoid personal interaction and service in favor of digital and virtual
Experiences and ways of ordering.
But in the end it is all about the leadership. And are they in rough with their customers and the front line team
Members and store managers.
Grew up in NY and loved Freindly's. Moved to FL and have been lucky to have one in Orlando. The store feels like it is dying, but the food is still quality and the ice cream keeps being served. My family tried to get there as often as we can to support them and I hope they stay around for a long time.
Kissimmee FL & Disney area seemed like they had 2 or 3 in the 2000s 2010s. I never went by any. They seemed low scale, not a good value.
I remember the one in Eustis. I've met two of the ex managers. I miss this place. The Orlando one was disappointing when I went.
We didn’t have them in Minnesota where I grew up, but I discovered Friendly (without the ‘s) on a trip to the east coast with my dad when I was 12 (mid-1980s, Hershey’s era), and thought they were the best thing ever at the time. Fast-forward to the mid-1990s I ended up living in Massachusetts, and Friendly’s were still everywhere, but even then it wasn’t the same place that 12-year-old me remembered. I hope they can still turn things around. My local one closed a few years ago and is still standing vacant.
Loved Friendlys. So one thing that stood out to me that you didn't mention in the video was their implementation in shopping malls. That's where I associate them with as a kid because every mall had one and it was always a special treat to get dinner or ice cream while we were shopping.
This was down in Maryland however so maybe that was more of a regional choice. At any rate I wouldn't be surprised if the decline of malls also contributed to their overall decline.
You're on to something I think. Most of the malls near me (SE Ohio) are lucky to still have Auntie Anne's and bad pizza in the food court.
Yes that was true.. people could sit down for 45 minutes and eat to take a break from shopping. Now a days the pigs want their junk food fast and they domt want to have to walk for it either… now its sit on your ass sonic and burger king drive thru.
Ours was in the Jefferson Valley Mall. That was about 50 miles north of NYC
I grew up in NY and Maine, and we had them in malls, too.
My parents took me to Friendly's all the time when I was a kid. They used to go to the local restaurant so often that we joked there were tire tracks worn in the road from their house to Friendly's. I ended up working there during the restaurant's heyday and always enjoyed eating there. Now our town, which once had four Friendly restaurants (and all of them busy), is down to a single tiny "Friendly's Cafe". It seems like if you want to kill a business, the best way to do it is to sell it to an investment firm.
You were my digital media professor at HCC! Loved your classes. I feel like Friendly's could actually turn things around and be as successful as any TGI Fridays or Red Robin, etc etc, but it would have to start with an expensive push to advertise an improved menu to get people back on their side. Old school burger joints are taking off in our area, with new places popping up left and right. Even 5 Guys does excellent at their locations and their prices are insane. Friendly's was the original, and have the name recognition so it's sad that it slipped to this level. I doubt anyone will take the chance on the brand and I fear it will only be an ice cream brand very soon.
Investment firms are usually trying to rape a company of whatever value it has left. Or if a chain is already sufficiently strapped and stressed - they buy it for a song, do some
Basic window dressing and artificially pump up sales with commercials and a few new menu offerings - only to try to take it public or resell it - like flipping a house but during the fix up only slapping paint or applying lipstick to a pig. Then unloading it on some Munsell’s ring buyer or the public via a new stock offering - JT never focusing on improving the fundamentals and refocusing on what really works.
They kill the businesses to short the stock and make money on both sides.
Friendly's was my first job, and I can give some insight as an employee from that first bankruptcy.
Friendly's randomly did this massive menu overhaul, cutting major sellers and replacing them with things that no one went to Friendly's for. More salads, more pastas, more "healthy" things (they were not healthy, but y'know, illusion.) At the same time, they were severely cutting staff and the hours of staff. So not only were customers upset that their favorites were gone, but they were stuck waiting FOREVER because a full restaurant would be manned by one ice cream worker (Fountain), one line cook, two waitresses, and MAYBE a dishwasher if you were lucky.
The restaurant became dirtier as a result. No one had the time, energy, or man power to focus on cleaning when they were being worn to the bone. Corporate began okaying "midnight cleaning parties" where employees could come in and work from midnight to opening to try and clean the restaurant enough so it would pass inspection. I did one of these. I'm pretty sure the things they requested us to do broke some OSHA laws.
Anyway, right before the first bankruptcy, they did a massive overhaul of the stores and theming. Suddenly all employees had new aprons, new pins, and all needed to wear employer issued polos rather than their pastel self-bought polos from before. They carted in employees from all over to Hilton hotels and wasted our time with hours long presentations on their plans to "rebrand". And raffled off flat screen TVs during these? Mind, I mean ALL employees. I was an 18 year old waitress/fountain worker and I was carted over there. So needless to say it was a MASSIVE cash sink. So again, hours were cut to make up for this, WITH a new "voucher" system for unhappy customers, where if they complained, they would be comped a free next meal, on top of their current unsatisfactory meal being free. People abused this hard.
I left not too long after this, especially because the short staffing actually ended up with me getting sent to the hospital. Three weeks after I found a new job, they closed my restaurant without any warning. Apparently one of the employees ended up stealing the F of the sign out of spite.
So yeah, none of their issues shocked me considering I watched the fall of it in real time.
Anyway, a fribble is just a milkshake made with soft serve. Soft serve, about a cup of milk, and a bit of flavor syrup. There ya go.
Sounds like most failing chains, amazing insight!
Love to hear a real-life experience! This sounds typical of many business models. It's a shame and something that should be told to future managers! Unfortunately, kids at that age probably don't know enough or feel they have enough clout to even point out this ridiculousness as it happens.
I have to admit that I’m sad to see their decline mostly due to my childhood memories. My mom has an eating disorder and would only eat at friendlys or Pizza Hut. While as an adult I avoided those places due to having had too much for one lifetime, but….. I’m sad to see them go…because they remind me of my mom…And she died too young.
That said…these chains are not very good anymore so I’m not shocked.
I'm sorry about your mom. May she rest in peace.
We had three Friendly locations near where I grew up in NY state. I just remember whenever we would go there to eat, you had to have a lot of patience because getting served took forever. It was that way at every location, and I’m not sure if there was just one person cooking the meals, but it was always ridiculously slow.
That was my experience as well. I don't remember it being that bad in the early 80s but by the mid 90s it was awful. After you placed your order, it would take over an hour to get your food. It was beyond ridiculous.
We had two locations. Yorktown Heights NY and Jefferson Valley NY. The Yorktown one was better.
I worked there for 4 years about 89 to 93. Yeah.. they only ever had 2 servers at a time. One chef and sometimes. Sometimes.. someone to make the ice-cream. But the servers made the drinks, the salads, the soups, the coffees, teas, and, most of the times, the ice creams as well. Least that is why the service was so slow where i worked. It may have seemed slow to the customers, but I RAN MY ASS OFF every night.
Why did I stay? Because I knew I wouldn't make good tips, but I was in college at the time and I got well fed. got to have a meal before my shift and could take things home as well. this may not have been the norm... but our manager didn't care.
@@debby8428There was also one on Central Ave in Hartsdale for a few years in the 2000s, I went there a few times and I liked it but it was slow but the staff was nice.
You did a really good job with this. They use to have so many restaurants in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Multiple locations in each cities. It is amazing how far they have fallen.
Same deal here in Maine. Can’t think of a single active location here now, though.
I was a cook at Friendly's in Northampton Mass in the late 1980s. I loved the fried chicken breast sandwich, with lots of the Friendly's mayo. My favorite dessert was a small sundae glass of two scoops of coffee ice cream with hot fudge, whip cream and lots of almonds.
Our local Friendly’s, located at People’s Plaza in Newark, Delaware, is all I remember Friendly’s being when I was a kid. The staff is welcoming, and efficient. The food is excellent, and well-priced. My wife and I can take our family and two kids there and not spend too much but still feel like we got a great meal. The place is always clean. My kids always look forward to going there, even mentioning it at times when they discuss dinner. They have fond memories of eating there, just like I have of the one that was in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. I think if all Friendly’s were like that one, the company would be doing quite well.
I've never had an unkind thing to say about Friendly's. It'd be a shame if they flopped. My last experience was in Myrtle Beach in the summer of 2020. Yes, I took a vacation during the panda coof (a normally $400 a night resort was like $120). It was phenomenal and elegant in its simplistic menu; I'm happy to have the experience with my family.
I worked there when Hershey took over. The workforce wasn't trained or ready for the expanded menu so service took a hit for sure. I also recall that Friendly's designed their own hotdog, the Friendly Frank, and met the guy from Tobins that helped create it as a high quality hotdog. I'm still married to a girl I worked with.
Friendly was great until Hershey bought it. All the really good stuff that were unique to the restaurants were discontinued. I remember watermelon sherbet and it was just delicious, but Hershey nixed it. They also had amazing butter crunch ice cream which was excellent with butterscotch syrup on it. Oh well, all gone now.
The watermelon roll is legendary!
Do you happen to know why the Friendly Frank contains milk? I've always wondered about that.
@@krett1117Google "why do hotdogs contain milk?"
Its a filler and helps with texture.
I was a young kid in Hershey when Hershey bought it. They built one in Hershey at the time, and it was super popular for years. My family used to go there all the time. Then it apparently went into decline for years. Was back visiting recently and noticed it had been closed and torn down. But in Hershey Co's defense, the restaurant chain was still very big when they sold it in 1988. It was the subsequent owners who ran it into the ground.
My wife and I met while working together at the Friendly’s in Bradenton (now closed) circa 2008, so it holds a special place in our hearts, and we stop by the one in Orlando sometimes when we go to Disney or Sea World. And nothing there seems to change so it’s like our memories are frozen in time, waiting for us every time we walk through the doors.
As a visitor of Bradenton, I have to say it's a great city. I really felt like it would be a great place to start & raise a family. Beautiful beaches and kind people too.
@@dmzabo3914….Bradenton is a total shit hole wdym 🤣the homeless problem is wild
My kids and I had many a memorable experience at the Friendly's in Haverhill, MA. Although my kids are now well grown, I am gratified that this restaurant still exists. This video encourages me to go back there.
There was a little Friendly’s shop in my neighborhood that my mom would often take me to as a treat as a child of the ‘70s. Growing up in Massachusetts in during.the ‘70s and ‘80’s Friendly’s was definitely a household name. Even to this day, my 75 year old father, still has a couple of different gallons in his freezer that we share each Sunday. There is still a full restaurant in our town that is doing quite well by all accounts, but I believe that has more to do with a great location than anything else. I have been aware of the decline of the brand for decades so seeing finally go will be of little surprise. But for that little boy, who looked forward to sharing a chocolate ice cream with his mom on a warm afternoon, it will be yet another sign that time moves on and we can’t ever go back no matter how much we want to.
Former Friendly's employee here! You forgot to mention the wage theft lawsuit. I wasn't affected because I was an ice cream scooper, not a waitress, but the waitresses would be asked to clock out at the end of their shift before going to the back to do other tasks. Also the quality of the food definitely went down over time. They used to use the standard ice cream for the Fribble. But then they started using the soft serve ice cream they use to make the Friendly's equivalent of a Blizzard.
I remember working at a Friendly's in the 90's. The Fribble was just frozen milk in a fancy machine, a true ice cream milkshake was the way to go.
Friendly's used to do that too? I worked for a summer (1981) at Dunkin' and the manager INSISTED we count the drawer AFTER we clocked out.
If the drawer was short, it came out of our tips. If it was over, I don't know where the extra $$$ went...but it sure as hell wasn't our tips. Fortunately, even a goody-two-shoes like me learned how to accept the customer's money and provide the correct change ... all while ringing up the register as a no-sale. One or two boxes of donuts rung up that way made sure the drawer never came up short.
I didn't abuse it though...I only did it to compensate when the new kid made a mistake in the other direction.
@@KevinZ.000 I watch them get made now. Three scoops of ice cream and a bit of milk, then it's blended and there ya go. The only genuine milkshake in the blue collar restaurant world.
YES🙌 the wage theft lawsuit I was a part of too lol
I worked for Friendly's in the 70s. Back then, the Fribble was made with ice milk, not ice cream. The "ice milk" more or less has the consistency of ice cream. I enjoyed them. If you wanted ice cream, you would have to have gotten a milkshake from Friendly's.
I love Friendly's ice cream, but I briefly worked at one in the mid-70s. It was a new location, and it was the most disorganized place I have ever worked despite being ridiculously micro-managed through corporate dictats. I distinctly remember customers getting up and walking out after waiting an hour for a sandwich. Not surprised they ultimately failed. More surprised that they survived as long as they did.
When I was volunteering as a poll watcher in Pennsylvania my mom and I saw a Friendly's in the suburbs of Philadelphia. It was the first one either of us had seen in many years, so we stopped in and had lunch and some ice cream after. There used to be one closer to where I grew up in Manassas, VA, and as a kid I loved going there and getting their mint chocolate chip ice cream, but it closed ages ago.
This actually explains a lot. I've always loved Friendly's food and ice cream, but the service was always soooooooo slow. They never seemed to have enough staff. So the labor shortage and mismanagement helps explain that.
Friday nights...That's when me & my parents took our elderly neighbor out for ice cream. When she went into a nursing home we were granted permission to take her out so she could still enjoy her favorite treat. She looked so forward to those Friday nights. We continued this tradition for decades. We have tons of memories at all 4 of the locations near me. As of the 24th this month, the last location will shutter their doors. The signs to the building may be down but the memories will remain. It's sad but this is the sign of the times. We'll miss them greatly!
Absouetly! I always loved the food and it was special going to Friendly's, but the mismanagement seems to cost them quite a bit.
A labor shortage is a sign of other problems which might include:
1. Not offering fair and competitive wages
2. Reduced immigration to fill low-wage jobs
If a company is offering low wages, AND its product is declining, then either the company is overpaying executives and shareholders, or it has borrowed too much, or both.
I grew up on Long Island, prime Friendly's real estate. There was at least one in every town, city, etc. Over the course of my troubled life, I'd wind up moving out from NY for a long while, only coming back right at the tail end of 2020. Seeing only one Friendly's still standing even remotely close to my childhood home was the biggest indicator of how much had changed. It just didn't feel like home anymore.
Here in the Erie, Pennsylvania area, we had a Friendly's store in our local mall. My fiance went to dine there, and, literally, by the very next day, they were gone. The trucks came after closing one night, and without warning to anyone, including the obliviously unaware employees, they removed everything from the store and left town. What a crappy deal! One day, they were a thriving business with a VERY loyal customer base, and dedicated, hard-working employees. The very next day... They were GONE!
I grew up in Erie as well and loved Friendly’s….days at the Millcreek Mall
I remember them from 50 years ago when I lived in New England. It was a decent restaurant with good food at an affordable price. I think the rise of fast food restaurants really cut into their sales. I actually preferred Brighams. Their food and ice cream were better. They also hit hard times like Friendly's.
It's weird. As a kid I went and loved it. Greasy food and ice cream. Then it became a place that grandparents took their kids, but the parents stayed away. It's hard to really say exactly why people stopped going to Friendly's. There's nothing really wrong with it, it just seems old and...unfashionable?
I know why we stopped going--it was because they cut staff to the bone and service became so slow that the experience of going there with kids was agonizing.
Friendly’s was always a special place for me. My wife and I always stopped off for ice cream on a whim and we enjoyed it. Occasionally we had a low cost dinner there but it was the frozen treats that we enjoyed. She has passed away and I no longer live in the northeast (Long Island, NY). Well done video, brought back fond memories.
Live on long Island Patchogue ny come back home bro
Grew up on LI - Lynbrook! Loved going to our Friendly's which was just a block away from home! Loved going there with family or friends to get cones in the summer!!
Growing up in Connecticut during the 60's/70's, we would go to Friendly's regularly. The ice cream was really good and the shakes were better than anything you get these days. The food was also fantastic. We'd go there after red pin bowling every Saturday night. In fact, one of the Blake brothers lived down the street from me in Somers, Ct. They had a beautiful home there. Did I mention the French fries???...
Friendly's had 3 in my hometown growing up. Now my hometown has none - the downtown store closed about 1988, when the landlord wanted to tear the building it was in (with 4 other storefronts) down. The other two closed in the 1990s, one became a medical office the other sat vacant until it was torn down in 2019.
I loved Friendly's!
There use to be a Friendly's about 5 minute drive from my house. It closed down about 20 years ago, it's kind of weird seeing a place that I would grab a burger from and turn into the creepy building that should be torn down. Side note: I respect the old man trying to save the company he and his brother started from being run into the ground.
I grew up in Boston in the ‘80’s. Friendly’s was a family staple. We’d actually look forward to having dinner there followed by ice cream. Definitely a fond memory from my childhood. Still quite a few locations scattered around Massachusetts.
I worked at Friendly's for over a decade in the late 2000's through the 2010's and was present for a lot of the later turnaround. They had several blunders and missteps, from "upper" management not recognizing what actually is needed in stores, poor staffing, and market oversaturation (as mentioned in the video) - but their biggest problem was that these "initiatives" they put into place were never given enough time to pan out. If there wasn't a turnaround overnight it wasn't working and, when customers came in asking for the deals that were offered weeks before to be told they don't exist anymore? You could imagine how that went over. It's a shame to see how poorly the brand was run, because I have such fond memories of dining there as a child and adolescent. It's an even bigger shame that I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to bring my own kids there because they might go the way of the Dodo bird more sooner than later. I will always be thankful for the friendships I made there, though - we were a tight-knit group, and I definitely made some friends for life while there.
Growing up in the northeast, a trip to Friendly's was always a treat. We'd mostly go just for ice cream (no complaints from a kid), but the food was pretty good back then too. The last time I was at a Friendly's (so many of the locations are long gone), the food, service, and the entire experience was just so-so. Nothing lasts forever.
I am a Baby-boomer from the northeast and I grew up with Friendly's as a pillar of everyday life. I recently went to a rare Friendly's restaurant and it did not even come close to comparing to what Friendly's was originally.
Although what should anyone expect once a major corporation takes over a once thriving and beloved regional chain. If anyone wants to drive anything good into the ground just get the government or a major corporation involved. They are masters at accomplishing that.
Or just people in general. They don’t need to be government. What do you expect for a life form that evolved fro slime molds plus LBOs always pile up debt that never gets repaid
Yeah, as soon as he said that I said uh-oh.
There is a chain of sports bars in the NJ, PA, DE area called PJ Whelihan's and they used to have the best food. Their wings were amazing. It got bought out and it is truly horrible now.
Really afraid this'll happen with Whataburger. A few years ago it was bought out by a Chicago-based equity firm. No changes to the quality yet, but they've sucked the soul out of the decorations and architecture. Now they look like modern McDonald's, but orange.
@@Twisted_Logic Some part of me wants the 70s back. 😞
Anyone from Massachusetts has fond memories of Friendly’s. Great food, very affordable, great service. The impression I had of my hometown Friendly’s was that it was always packed with loyal families, but then inexplicably disappeared. What a shame. Occasionally I’ll still seek one out elsewhere in New England.
I’m from Massachusetts and I’ve seen them start closing which is sad. But the one I always go to is still open and I go there every trip to Massachusetts. Best memory’s
Don't bother.
I grew up in and still live in Mass. My town still has one. I have a lot of good memories of Friendlys, as I’m sure many others do. In fact, the first restaurant my parents went to after I was born was a Friendlys.
When I went to Umass, there was a Friendly’s in North Hampton. I loved the Chicken Noodle Soup on a cold winter day. 😊
@@bamnguyen7903 I remember the Northampton one, there's also one in Florence. Idk which one you're referring to, but sadly the Northampton one is closed :(
I was a Manager for them for 6 years ‘74-‘79. Including iconic 16 Acres store near Wilbraham headquarters. After Hershey bought them & changed management structure, I was gone. But I got some great training under the Blake’s - running my “own” business at 23. I was there during their heyday.
The wait time for food drastically changed after they changed their menu in 97 . It became a joke that nobody had enough time to get a meal at Friendly’s if they wanted to do anything else with their day.
Friendly's in the late 80s/early 90s was awesome. It was a rare treat when we would go into town. By the early 2000s, it was a bit of a joke. A lot of their locations, New London CT in particular, were dumps. They fell a long way. Last year I went back through the area I grew up in, and the old Friendly's building was still there, looking sad and abandoned. Right near the old Ponderosa, which I think was a Harbor Freight now.
I worked for friendlys for five years when I was younger and it hurts to see them going away. By the time I started there the food was becoming pretty junky but still tasted good. I have fond feelings towards that place and finding my old store shut down really depressed me. I miss that place
This is a shame. I lived in Jersey and the Friendly's in Morristown was known and loved by everyone. The food was always great and priced right, but management was always severely lacking. One tell-tale sign was that the manager on duty was always physically working hands-on with the crew, which is an impossible task in such a fast paced business. Every single time we picked up a "to go" order, something was wrong. And it was difficult to tell who was the manager, as there was never a person who was overseeing the crew and delegating chores. It's really sad because the original concept is ruined.
I was born in Springfield, MA. My dad started working at Friendly’s when he was in college in the 60’s. I grew up with them through the 70’s through the early 90’s when my dad left. I remember going to Hershey park shortly after Hershey bought them. Thank you the trip down memory lane.
FRIENDLY'S WAS MY CHILDHOOD OMG!!!
Definitely excited to find out what happened to them, despite being sad they're gone.
Fun Fact: The Friendly's in my town was in a pretty big and a bit more architecturally stylized, so the business that replaced it was a car wash, and they modified the building to suit that.
As a kid I always loved it because they had an amazing ice cream menu in the restaurants, but as I got older the whole place just kept declining. They tried focusing to solely like you said on higher priced food like steak or lobster, and never the reason people came in the first place, the ice cream. Along with this the service/ staff kept getting worse as well. As sales went down no good servers would want to work there so you’d have bad servers, bad chefs making mediocre over priced food, and you’d wait forever… even for the ice cream as well.
My favorite was the tips with rice, so they dumped it from the menu. Makes no sense
I grew up in central Mass in the 70's, so Friendly's were common and well loved by us kids. I remember my buddy's dad would drive us to hockey practice, then afterwards he'd often take us to Friendly's. He'd drink coffee, an he told us we could get, "Whatever we wanted". Jackpot! My friend, Brendan, would always get, "The Jim Dandy" -- just a monster of a Sunday served in a glass goblet worthy of a conquering viking. And I'd get a Strawberry Fribble b/c they were just so darn good. Good times, good times.
Wish I could end it there it there, but fast - forward to 1992. I had recently moved from Beantown (go Sooaxs!) to Hershey, PA for job where I had come to learn that Hershey Foods had recently sold the franchise. They had their own restaurant right there in town. So, my wife & I took her elderly grandparents there and sat it the booth like you see in this video. Place was crowded & loud (hershey park crowd). Service was really bad, did't look too clean, i.e. hallway to rest rooms kinda sketch. Food was ok I guess, can't really remember b/c what I do remember VIVIDLY is a few minutes in after we finally got the food, I see a greasy, shiny cockroach about half your pinky long, leisurely walking up the inside of the booth, right next to my wife's grandmother's face! Maybe a foot away. Uhhh, just threw up in mouth remembering that... So, I killed it, found the manager, did't make a scene, & told him we wouldn't be paying. He agreed w/o issue. At the same time, generally, he seemed like a defeated soul, sad. My wife's grandparents finished their meals, while my wife and I only watched. They weren't about to waste food (children of the great depression). Bad times, bad times.
I lived in Freeport, Long Island. We had a Friendly's. It was great, so many memories. So sad when you always see bits and pieces of your childhood get chipped away.
In the early 1970s, I worked at a very busy Friendly's, in a strip mall, probably my first serious job. The breakfast, lunch and dinner rushes were insane. Lines at the take-out and ice cream counters were constant. I have to say that, though they asked a lot from their employees, and we were subject to periodic focused reviews, the training and experience in general served me well in future jobs. They were very strict in eliminating waste and in maximizing one's productivity, which imparted in me some good work habits.
Although it was a pretty decent job for a young person, I used to feel sorry for the poor older folks involved in their in-house management training program. It seemed to be populated by people who might not have been sucessful in other ventures, and were being reduced to donning a paper hat, under the strict eye of corporate overlords.
Oh, and the Fribble was crap. No one who worked there more than a day, let it anywhere near their lips.
Always went there to get their fried clam strips, fries and a cone head sundae. The military sent me far away from my home in CT, so whenever I am home I make sure to visit the last Friendly’s and order the same things. So many memories going there with my dad and sister.
My first Friendly's was a storefront on the lower level of Shopper's World in Framingham, MA around 1962. It was a weekly lunch, waiting while my mother got her beehive at the hairdresser across the atrium. Friendly's was always crazy busy, and you stood along the wall to wait for someone to leave. Ordering a milkshake, you got the glass plus the remainder, almost another full glass, in the metal beater cup. No wonder I struggled with weight the rest of my life! Burgers came on bread unless you asked for a bun. In the winter, there was no better experience than crowding into the packed, warm, humid, fragrant Friendly's to get out of the snow. Too bad they were crowded out by imitators and competitors over the following years.
Worked at corporate for 30 years. Great people. Miss working there when Friendly’s was Friendly’s. Things changed once Smith saddled Friendly’s with all that debt.
I hope they continue and make a come back. I worked at Friendly's in Mt. Kisco, NY between 1973 and 1975 on the grill.
That store was one of the pilot restaurants' for serving breakfast! It was a GREAT time. Now 66 years old I look back with
very fond memories.
@docvalvo3903, was the Managers first name Wayne?
I don't know HOW you worked the grill. It seemed impossible to me. Friendly's Burnside Ave East Hartford weekend breakfast shift. Two years.
@@ctbfla No. Hurby Madore
@@docvalvo3903 Ok thanks, I may be thinking of the New Rochelle store back then.
@@ctbfla I was in Mt. Kisco - across from the hospital
Very sad. My wife worked in Friendlys for years during HS and college 40 years ago. We always brought our kids there, they loved it. Sad to see such an icon fall on hard times...My favorite is a Fribble made with vanilla syrup and orange sherbert!
I worked at the Friendly's plant when I was 16 years old in 1965. I lived across from the main plant that is on Boston Road in Wilbraham Massachusetts. I lived at 33 Hatch street and my mother worked at the plant as well. It was areally big deal when they opened the.retaurant next to the plant. Anyway, that's my experience with Friendly's when the Blake brothers were there. But as happens when corporations turn family friendly businesses into money making operations, if went down hill over the.years. I was very happy to have enjoyed it in the glory days. Sad how corporations have destroyed America.
I remember really loving them when I was a kid. It was fun going there in the summer, the food was ok, and the ice cream was kinda great. One sundae of theirs was actually quite clever, using mint chocolate chip ice cream and well placed toppings to make a cute little ice cream "monster" of sorts. Because we liked it so much, my dad actually bought some shares of the stock when it was at $2, and we actually made a profit when it briefly bounced back! So that's fun.
I use to love going to Friendly's as a kid. It's sad they're slowly going away, but I'll always remember how great their ice cream and desserts were; especially their "worms in dirt" dish 😋🤤