Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Friendly's Files for Bankruptcy - Bedford Store to Remain Open

Friendly's Filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Today in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Last night Friendly's shut down 63 out of it's 487 locations. The Bedford store at 343A Great Road will remain open for now. A total of 30 stores in Massachusetts closed, including nearby locations in Acton and Billerica.

COMMENT:
Friendly's has been struggling for some time. It remains to be seen if they will survive. My short term advice to them is to make sure you are fully staffed and be able to serve lunch quickly. The few times I have been there for lunch, they have been understaffed and it took a long time for the food to arrive. Having to wait a long time after you order ensures you will not get any business people on their lunch hour. Perhaps add a 5 or 10 minute order guarantee, similar to what Papa Ginos currently promotes during lunch.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, this style of restaurant is no longer viable in my opinion. Fast casual is the way to go: quicker service, you don't need to leave a tip, a streamlined menu with more up to date options, and newer/cleaner stores. Friendly's is experimenting with this type of place in Mansfield and a couple other locations: http://www.friendlys.com/franchising/express/ - I'm not sure how they are doing, but I'd be up for going to a place like that. In the 7 years I've been in Bedford, I've never eaten at Friendly's, but I'd be there tomorrow if they redid the store in this manner.

Adam Schwartz said...

Hi Anonymous,

Good comments. They do have a lot more competition now. It looks like the menu is about the same. See Friendly's Express Menu

It would probably be a good idea to switch over all their locations to Friendly's Express. Some even have outdoor seating. Hopefully they will come up with another name though. Express makes me think of a very limited menu and service like an airport location. Maybe they could rename it Extra Friendly's?

I'll see if I can track down some information on how the new Friendly's Express format is doing compared to the traditional.

Adam Schwartz said...

In place of Friendly's Express it now looks like they are going to be testing a new concept called American Classic.

Anonymous said...

The Bedford Friendly's is now closed.

Adam Schwartz said...

Thanks Anonymous. I just published a new post with a few more details - http://www.bedford-business.com/2012/01/bedford-friendlys-is-now-closed.html

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