What's to blame for the rapid and steady demise of Friendly's, and is there anything the company
can do to pull itself out of financial free fall?
We took a look at the company's nine decade history, a road paved in Fishamajig SuperMelts
and Fribbles, to figure out what went wrong.
Friendly's was built around it's welcoming family atmosphere, so it's ironic that family
infighting helped cause their issues in the first place.
According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2006, then-91-year-old co-founder S. Prestley Blake
caused a ruckus at a board meeting when he accused the directors of malfeasance.
A year later, he teamed up with a 29-year-old shareholder named Sardar Biglari to try and
wrest control of the company back.
That led to a battle between Blake and his younger brother Curtis, who thought Biglari
was out for himself.
He might have been right.
In 2011, the company was bought out by a private equity firm and Biglari cashed out, turning
his attention to Steak N Shake just before Friendly's filed for bankruptcy.
"it has been a Western Massachusetts institution for 76 years, but now Friendly's is facing
major financial difficulty."
By 2012, the chain had emerged from bankruptcy, reducing their debt in part by eliminating
the pension plan and closing over a hundred locations.
And the closures have continued ever since: by April, 2019, there were only 174 locations
left, compared to over 400 in 2011.
The locations that still exist, though, are also struggling.
Why?
Well, it turns out that a lot of customers just don't seem to think that Friendly's is
very good.
In 2017, Nation's Restaurant News conducted a brand survey loyalty of 126 fast food and
restaurant chains.
Friendly's ranked at a dismal 106, with only 36 percent of customers saying that their
last visit to the chain was motivated by the brand itself and not by convenience.
When you're trying to dig yourself out of a hole, that's not a great way to start.
Compounding the chain's problems is the fact that Americans are simply dining out less
often these days — and when they do go out, they are choosing a different type of experience.
According to Restaurant Business Online, consumers in 2019 are more interested in the unique
experiences provided by independent restaurants and smaller chains than in bigger one-size-fits-all
chains.
That's in part because tastes in food are changing as well, with customers looking for
healthier options.
With farm to table foods and locally sourced ingredients becoming the norm, getting a burger
and a Frappe at Friendly's just doesn't seem as appealing as it once did.
And another major shift impacting Friendly's is the slow erosion of the middle class.
Customers at both ends of the spectrum are still dining out, but economicaklly disadvantaged
families are more likely to eat at cheaper options like McDonald's, while more affluent
folks can afford to eat somewhere nicer than Friendly's.
Though, of course, there are exceptions to the rule.
According to another Restaurant Business Online survey, customers complained that the food
was either not good enough, or was too expensive.
Friendly's seems to be stuck in a middle ground where they aren't able to please either end
of their customer base — and as a result, that customer base is disappearing.
"I'd like a 'my baby needs a new pair of shoes' meal."
"So that's two large sprites, a McChicken, and a triple cheeseburger for just six dollars."
"Exactly."
Their time may simply have come and gone
All of which adds up to one sad possibility: it might simply be time for the age of Friendly's
to pass into legend.
Industry analyst Ron Paul told The Boston Globe,
"Restaurants have a life cycle, and Friendly's has hit it.
I don't think there is any marketing fix when you are a model of a restaurant that went
out of style.”
Restaurants open every day.
But they also close every day.
Sometimes a restaurant's concept catches on, but sometimes, it dies off.
Friendly's was ahead of it's time when it opened, thanks to a wholesome concept of affordable,
approachable food for the whole family, that always ends in an ice cream sundae.
But that was in 1935.
More than eight decades later, for better or for worse, Friendly's time may have passed.
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