Friendly’s was founded as the “Friendly” ice-cream shop in Springfield, Massachusetts, by “spunky” brothers Prestley and Curtis Blake in 1935 \u2014 at the height of the Great Depression, according to the company’s website.<\/p>\n
The two young entrepreneurs \u2014 Prestley was 20 years old and Curtis was just 18 \u2014 sold double-dip cones for 5 cents.<\/p>\n
FUDDRUCKERS BECAME THE ‘BLOCKBUSTER’ OF BURGERS, AND NOW IT’S NEARLY GONE<\/a><\/p>\n In 1940, they expanded with a second location and began offering food<\/a>, with hamburgers among the first additions to the menu.<\/p>\n By 1951, there were 10 Friendly restaurants operating in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and by 1974, that number had grown to 500 restaurants across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.<\/p>\n Friendly’s became known for its ice-cream desserts, burgers and family-friendly atmosphere as it expanded throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. (John Tlumacki\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Friendly’s marked its 90th year in business in 2025.<\/p>\n Along the way, the company introduced new food and dessert items<\/a> to its menu, began distributing its ice cream in supermarkets, set a Guinness World Record for the largest sundae in 1980 and added the apostrophe and “s” to its name in 1989.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n Friendly’s also changed hands throughout the decades and filed for bankruptcy<\/a> twice.<\/p>\n Hershey’s acquired Friendly’s from the Blakes in 1979 and sold the chain nine years later to Tennessee Restaurant Company. By the mid-1990s, Friendly’s had grown to about 850 restaurants.<\/p>\n Friendly\u2019s celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025, decades after the brand began as a neighborhood ice-cream shop. (John Tlumacki\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Friendly’s first filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and again in November 2020.<\/p>\n “Over the last two years, Friendly’s has made important strides toward reinvigorating our beloved brand in the face of shifting demographics, increased competition and rising costs,” then-Friendly’s CEO George Michel said in a news release in 2020.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n “Unfortunately, like many restaurant businesses, our progress was suddenly interrupted by the catastrophic impact of COVID, which caused a decline in revenue as dine-in operations ceased for months and re-opened with limited capacity.”<\/p>\n In 2021, Friendly’s announced that Amici Partners Group, LLC had acquired the company and was “dedicated to reinvigorating 130-store restaurant chain.”<\/p>\n Friendly’s expanded beyond its restaurants by selling its branded ice cream in grocery stores. (Gaia Squarci\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Today, 90% of Friendly’s restaurants have closed, and there are 87 locations in 11 Eastern states, The Takeout<\/a> reported. Twenty-two of the restaurants \u2013 or about 25% of them \u2013 are in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n Some Friendly’s restaurants were seen as old and tired and as failing to keep up with modern trends, Barbara E. Kahn, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Kahn said there’s “a lot of life left” in the Friendly’s brand.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n “It has a legacy that could be built on and could serve to bring people in, especially on this trend of nostalgia<\/a>, which can be a plus in restaurants,” she said. “But it also has to keep up with changing times and changing tastes.”<\/p>\n Kahn said Friendly’s has “positive DNA” the brand can build upon by capitalizing on the restaurants’ nostalgia and strong brand legacy surrounding its ice cream, while also modernizing its offerings.<\/p>\n Friendly’s can capitalize on nostalgia surrounding the brand while adapting to changing consumer tastes, an expert said. (John Tlumacki\/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)<\/p>\n “People who remember that brand from its heyday think of it as a fun place to go, a family restaurant known for its ice cream and fun food,” she said.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/friendly_s_ice_cream.jpg\")
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