A Massachusetts-based chain of restaurants and ice cream shops is heading toward bankruptcy.
According to the Wall Street Journal, it appears that Friendly Ice Cream Corporation is going to be seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as early as next week. The article states that the chain would then attempt to be sold by way of a bankruptcy auction. It appears that poor economic conditions are at least partly to blame for the troubles at Friendly's, which is more than $250 million in debt, according to the Wall Street Journal.
[October 5 update: According to an article in The Boston Globe today, Friendly's has officially filed for bankruptcy, and the chain also announced a number of restaurant closings. The Boston area will see locations shut down in Acton, Billerica, Bridgewater, Brockton, Charlestown, Dedham, Foxboro, Hanover, Medfield, Needham, Quincy, Stoughton, Taunton, and Westboro. (For a complete list of closings, including elsewhere in Massachusetts and in other states, please go to the following Globe link: List of closed Friendly's restaurants)]
[December 30 update: According to another Boston Globe article, Friendly's has been purchased by Sun Capital. The article also mentions that the ice cream company plans to emerge from bankruptcy in early Janaury of 2012.]
Wilbraham-based Friendly's first started out in Springfield in 1935, eventually expanding to more than 500 locations, mostly on the East Coast of the United States. The chain is known in part for its ice cream products, including sundaes, fribbles, and floats, with its restaurants serving such items as burgers and seafood dishes.
The website for Friendly's can be found at http://www.friendlys.com/
For more on this story, please go to the Wall Street Journal link below.
Friendly's Restaurant Weighs Chapter 11
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