Friendly's Is Making a Comeback After Mass Closures
The family burger and ice cream chain Friendly's has dealt with its fair share of obstacles over the years, including mass restaurant closures, declining sales, and multiple bankruptcy filings. But in good news for fans of the nearly 90-year-old company, the chain is starting to make a comeback in 2024 with new store openings, improved sales, and a multi-pronged plan to become relevant again.
Sherif Mityas, CEO of Friendly's parent company Brix Holdings, outlined the chain's ambitious turnaround strategy in a recent interview with Restaurant Dive. One key facet of the comeback plan revolves around the food—Friendly's has overhauled its menu with unique new twists on classic comfort fare to make it more relevant for the modern diner. In 2022, for example, the chain introduced a new Cheese Skirt Burger with a massive piece of fried cheese cascading off the patty. The "Instagrammable" menu item "creates something new and unique, but also tastes great," Mityas told the publication.
In a nod to diners who like to dip their French fries in ice cream, Friendly's also recently debuted a new Fries 'n' Ice Cream Dipper sundae that comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, fries, and a dusting of powdered sugar. Though the revamp took a while to accomplish, the company is pleased with the menu updates and says they're aiding in its comeback efforts.
"The menu overhaul took a good year. We wanted to take our time. We did a lot of testing. But now we're really comfortable where it is. And it's obviously working for us," Mityas said.
Remodels are another major facet of Friendly's turnaround plan. The chain has been gradually tweaking the design of its restaurants to include more pastel colors and, in some instances, updated murals with "more fun" and "more recency," according to Mityas.
While Friendly's ice cream used to be located behind a counter, the chain has now opened up its ice cream counter so customers can view its array of frozen treats. Additionally, a new restaurant that recently opened in Orlando, Fla., features a whole wall dedicated to Friendly's signature shakes called Fribbles.
"You can see the ice cream. You can see all the toppings in different candy bins. Kids can go off and design their own shakes," Mityas said of the Fribble wall. "It's about bringing ice cream and the candy and the Willy Wonka feel that we have on our sweet side of the menu, bringing that in front of the guests so that they can interact with the sweetness of Friendly's."
Mityas said that about 20% of Friendly's stores have already been remodeled, while another 20% are about halfway through the remodeling process. The rest of the remodels are expected to be completed in the next six to 12 months.
In addition to the menu overhaul, restaurant remodels, and marketing that aims to attract new customers, the final major factor of Friendly's comeback strategy is getting the chain back into growth mode. The chain operated a whopping 800 locations in its heyday but currently has around 100 restaurants throughout the East Coast.
With several additional stores expected to close in 2024 and several others expected to open, Mityas anticipates that Friendly's restaurant count will largely remain unchanged this year. Next year, however, Brix expects Friendly's to start expanding again and increase its footprint by three to four new stores.
"We want to grow, we want to grow sensibly, we want to grow where it makes sense and we want to grow profitably," Mityas said.
Only time will tell how Friendly's comeback initiative play out in the long term, but the company's efforts already seem to be paying off. Mityas said that the changes have helped drive customer traffic and interest from franchisees, as well as four consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales.
Sign up for our newsletter!
