WILBRAHAM, Mass. – Friendly’s Restaurants, the 85-year-old East Coast restaurant chain for its Milkshakes and Fribble ice cream glasses, has filed for bankruptcy.
It joins a developing list of established restaurant chains that have dining rooms without dinner due to the out-of-control pandemic in the United States.
George Michel, ceo of FIC Restaurants Inc. , Friendly’s parent company, said COVID-19 had a “catastrophic impact” on operations. The FIC will necessarily sell all its assets to amici Partners Group.
Friendly’s 130 sites, stretching from Maine to Florida, will remain open as the chain restructures Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company announced Sunday.
The pandemic has greatly affected the food industry, especially chains like Friendly’s, which depend on other people sit at the table. At least 10 chains have filed for bankruptcy since the pandemic began this year.
Traffic in full-service restaurant chains in the United States was reduced by 48% between April and June, according to NPD Group, while visits decreased by 25% in the June-September era, as restrictions were easy in some parts of the country.
However, infections accumulate as an incrulent climate arrives and industry analysts collect lists from major restaurant chains with the highest threat of failure.
Friendly’s, at most other channels that stumbled this year, had already struggled as its consumers grew and the festival increased, and in the pandemic it has become increasingly difficult to compete with chains that already depended on the postponement and service of the wheel, such as Dairy Queen.
Friendly’s has closed many sites over the past decade. The Wilbraham, Massachusetts-based company has already filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
Michel stated that Friendly’s had tried to expand its transfer and delivery activities and rearrange its menu when it hit the pandemic.
Other restaurant chains that filed for bankruptcy this year are Le Pain Quotidien’s U. S. subsidiary, CEC Entertainment, Chuck E’s parent company. Cheese, California Pizza Kitchen, Sizzler and Ruby Tuesday.
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