Friendly's 1374795 226042590 2008-07-16T15:56:22Z Mr. Brain 1493305 {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Friendly Ice Cream Corporation | company_logo = [[Image:Friendlyslogo.jpg]] | company_type = Private | foundation = [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], Massachusetts ([[1935]])<ref name="founding">{{cite web|url=http://www.friendlys.com/about/|title=Friendly's Official History|accessdate=2006-07-12}}</ref> | location = [[Wilbraham, Massachusetts|Wilbraham]], Massachusetts | key_people = George Condos, CEO | industry = | products = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = | homepage = [http://www.friendlys.com/ www.friendlys.com] }} [[Image:Friendly's in Unionville, Connecticut.jpg|thumb|A Friendly's in [[Unionville, Connecticut]]]] '''Friendly Ice Cream Corporation''', best known for its '''Friendly's''' restaurant chain, was founded in [[1935]] in [[Springfield, Massachusetts|Springfield]], [[Massachusetts]] by two young brothers, 18-year-old [[Curtis Blake]] and 20-year-old [[Prestley Blake]]. Their first shop served double-dip cones for 5 cents. Friendly's is well known for its [[ice cream]] products. The restaurant serves a variety of [[sundae]]s, many in shapes, such as a [[monster]] with [[M&M's]] for eyes. The chain also serves a variety of [[milkshake]]s, including a thick milkshake known as a [[Fribble]] which is made with ice milk. In addition to these ice cream products, Friendly Ice Cream restaurants also offer a variety of [[breakfast]], [[lunch]] and [[dinner]] items, such as [[hamburger]]s, [[french fry|french fries]], wraps and [[sandwich]]es. Currently, more than 500 Friendly's restaurants can be found in the following 16 states along the [[East Coast of the United States]]: [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Florida]], [[Maine]], [[Maryland]], [[Massachusetts]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], [[New York]], [[North Carolina]], [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[Rhode Island]], [[South Carolina]], [[Vermont]], and [[Virginia]]. The company also manufactures ice cream for sale in thousands of [[supermarket]]s in 13 states. The company has 16,000 employees, and George Condos is the president and [[CEO]] following the resignation of John L. Cutter on September 28, 2006.<ref>[http://www.masslive.com/business/republican/index.ssf?/base/business-1/1159517380237230.xml&coll=1 Friendly Corp. CEO steps down- MassLive.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Many Friendly's have an old-fashioned street clock at the entrance of the restaurant with the name of the town. ==Timeline== [[Image:Friendlysmap.PNG|thumb|right|250px|States with [[Friendly's]] locations.]]*In [[1935]], the Blake brothers open the first Friendly Ice Cream store in [[Springfield, MA]]. *In [[1940]], the Blake brothers opened a second Friendly Ice Cream store in [[West Springfield, MA]] and added hamburgers to the menu. *In [[1943]], Friendly Ice Cream closes its shops for the duration of WWII.<ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_gx5202/is_2001/ai_n19123044 Friendly Ice Cream Corporation | International Directory of Company Histories | Find Articles at BNET.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> *By [[1951]], Friendly Ice Cream reaches 10 restaurant locations throughout [[Western Massachusetts]] and [[Connecticut]]. *In [[1960]], the growing company moved its headquarters to [[Wilbraham, MA]] where it still resides today. This is also the location of a Friendly's manufacturing facility. *In [[1979]], the Blake brothers retired and sold Friendly's to the [[Hershey Foods Corporation]] which continued to operate Friendly's as a wholly owned subsidiary. *In September [[1988]], Friendly's became part of The Restaurant Company. *In [[1997]], Friendly Ice Cream Corporation debuted on [[NASDAQ]] stock exchange under the symbol FRND. *In [[1998]], [[Kim Andereck]] was brought in as Vice President of Franchise Development and became instrumental in creating an aggressive franchise program for this 65 year-old chain that had always been 100% company-owned restaurants. Today, nearly 50% of the chain's restaurants are franchisee-owned. *In June [[2000]], Friendly's switches over to the American stock exchange [[Amex]] trading under the symbol FRN. *In June [[2007]], Friendly Appoints New President and CEO [[George Condos]] *In August [[2007]], Friendly's was bought for $337 million by private investment firm Sun Capital Partners, Inc.<ref>[http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/30/shareholders_approve_friendly_sale/ Shareholders approve Friendly sale - Boston.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ==Trivia== {{Trivia|date=September 2007}} *Until 1989, the brand name and logo was Friendly Ice Cream (and thus Friendly Restaurants), although the store was commonly referred to as Friendly's. In 1989, the " 's " was officially added to make the name truly Friendly's. *Friendly's restaurants at one time did not carry national-brand soft drinks. Instead, they served in-house analogues such as "Friendly Cola." *The hamburgers at Friendly's were long made in the shape of a square because the early burgers were served on slices of bread. After the advent of round buns, someone asked Presley Blake why the chain still used square hamburger patties. Prestley said, "because we don't cut corners at Friendly's!" Friendly's burgers are no longer square. *Hot dogs called Friendly franks were added in the '70s *When they first opened, Friendly's only served ice cream. Burgers were added in the fall to keep up sales when in cold weather ice cream sales slowed. *In 1999 Friendly's demanded The "Taste Bud" restaurant in Tannersville, PA remove the word "Friendly" from its slogan 'Friendly Family Restaurant.'<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E0D61338F932A25757C0A96F958260 A Friendly Squabble] The New York Times Retrieved on [[2007]]-[[August 5|08-05]]</ref> In protest, several local businesses added the word "Friendly" to their signs. "Taste Bud" has since shut down. ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.friendlys.com Friendly's] [[Category:Food companies of the United States]] [[Category:Franchises]] [[Category:Companies established in 1935]] [[Category:Ice cream parlors]] [[Category:Ice cream brands]] [[Category:Companies based in Massachusetts]] [[Category:Regional restaurant chains]] [[Category:Restaurants in Massachusetts]]