The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Friendly’s to close restaurants, seeks bankruptcy protection
“We believe the voluntary bankruptcy filing and planned sale to a new, deeply experienced restaurant group will enable Friendly’s to rebound from the pandemic as a stronger business. It is also expected to preserve the jobs of Friendly’s restaurant team members, who are the heart and soul of our enterprise.” Friendly’s CEO George Michel
For the second time in a decade, Friendly’s filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with plans to close permanently its restaurant across from the Mystic Aquarium among a handful of leases it is rejecting as part of its initial restructuring plan.
An investment entity called Amici Partners Group is acquiring Friendly’s for an asset purchase price of $2 million, or just over $15,000 on average for each location. In court documents, attorneys for Amici Partners described the sum paid for Friendly’s as “not substantial” but allowing it to continue operating most of the chain’s remaining 130 locations.
It was the second big sale of a renowned New England chain in the past week, after the Inspire Brands parent of Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Sonic reached an $11.3 billion deal to acquire Dunkin’ Brands, which owns the BaskinRobbins ice cream brand in addition to its Dunkin’ coffee and bakery shops.
Amici Partners describes itself as an affiliate of Brix Holdings, a Dallas-based company which runs Red Mango Yogurt Café Smoothie & Juice Bar, Smoothie Factory Juice Bar, RedBrick Pizza Kitchen Cafe and Souper Salad.
Amici Partners pledged to preserve the vast majority of Friendly’s restaurants and jobs at 50 locations owned by the company, with another 80 operated under franchise agreements. In a statement released Sunday night, the CEO of Friendly’s parent company FIC Restaurants blamed the COVID-19 pandemic in forcing a bankruptcy sale of Friendly’s.
“We believe the voluntary bankruptcy filing and planned sale to a new, deeply experienced restaurant group will enable Friendly’s to rebound from the pandemic as a stronger business,” CEO George Michel was quoted saying, in a press release. “It is also expected to preserve the jobs of Friendly’s restaurant team members, who are the heart and soul of our enterprise.”
In filings last April with the Connecticut Department of Labor, Friendly’s reporting having more than 30 employees in Mystic, at the time stating its intent to have the closure be temporary. Friendly’s restaurants in Manchester, Wethersfield and Willimantic have also been removed from its website, after what had been described last April as temporary closures.
Friendly’s lists 11 remaining locations in Connecticut in North Haven, Naugatuck, Newington, Southington, Avon, Bristol, Enfield, Norwich, Plainville, Vernon, and Windsor Locks.
Founded in 1935 in the depths of the Great Depression in Springfield, Mass., Friendly’s predates by 15 years the first Dunkin’ Donuts shop in Quincy, Mass. The two are among the best-known restaurant chains launched in New England, with the short list headed by Milford-based Subway and including Boston Market.
Hershey Foods acquired Friendly’s in 1979, owning it for a decade; Friendly’s most recent owner Sun Capital Partners spent $337 million in 2007 to acquire the chain. Friendly’s has been on the block since the summer of 2019, according to court documents, with more than 30 investors having explored a deal and five signaling active interest last January.
Under Sun Capital ownership, Friendly’s filed in 2011 for a chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, closing several Connecticut restaurants over time afterward including in Danbury. That site is now being redeveloped for a Chipotle Mexican Grill, next door to Chili’s and across the street from a Puerta Vallarta restaurant.
Michel has led Friendly’s since 2018, replacing former CEO John Maguire who left to become president of Seattle-based MOD Pizza which has locations in 28 states, including two in New Jersey.
It was only the latest bankruptcy to hit a restaurant chain with a Connecticut base, with FoodFirst Global Holdings filing last May after closing its Brio Tuscan Grille location in Danbury — Barbarie’s Grill is opening there later this month, as reported by the Newtown Bee — and Le Pain Quotidien’s bankruptcy closing its Stamford location. Ruby Tuesday did not include any of its four Connecticut locations on a bankruptcy closure list published in early October.