GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The town's lone Friendly's Restaurant was shuttered on Monday as the ice cream scooper emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The Great Barrington restaurant was the only closure in the Berkshires. Thirty-six other restaurants were also closed, including three in the Springfield area and seven others in Massachusetts. Several in the Capital Region of New York also closed their doors.
According to a statement from company, "we were unable to reach an acceptable agreement with landlords at 37 restaurants. Therefore, the Company has made the difficult decision to close these Friendly's effective at the close of business on January 8th."
The Great Barrington location is no longer listed on the company's website.
That makes 100 restaurants closed since the Wilbraham company first entered Chapter 11 last fall. The company has about 7,500 locations. The restaurants employed about 20 people each.
Friendly's Ice Cream Corp. emerged from bankruptcy after selling the corporation and its subsidiaries to Friendly's Ice Cream LLC for a reported $75 million.
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The article reports, "According to a statement from company, "we were unable to reach an acceptable agreement with landlords at 37 restaurants."
Notso, in the case of the Great Barrington Friendlys. In fact, the company is telling a Burger King Whopper! Check Mass. Land Records and you'll see that Friendly Ice Cream Corp. or its subsidiaries owned FOR DECADES the 240 Stockbridge Road location. In 2007, that property was sold to an Escondito, CA company, 'O Ice LLC', and simultaneously it was leased back to Friendly Ice Cream Corp. for an initial term of 19 (Nineteen) years -- commencing in 2007 and expiring in 2026 -- with two 8-year options to extend, and one 9-year option to extend after that. It would be informative to contact Friendly Ice Cream Corp., give their media flaks the above data, and then ask for the real reason the Great Barrington location is being closed.
