Danbury Rumor Dispelled — Friendly’s Is NOT Closing
With all the news these days of places in the area closing, I'm not surprised that when the rumor started to spread that Friendly's on Newtown Road in Danbury may be closing, people thought it might be true.
It's been a staple in the community for more than 40 years, but over the last week, the local community seemed to trade in the hat factory for the "rumor mill". Everywhere I've gone over the past week, someone asks me if I heard anything about Friendly's on Newtown Road closing. My answer was I would look into it. Here's what I found:
Back in 2015, courant.com reported that J & B Restaurant Partners of Long Island II, LLC, a franchise owner of 37 Friendly's restaurants in Connecticut and two other states, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and planed to close unprofitable locations and remodel others. J & B had three Connecticut locations, Bridgeport, Danbury and Darien. The Bridgeport location closed. Darien closed when its lease expired, and the Danbury location dodged the bullet and stayed open. But in October 2015, the local shop was sold back to the Friendly's Ice Cream Corp., based in Wilbraham, Mass.
We reached out to Friendly's Cooperate office with the following question:
Good Morning,
I heard a rumor that the location on Newtown Rd. in Danbury has been permanently closed. Is this true? It has been a staple in our community for over 40 years.
This was the definitive response we received from the friendly corporate people over at — wait for it — Friendly's
As of right now, there aren’t any plans for the Danbury, CT restaurant to close.
So, there you have it, folks. Straight out of the Reese's Pieces Sundae's mouth.
I can't blame everyone, though. The closing of a Friendly's is no stranger to Danbury. Over a decade ago, the Friendly's in the Danbury Fair Mall closed as the mall underwent a full renovation.
So Friendly's lovers can relax, at least for now. The Danbury Friendly's demise has been greatly exaggerated.
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