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Defunct restaurant chains and retailers

Started by Stephane Dumas, September 05, 2016, 03:33:50 PM

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Takumi

A&N, a clothing store that was always interesting.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.


briantroutman

Quote from: noelbotevera on September 28, 2016, 04:28:39 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 28, 2016, 04:25:28 PM
bout 12 years ago, it seems Quizno's were popping up all around here.  Now there's 2 left in the state (Hartford and Orange).  Quizno's and Krispy Kreme were failed attempts of companies from outside the region trying to infringe on the home turf of Subway and Dunkin.
Quizno's failed down here too.

I don't think it's fair to say that Quiznos failed in any specific metro area or geographic market. Where Quiznos failed has little to do with the quality of the sandwiches or the company's inability to compete with established sandwich shops; it's more a matter of the parent company's twisted and parasitic relationship with its franchisees. Just search something like "quiznos franchisee lawsuit"  to see a number of eye-opening results–including the story of Quiznos franchisee who committed suicide in a Quiznos store while it was open...because, he claimed in his suicide note, the parent company had destroyed him financially and ruined his life.

Basically, the parent company saw that it could make money from franchising successful sandwich shops... OR it could make even more money by selling an expensive franchise agreement to a gullible franchisee, force him to buy his supplies at ridiculous markups to the point it would be impossible to make a profit. Then as soon as that sucker went bankrupt, sell a new expensive franchise agreement to the next one. And the next...

Quote from: vdeane on September 28, 2016, 05:48:30 PM
I honestly don't get why anyone would prefer Dunkin to Krispy Kreme.

Most of the Dunkin locations I've visited outside of my hometown are poorly run (stale, deflated donuts; indifferent staff), but the rare well made Dunkin Donut is perfection, as far as I'm concerned. Krispy Kreme doughnuts have a unique and distinct flavor and texture, but I've never really liked that they're so moistly sticky you need to wipe your hands instantly after touching one and so soft they turn into doughy sugary gloop the moment you take a bite.

But beyond your preference for doughnuts or donuts, there are a number of reasons one might prefer Dunkin. They have long claimed to have superior coffee, an assertion a number of customers seem to agree with. A non "express"  Dunkin typically has many more types of donuts than Krispy Kreme, as well as eclairs, coffee rolls, muffins, bagels, breakfast sandwiches and other items.

Quote from: roadman65 on September 28, 2016, 09:28:24 AM
Arthur Treachers.  Miami Subs tried to bring them back, but folded.

Not quite... Arthur Treacher's was purchased by Nathan's Famous, which also separately purchased Miami Subs and Kenny Rogers Roasters. In recent years, I've only seen Arthur Treacher's co-branded at a shared counter with Nathan's, and only in a concessionaire-type environment (like a food court or service plaza). I wonder whether any standalone locations (with the distinct lantern-shaped signs) still exist anywhere.

I visited one on the NJ Turnpike a few months ago: The receipt said "Nathan's"  and my food came in Nathan's cartons and bags. I got hushpuppies and generic french fries (chips) that could have come from any unbranded food court stand. I'm not sure that the Arthur Treacher's trademark means anything anymore.

1995hoo

The last standalone Arthur Treacher's I saw was in Fairfax, Virginia, on US-29. It closed and was demolished within the last four years or so.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: briantroutman on September 29, 2016, 03:08:27 AM
I visited one on the NJ Turnpike a few months ago: The receipt said “Nathan’s” and my food came in Nathan’s cartons and bags. I got hushpuppies and generic french fries (chips) that could have come from any unbranded food court stand. I’m not sure that the Arthur Treacher’s trademark means anything anymore.

I felt the same way about Roy Rogers when their only locations were on Turnpikes.  Just about any burger patty can be slapped on any roll.

BamaZeus

We ate at the very last Kenny Rogers Roasters in Ontario, CA before it permanently closed

https://goo.gl/photos/VFeTBh4LetSthCDK9

The last Arthur Treacher's I saw was at the Venetian food court in Vegas.  It was co-branded with Nathan's, but IIRC the last time we went in 2014 it was exclusively a Nathan's location and they had dropped Arthur Treacher's.

1995hoo

Quote from: jeffandnicole on September 29, 2016, 08:40:38 AM
Quote from: briantroutman on September 29, 2016, 03:08:27 AM
I visited one on the NJ Turnpike a few months ago: The receipt said “Nathan’s” and my food came in Nathan’s cartons and bags. I got hushpuppies and generic french fries (chips) that could have come from any unbranded food court stand. I’m not sure that the Arthur Treacher’s trademark means anything anymore.

I felt the same way about Roy Rogers when their only locations were on Turnpikes.  Just about any burger patty can be slapped on any roll.

Roy's never shrank far enough to be always on turnpikes.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

KEVIN_224

The last Roy Rogers in New England was off of Exit 1 of I-84 in Sturbridge, MA. A Manchester, CT location near I-84 became an Indian restaurant. I believe the building is now gone. They used to have others along the northbound Berlin Turnpike (US 5/CT 15) in Newington, CT (Arby's since 2007) and on US Route 5 in North Haven, CT, off Exit 12 of I-91 (also now Arby's).

JasonOfORoads

#57
At least as far as the Pacific Northwest is concerned:

  • Farrell's Ice Cream
  • Rax
  • T.G.I. Friday's
  • Mervyn's / Mervyn's California (remember when Joe Montana did a commercial with them?)
  • Meyer & Frank
  • Circuit City
  • Boston Market
  • Quizno's
  • Tony Roma's
  • K-B Toys
  • Haggen
  • Skipper's
  • Arby's seems to be vanishing more and more
Ones that aren't defunct in the Pacific Northwest:

  • Schlotzky's
  • Blockbuster (apparently there are 34 left in the country)
  • ShopKo
Borderline addicted to roadgeeking since ~1989.

Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

vdeane

Quote from: briantroutman on September 29, 2016, 03:08:27 AM
Most of the Dunkin locations I've visited outside of my hometown are poorly run (stale, deflated donuts; indifferent staff), but the rare well made Dunkin Donut is perfection, as far as I'm concerned. Krispy Kreme doughnuts have a unique and distinct flavor and texture, but I've never really liked that they're so moistly sticky you need to wipe your hands instantly after touching one and so soft they turn into doughy sugary gloop the moment you take a bite.

But beyond your preference for doughnuts or donuts, there are a number of reasons one might prefer Dunkin. They have long claimed to have superior coffee, an assertion a number of customers seem to agree with. A non "express"  Dunkin typically has many more types of donuts than Krispy Kreme, as well as eclairs, coffee rolls, muffins, bagels, breakfast sandwiches and other items.
Guess I'm just not the type to go to somewhere like Dunkin for things like coffee (actually, I don't drink coffee anyways) or breakfast (which, on the rare occassion I have a fast food breakfast (usually while traveling), is probably Subway or McDonalds (or, in the local area, Stewarts) anyways).  And I think I got used to holding Krispy Kreme (also Wegmans, incidentally; I think they borrowed the formula) donuts with a napkin.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

jeffandnicole

There was a Farrell's in my nearby mall in NJ when I was growing up.  I never realized there was more than 1 until I was older and they were long gone.

KB was a victim of Walmart and other bigboxes.  Well, at least that was the common excuse.  Having small stores in malls with crowded aisles where you could only handle one or two things at a time without a shopping cart probably didn't work in their favor either.

Circuit City...well...they ran a tutorial on how not to save money by axing your staff and replacing them with part timers that don't know or care about the products.  I think they were supposed to come back as an internet-only company...never really heard much about that though.

JasonOfORoads

Quote from: jeffandnicole on September 29, 2016, 02:05:31 PM
KB was a victim of Walmart and other bigboxes.  Well, at least that was the common excuse.  Having small stores in malls with crowded aisles where you could only handle one or two things at a time without a shopping cart probably didn't work in their favor either.
There was talk during the 2012 election that Mitt Romney and Bain Capital was responsible for K-B Toys' demise. However, like the link says, Romney wasn't a part of Bain at the time, and K-B was supposedly already in trouble. I can attest to that last one -- I never bought anything at K-B as a 90's kid unless I was on vacation and stuck at an outlet mall because it was at least $2 more expensive than even Toys 'Я' Us was, with a crappier selection. It was only good for Nickelodeon's Super Toy Run or gift certificates for winning various Nick shows like Figure It Out.
Borderline addicted to roadgeeking since ~1989.

PHLBOS

One for the New England area: Brigham's Ice Cream Restaurants, which was once a rival to Friendly's.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

Rothman

Huh.  Makes me wonder about Carvel.  I think I saw an old store of theirs recently, but I'm sure their business has shifted to just distributing cakes to supermarkets.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

noelbotevera

Arby's is still here. Roy Rogers is down in Hagerstown. TGI Friday's is still here. I'd say that I'm lucky that they haven't closed my branch of all the defunct fast food chains.

I have no idea why Blockbuster didn't decide to go for online shopping and rental. They would still be here to this day.

JasonOfORoads

Quote from: noelbotevera on September 29, 2016, 03:27:48 PM
I have no idea why Blockbuster didn't decide to go for online shopping and rental. They would still be here to this day.
Netflix approached them to buy/invest in their business and were turned down. It's their own damn fault.
Borderline addicted to roadgeeking since ~1989.

hm insulators

Quote from: noelbotevera on September 28, 2016, 08:04:32 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on September 28, 2016, 08:00:29 PM
Pizza Hut if defunct in Houma, LA.  I was there visiting a friend three times and saw the abandoned buildings (remember Pizza Hut had the same style buildings at first) at various locations througout the city.  Locals there said locals were not into Pizza as much as Cajun food.
Pizza Hut is more popular in the Northeast. I have at least two in my town.

Pizza Hut is all over California and Arizona, too.

I don't know if somebody mentioned Sports Authority yet, but they closed down recently, as well as another sporting goods store chain called Sport Chalet. The latter was a west-coast chain. For many years, the flagship store in La Canada Flintridge, California was the only one; it was on Foothill Boulevard just east of Angeles Crest Highway for as far back as I can remember. Just a few years ago, the original store had been replaced by a new one as well as a bunch of other shops in a new mall that somehow manages to cram a hundred acres of stores, Sport Chalet offices (as opposed to the store), parking, including an ugly concrete parking structure (in La Canada Flintridge?) and restaurants into about a forty-acre lot, or something of that nature. Kind of the architectural equivalent of somehow jamming a basketball into a golf hole. :-D
Remember: If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.

I'd rather be a child of the road than a son of a ditch.


At what age do you tell a highway that it's been adopted?

roadman

Quote from: PHLBOS on September 29, 2016, 03:25:44 PM
One for the New England area: Brigham's Ice Cream Restaurants, which was once a rival to Friendly's.
Although all the restaurants have closed, you can still get Brigham's ice cream in certain supermarkets and convenience stores, at least in the Boston area.  It's reportedly made by the same production plants that make the Friendly's ice cream you see in stores.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

Avalanchez71

I seem to recall LUM'S in Florida that may have been elsewhere as well.  I didn't know that there were more Ferrell's around either.

PHLBOS

#69
Quote from: roadman on September 29, 2016, 04:34:35 PM
Quote from: PHLBOS on September 29, 2016, 03:25:44 PM
One for the New England area: Brigham's Ice Cream Restaurants, which was once a rival to Friendly's.
Although all the restaurants have closed, you can still get Brigham's ice cream in certain supermarkets and convenience stores, at least in the Boston area.  It's reportedly made by the same production plants that make the Friendly's ice cream you see in stores.
I believe that Brigham's Ice Cream is now owned by Hood but still sold & marketed as a separate brand.  Friendly's Ice Cream is now owned by Dean Foods.
Wiki Link
Quote from: WikiHood, identified as BIC Acquisitions, LLC, continues to market Brigham's ice cream in stores and owns the trademarks and official website.

Quote from: Avalanchez71 on September 29, 2016, 04:39:13 PM
I seem to recall LUM'S in Florida that may have been elsewhere as well.  I didn't know that there were more Ferrell's around either.
Lums existed in eastern Massachusetts as well.  The Uno's Chicago Grille along Endicott St. in Danvers, MA was originally a Lums back in the mid-70s.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

roadman65

#70
Its funny that they were the one's that put Hermans out of business and now they crashed.  I guess Academy and the overpriced Dicks gave them way too much competition.

Pizza Hut killed themselves with their own delivery only stores and the fact you can get one at home instead of dining out. In Orlando they scaled back as in the 90's they were opening up sit down stores like wildflowers, yet toward the end of the century and into the 2000's they closed many stores with most of the remaining ones to be the carry out locations.

New Jersey did not get em until the mid 1980's (well in north central Jersey anyway) and toward a later date (either in the late 80's or early 90's) some closed like the Iselin store on Oaktree Road that became an Indian Restaurant.  I even think the Cranford Store (not far from Clark where I grew up) was later closed. If not that one it was one near Clark that did not survive anyway.

I understand that Pathmark and A & P closed for good as both were even struggling 30 years ago.  When Rickel closed (that was also a sister store of Pathmark) I only knew that they would be closing eventually.  However I must admit that Pathmark did hold on as long as they did as they closed many stores and the ones that remained were the Super Centers called Super Pathmarks.

While on the subject of Rickel also Channel Lumber closed after dominating New Jersey for several years.

Then in Electronics you had the Wiz, Crazy Eddie, and Trader Horn in the Northeast around NYC that all are a distant memory.  I am relieved that PC Richard is still in the game, most likely cause they did not try to reach every US market like Circuit City did.  Their website says they have 67 locations mostly in NJ with some in Southeast PA and NYC, but non outside the NJ market too far.

Edit:  Tops Appliance City who started out in Edison on NJ 27 was very good.  My uncle worked for them and my dad got very good deals on refrigerators and his first VCR and a TV as well.  He even opened a second store in Brooklyn near Coney Island off the Belt Parkway as his Edison Store did very well.  I believe he opened a third and maybe a fourth store as well, but when my uncle lost his job it was because they went belly up as the company took a bad turn. However, the owners were the fitst to break through the censorship barrier by calling out their competitors as "Dirtbags" that was an unheard word on radio in the 80's.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

roadman

Quote from: PHLBOS on September 29, 2016, 04:48:10 PM
Lums existed in eastern Massachusetts as well.  The Uno's Chicago Grille along Endicott St. in Danvers, MA was originally a Lums back in the mid-70s.
Used to eat there regularly when accompanying my mother on shopping trips to the Liberty Tree Mall, which brings up two more defunct regional retailers - Ann and Hope. and Lechmere Sales, which were the mall's original anchor stores when it opened in 1968.

IIRC, Lums' big marketing ploy was that they steamed their hot dogs in beer.  When the one on Endicott Street first opened, I remember that they gave away plastic Snoopy look-alike toys (with the purchase of a meal) as a promotion.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

Scott5114

Pizza Hut killed themselves? Then who showed up on my doorstep with a pizza last week? Creepy times, man...
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

JasonOfORoads

Quote from: hm insulators on September 29, 2016, 04:18:26 PM
I don't know if somebody mentioned Sports Authority yet, but they closed down recently, as well as another sporting goods store chain called Sport Chalet. The latter was a west-coast chain. For many years, the flagship store in La Canada Flintridge, California was the only one; it was on Foothill Boulevard just east of Angeles Crest Highway for as far back as I can remember. Just a few years ago, the original store had been replaced by a new one as well as a bunch of other shops in a new mall that somehow manages to cram a hundred acres of stores, Sport Chalet offices (as opposed to the store), parking, including an ugly concrete parking structure (in La Canada Flintridge?) and restaurants into about a forty-acre lot, or something of that nature. Kind of the architectural equivalent of somehow jamming a basketball into a golf hole. :-D
You just reminded me of another PNW store, GI Joe's, that got taken over by Dick's Sporting Goods a decade or so ago.
Borderline addicted to roadgeeking since ~1989.

catch22

Quote from: Avalanchez71 on September 29, 2016, 04:39:13 PM
I seem to recall LUM'S in Florida that may have been elsewhere as well.  I didn't know that there were more Ferrell's around either.

There were several Lum's in the Detroit area, along with at least one Farrell's.



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