Chains Defunct in One Region Only to be Alive and Well in Others

Started by Avalanchez71, September 21, 2022, 11:55:30 PM

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Avalanchez71

Quote from: 1 on September 22, 2022, 01:23:27 PM
Quote from: Avalanchez71 on September 22, 2022, 01:22:11 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 22, 2022, 12:18:12 PM
Quote from: webny99 on September 22, 2022, 11:19:32 AM
Friendly's - They're gone from western NY except for one in Olean and one or two in the the Syracuse area.

Friendly's is not alive and well in any region, although they are still somewhat well represented in western MA. In most of MA there are more buildings that used to be Friendly's then there are current Friendly's.
Friendly's just entered in the Middle Tennessee market.

You mentioned this before. Given that they seem to be about to go out of business:

You are referring to a sit-down restaurant that specializes in ice cream and not an entirely different business that coincidentally has the same name, right?
I mixed up Friendly's with Freddy's. 


Rothman

Quote from: Avalanchez71 on September 22, 2022, 01:26:01 PM
Quote from: 1 on September 22, 2022, 01:23:27 PM
Quote from: Avalanchez71 on September 22, 2022, 01:22:11 PM
Quote from: spooky on September 22, 2022, 12:18:12 PM
Quote from: webny99 on September 22, 2022, 11:19:32 AM
Friendly's - They're gone from western NY except for one in Olean and one or two in the the Syracuse area.

Friendly's is not alive and well in any region, although they are still somewhat well represented in western MA. In most of MA there are more buildings that used to be Friendly's then there are current Friendly's.
Friendly's just entered in the Middle Tennessee market.

You mentioned this before. Given that they seem to be about to go out of business:

You are referring to a sit-down restaurant that specializes in ice cream and not an entirely different business that coincidentally has the same name, right?
I mixed up Friendly's with Freddy's.
Yeah, I provided the location map.  Didn't make much sense.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

jp the roadgeek

Wawa: Used to have stores in CT (now Krauszer's), but is booming in the Mid Atlantic and Florida.

Cumberland Farms: Booming in New England and still in FL,  but the stores in Delaware and the Mid Atlantic are gone.

Long John Silvers:  Were quite a few in CT in the late 70's, then they disappeared.  There are only 2 left in CT, both paired with Taco Bell. But there seems to be more elsewhere.

Roy Rogers: Totally gone from New England, but still quite a few in the Mid Atlantic
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

bing101

Quote from: Avalanchez71 on September 21, 2022, 11:55:30 PM


Jack in the Box
Down to 4 in Middle Tennessee



Jack in the Box thats big in California given that the main office is there.

seicer

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 22, 2022, 01:38:53 PM
Cumberland Farms: Booming in New England and still in FL,  but the stores in Delaware and the Mid Atlantic are gone.

Cumberland Farms got bought out (by EG of Great Britain) and it doesn't appear the quality of the stores has been the same. I used to compare them to Wawa, QuikChek or Sheetz for the quality of the coffee and selection (less so on the fresh food). Oddly enough, I am seeing Cumberland Farms brand coffee and snacks (such as candy bars) in many other gas stations and convenience stores.

Quote
Roy Rogers: Totally gone from New England, but still quite a few in the Mid Atlantic

This chain is slowly reopening where it once existed. There was for many decades a Roy Rogers outpost in Batavia, Ohio that had the original sign and storefront - and many faded photos and memorabilia of Roy Rogers inside. Their franchise was finally revoked and it reopened as... Roney's with an entirely new building.

Scott5114

Quote from: SectorZ on September 22, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Pizza Hut, for reasons that should shock no one, is more or less defunct in New England after having a large presence. I used to have over a dozen within 20 miles of me, now down to two, and one of them is a take-out only location.

I don't get the hate for Pizza Hut. It's not the world's best pizza but it's no worse than Domino's or Papa John's (and it's better than Marco's or things like Little Caesar's).
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

skluth

Quote from: Scott5114 on September 22, 2022, 05:32:00 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on September 22, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Pizza Hut, for reasons that should shock no one, is more or less defunct in New England after having a large presence. I used to have over a dozen within 20 miles of me, now down to two, and one of them is a take-out only location.

I don't get the hate for Pizza Hut. It's not the world's best pizza but it's no worse than Domino's or Papa John's (and it's better than Marco's or things like Little Caesar's).

I think Pizza Hut is better than Papa John's. I'm fine with both PH and Domino's. They're nothing special. I think of them as producers of pizza comfort food. It's like Taco Bell; you can eat there in a pinch but there are plenty of better Mexican places (which serve actual Mexican food).

kphoger

Quote from: Scott5114 on September 22, 2022, 05:32:00 PM
I don't get the hate for Pizza Hut. It's not the world's best pizza but it's no worse than Domino's or Papa John's (and it's better than Marco's or things like Little Caesar's).

Pizza Hut has my favorite fries anywhere.
Keep right except to pass.  Yes.  You.
Visit scenic Orleans County, NY!
Male pronouns, please.

Quote from: Philip K. DickIf you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use them.

Scott5114

Quote from: skluth on September 22, 2022, 06:31:59 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on September 22, 2022, 05:32:00 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on September 22, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Pizza Hut, for reasons that should shock no one, is more or less defunct in New England after having a large presence. I used to have over a dozen within 20 miles of me, now down to two, and one of them is a take-out only location.

I don't get the hate for Pizza Hut. It's not the world's best pizza but it's no worse than Domino's or Papa John's (and it's better than Marco's or things like Little Caesar's).

I think Pizza Hut is better than Papa John's. I'm fine with both PH and Domino's. They're nothing special. I think of them as producers of pizza comfort food. It's like Taco Bell; you can eat there in a pinch but there are plenty of better Mexican places (which serve actual Mexican food).

Pizza comfort food is a good way to describe how I view it. It was the pizza my parents always ordered when I was a kid, so it's my go-to for "I want pizza that isn't frozen microwave pizza". I don't think it's the best pizza (that title probably belongs to Sauced in Oklahoma City) but it's the pizza I think of when I think of pizza.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

tigerwings

I remember Little Caesar's being good in the late 70s - early 80s in Detroit.

Quality and taste went south with massive expansion and pizza-pizza. Spread 1 pizza worth of topping over 2 pies.

I LC I grew up with is now a Jet's Pizza. Appears the Franchisee switched all their stores around the same time.

Rothman

Quote from: Scott5114 on September 22, 2022, 05:32:00 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on September 22, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Pizza Hut, for reasons that should shock no one, is more or less defunct in New England after having a large presence. I used to have over a dozen within 20 miles of me, now down to two, and one of them is a take-out only location.

I don't get the hate for Pizza Hut. It's not the world's best pizza but it's no worse than Domino's or Papa John's (and it's better than Marco's or things like Little Caesar's).
Um....you're comparing three types of poo.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

kirbykart

Quote from: SectorZ on September 22, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Pizza Hut, for reasons that should shock no one, is more or less defunct in New England after having a large presence. I used to have over a dozen within 20 miles of me, now down to two, and one of them is a take-out only location.
Same thing in New York. The nearest to me is in the Dunkirk-Fredonia area, and I'm not sure if it's open anymore even. It actually had moved out of it's little hut building there years ago, but opened in a nearby shopping plaza. The Springville location is long gone, overall they are dying out.

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 22, 2022, 01:38:53 PM
Roy Rogers: Totally gone from New England, but still quite a few in the Mid Atlantic
The only Roy Rogers I've ever seen are in Thruway service plazas. I'd say they are dying out in general.

Takumi

Quote from: 1995hoo on September 22, 2022, 11:49:54 AM
Quote from: Takumi on September 22, 2022, 11:05:18 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on September 22, 2022, 08:08:17 AM
Quote from: Takumi on September 22, 2022, 07:18:41 AM
....

Richmond had a few Safeway locations until the early 1990s. At least one became a Food Lion.

....

That was broader than just Richmond. They pulled out of "central Virginia" overall, including Charlottesville (which had several Safeways); I recall one of my college roommates was quite dismayed about it because he was loyal to Safeway as the chain he patronized at home in Connecticut. I distinctly remember his odd statement that he found it hard to "develop a shopping strategy" at the other Charlottesville-area grocery stores.
That is an odd statement. I only remember going to Safeway once or twice, because there were closer stores. The south side of town where we lived had a couple independent grocery stores that we frequented until they became victims of Wal-Mart building a supercenter. (As was the very briefly open "The Grocery Store" , an Aldi-like concept by Hampton Roads-based Farm Fresh.) North side of town had Food Lion, Ukrop's, and Winn-Dixie. The Food Lion is still around, Ukrop's is now Publix, and Winn-Dixie was a thrift store before it became an auto body shop.

There is a Safeway a few minutes' walk from our house (0.3 of a mile walking, 1.5 miles driving). I hardly ever go there because, first, I prefer Wegmans and I do most of our shopping there and, second, when I want to go to one of the grocery stores nearest to us I prefer to go to the Giant at the other end of the shopping center where Safeway is. I just plain prefer Giant to Safeway–maybe because my mom preferred Giant when I was growing up and seldom went to Safeway. My wife seems to feel the opposite, incidentally; she just went to that Safeway yesterday for her covid booster.

I remember "The Grocery Store" opening in Charlottesville in the old Safeway location at Barracks Road Shopping Center, but it didn't last very long at all and I don't remember what it became after that store closed.

The two Richmond-area Wegmans are far enough away that I never go to them unless I'm doing something else nearby and either want to get something from a grocery store at that time or am walking off a buzz.

Giant/Martin's is another one that's gone from Richmond. When Ahold (Giant) and Delhaize (Food Lion) merged, they closed a lot of overlapping stores and the Food Lion brand has been established in the area longer. Martin's had entered when they bought Ukrop's and had been around the area for maybe a decade then. About half the shuttered Martin's stores became Publix, and the others are either still vacant or have been redeveloped into other retail.

I didn't know Farm Fresh/The Grocery Store had ever expanded that far west. Nowadays they only have one store in Richmond (though in a very lucrative area as it's right in the middle of Shockoe Bottom) and have been stably hovering around 3 Hampton Roads locations for years now. According to a 1988 Petersburg directory I have, they had a store in Petersburg at one point.

Friendly's also pulled out of the area in the past few years. The most recent one to close was Chester, and that location is now a Zaxby's.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

1995hoo

Quote from: kirbykart on September 22, 2022, 07:52:08 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 22, 2022, 01:38:53 PM
Roy Rogers: Totally gone from New England, but still quite a few in the Mid Atlantic
The only Roy Rogers I've ever seen are in Thruway service plazas. I'd say they are dying out in general.

I ate at a Roy Rogers in a shopping center about two miles from home this past weekend. There are two others within about a 15-minute drive from us; I can think of a number of other locations that are not in service plazas. The botched sale to Hardee's in the early 1990s very nearly killed them, but at least the locations near us are doing pretty well, anyway.
"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.

Big John


Avalanchez71

Quote from: skluth on September 22, 2022, 06:31:59 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on September 22, 2022, 05:32:00 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on September 22, 2022, 10:43:13 AM
Pizza Hut, for reasons that should shock no one, is more or less defunct in New England after having a large presence. I used to have over a dozen within 20 miles of me, now down to two, and one of them is a take-out only location.

I don't get the hate for Pizza Hut. It's not the world's best pizza but it's no worse than Domino's or Papa John's (and it's better than Marco's or things like Little Caesar's).

I think Pizza Hut is better than Papa John's. I'm fine with both PH and Domino's. They're nothing special. I think of them as producers of pizza comfort food. It's like Taco Bell; you can eat there in a pinch but there are plenty of better Mexican places (which serve actual Mexican food).

I had some of the best Pizza Hut pizza in the middle-of-nowhere Nebraska on US 20 one day.  I was driving through and I was getting hungry.  I was looking for a local restaurant but all I could see was Subway and Pizza Hut and nothing else in town.  The pizza was the best I had at a pizza hut in a very long time.  Looking at the map at Gordon, NE now it appears that if I would have gone North on NE SR 27 there may have been some local options.

jeffandnicole

Miller's Ale House was making a significant nationwide push for expansion, but they appeared to pull back on much of that expansion except in the South. They're not closing existing restaurants, but they're not complimenting them with more regional stores either.

Takumi

Pizzeria Uno had some locations in Virginia about 20 years ago. It was there that I discovered my distaste for Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

TheStranger

I mentioned Kenny Rogers Roasters in another thread, but it fits here: 0 US locations left, but common in the Philippines urban/suburban areas and in other parts of Asia.

Lawson convenience stores (originally from the midwest, now a Japanese staple and with a few Philippines locations too plus one Hawaii outpost) fits the discussion as well


A technicality: when CVS bought out Longs Drugs years ago, they retained the brand in Hawaii where the company is a local cultural staple.
Chris Sampang

Avalanchez71

Quote from: seicer on September 22, 2022, 03:40:50 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 22, 2022, 01:38:53 PM
Cumberland Farms: Booming in New England and still in FL,  but the stores in Delaware and the Mid Atlantic are gone.

Cumberland Farms got bought out (by EG of Great Britain) and it doesn't appear the quality of the stores has been the same. I used to compare them to Wawa, QuikChek or Sheetz for the quality of the coffee and selection (less so on the fresh food). Oddly enough, I am seeing Cumberland Farms brand coffee and snacks (such as candy bars) in many other gas stations and convenience stores.

Quote
Roy Rogers: Totally gone from New England, but still quite a few in the Mid Atlantic

This chain is slowly reopening where it once existed. There was for many decades a Roy Rogers outpost in Batavia, Ohio that had the original sign and storefront - and many faded photos and memorabilia of Roy Rogers inside. Their franchise was finally revoked and it reopened as... Roney's with an entirely new building.

I thought I saw some of those Cumberland Farms in DE on the Delmarva peninsula not far from the Lewes Beach/Cape May Ferry.

Takumi

Quote from: TheStranger on September 23, 2022, 12:11:44 AM
I mentioned Kenny Rogers Roasters in another thread, but it fits here: 0 US locations left, but common in the Philippines urban/suburban areas and in other parts of Asia.

Lawson convenience stores (originally from the midwest, now a Japanese staple and with a few Philippines locations too plus one Hawaii outpost) fits the discussion as well

Wimpy is another one. Gone from the US for decades, but one of the most popular restaurants in South Africa, with some locations in the UK.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: Big John on September 22, 2022, 10:12:34 PM
Sonic olny lasted about a year in Green Bay.

Just as Checkers had a single location in CT for about that long.
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Sctvhound

Applebee's is down to 2 locations in the Charleston area, Summerville and Moncks Corner. I remember them having over 10 locations at one time in the early 2000s.

Burger King completely pulled out of the West Ashley/Charleston/Mount Pleasant/James Island areas, but they still have locations in North Charleston and Summerville. They used to have a lot more stores though.

dlsterner

Quote from: 1995hoo on September 22, 2022, 10:03:22 PM
Quote from: kirbykart on September 22, 2022, 07:52:08 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on September 22, 2022, 01:38:53 PM
Roy Rogers: Totally gone from New England, but still quite a few in the Mid Atlantic
The only Roy Rogers I've ever seen are in Thruway service plazas. I'd say they are dying out in general.

I ate at a Roy Rogers in a shopping center about two miles from home this past weekend. There are two others within about a 15-minute drive from us; I can think of a number of other locations that are not in service plazas. The botched sale to Hardee's in the early 1990s very nearly killed them, but at least the locations near us are doing pretty well, anyway.

Certainly a fair number of Roy Rogers restaurants in the MD/VA/DC area.  They seem to be a pretty resilient chain.  As 1995hoo pointed out, the botched sale to Hardee's almost killed them but not quite.  Then they has a second resurgence around the year 2000.  For me, it's one the best fast food restaurants (and their roast beef sandwich >> Arby's IMHO)

Avalanchez71

Denny's is another one.  They exited Middle Tennessee but I see them popping up elsewhere and still around in other areas like in Florida.  I just noticed that there is now a Denny's in Middle Tennessee over at a gas station in Fairview, TN.



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