Defunct restaurant chains and retailers

[abefroman329]

Arthur Treachers.  Miami Subs tried to bring them back, but folded.

Still surviving on the East Coast.

Bojangles?  I know they closed em all here in Orlando, but I have no idea if the overall chain is still operating stores in other markets.

All over the rest of the South, one as far north as the Washington DC suburbs.

The Ground Round in NJ.  They took over some of the former Howard Johnson Restaurants and were big in the mid 80's for a small regional chain.  When I left in 1990 they had only a couple left and I think in 1993, during a visit to NJ, I saw only one then.

I ate at one in a mall in Frederick, MD in 2005 or so, but I think they're all gone now.

[abefroman329]

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.

There was also one on Route 1 in Alexandria, though I don't know if/when it closed.  It was pretty grim when I went there in 2001.

Another one opened in DC about a decade ago, but has since closed.  They also sold Korean food, but decided to focus on the Korean food.

[Brandon]

Huh.  We still have Rite Aids amd Walgreen's kitty-corner to each other up here in upstate NY.

Wait.  About half of those will disappear soon.

[Brandon]

The Ground Round in NJ.  They took over some of the former Howard Johnson Restaurants and were big in the mid 80's for a small regional chain.  When I left in 1990 they had only a couple left and I think in 1993, during a visit to NJ, I saw only one then.

I ate at one in a mall in Frederick, MD in 2005 or so, but I think they're all gone now.

The Ground Round is still around.
http://www.groundround.com/Locations/

[cl94]

Huh.  We still have Rite Aids amd Walgreen's kitty-corner to each other up here in upstate NY.

Wait.  About half of those will disappear soon.

I've known about the impending closures for at least a year. They will disappear, just like a ton of locations disappeared when Rite Aid bought Eckerd. Ironically, Rite Aid buying Eckerd is what provided an opening for Walgreens to enter this market in force. The pharmacy market is probably oversaturated, anyway, especially with Kinney Drugs starting to push into the area.

The Ground Round in NJ.  They took over some of the former Howard Johnson Restaurants and were big in the mid 80's for a small regional chain.  When I left in 1990 they had only a couple left and I think in 1993, during a visit to NJ, I saw only one then.

I ate at one in a mall in Frederick, MD in 2005 or so, but I think they're all gone now.

The Ground Round is still around.
http://www.groundround.com/Locations/

They are DEFINITELY still around. I ate at the Bangor one in August 2016. Was even one on Long Island as of October. They tend to be in smaller markets and places that haven't had a lot of successful competition open nearby. Mostly concentrated in northern New England and the upper Midwest at this point.

[briantroutman]

Arthur Treachers.  Miami Subs tried to bring them back, but folded.

Still surviving on the East Coast.

I might be repeating myself (perhaps from earlier in this same thread), but are there any standalone Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips shops left?

It seems as if the only locations left are tiny food court operations where a stripped down Treacher's shares counter space with a Nathan's. I stopped at one of these operations at one of the NJ Turnpike for old times' sake, and it was quite a disappointment. The "chips"  were just the same fries Nathan's served with its hot dogs. The hush puppies were quite bland and generic–like some kind of a nuke-and-serve appetizer you'd find in a discount grocery store's freezer section. Everything was served in Nathan's packaging.

So Arthur Treacher's slogan for 2018:
We're Nathan's! ...And there's some freezer-burnt fish sticks we can throw in the fryer if you insist.

[kphoger]

Are there any Dillons stores left in Kansas?

What?  Dillon's is THE grocery store chain in Wichita.

[roadman65]

I miss Scotty's Lumber and Hardware here in FL.  I might of said it before, but they went out back in 92 or 93.  They were the place to go in Central Florida before Home Depot and Lowes dominated the market.

Thinking of them brings back memories of the pre sprawl days when moving around Orlando and Kissimmee was much easier than it is now.

[cl94]

Arthur Treachers.  Miami Subs tried to bring them back, but folded.

Still surviving on the East Coast.

I might be repeating myself (perhaps from earlier in this same thread), but are there any standalone Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips shops left?

It seems as if the only locations left are tiny food court operations where a stripped down Treacher's shares counter space with a Nathan's. I stopped at one of these operations at one of the NJ Turnpike for old times' sake, and it was quite a disappointment. The "chips"  were just the same fries Nathan's served with its hot dogs. The hush puppies were quite bland and generic–like some kind of a nuke-and-serve appetizer you'd find in a discount grocery store's freezer section. Everything was served in Nathan's packaging.

So Arthur Treacher's slogan for 2018:
We're Nathan's! ...And there's some freezer-burnt fish sticks we can throw in the fryer if you insist.

It looks like there are a handful stand-alones remaining in Cleveland. All of the remaining locations are co-branded with Nathan's, Pudgies Fried Chicken (a small chain on Long Island), or Salvatore's Pizza (Rochester area): http://www.arthurtreachersfranchising.com/locations.php . Note that the Nathan's and Salvatore's locations are not on the website.

[jp the roadgeek]

Arthur Treachers.  Miami Subs tried to bring them back, but folded.

Still surviving on the East Coast.

I might be repeating myself (perhaps from earlier in this same thread), but are there any standalone Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips shops left?

It seems as if the only locations left are tiny food court operations where a stripped down Treacher's shares counter space with a Nathan's. I stopped at one of these operations at one of the NJ Turnpike for old times' sake, and it was quite a disappointment. The "chips"  were just the same fries Nathan's served with its hot dogs. The hush puppies were quite bland and generic–like some kind of a nuke-and-serve appetizer you'd find in a discount grocery store's freezer section. Everything was served in Nathan's packaging.

So Arthur Treacher's slogan for 2018:
We're Nathan's! ...And there's some freezer-burnt fish sticks we can throw in the fryer if you insist.

I haven't seen an Arthur Treacher's in about 20 years since the Miami Subs/Nathans/(Kenny Rogers) Roasters combo restaurant in Milford, CT closed (now a bank).  Don't even think there is a Nathan's left in the state; only Nathan's merchandise you can get is in the supermarket (hot dogs, frozen fries, condiments).   I remember a couple of Arthur Treacher's locations when I was really young (over 30 years ago); two standalones, and one in a mall.  Never could tell the difference between them and Long John Silver's (we have 2 "Silver Bells" near me

[Flint1979]

I remember an Arthur Treachers in Northland Mall in Southfield which is also sitting vacant now.

[Scott5114]

I don't understand why Mattress Firm bought out Sleepy's. Sleepy's already had stores on every corner in the northeast. With Mattress Firm, there are even MORE locations in this area. It's ridiculous. There are a couple places in the Albany area where, yes, there was a Mattress Firm a block away from a Sleepy's and both are now Mattress Firm.

Of course, the northeast has 2 other similar chains with high density (PC Richard and Son and Bob's Discount Furniture), so virtually every shopping plaza of any size has something of the sort.

Mattress Firm is a money laundering operation. How many people do you know that have actually bought a mattress recently? And how many locations are there??

In Boise, we have one here:

https://goo.gl/maps/F11FsEtbAd42

And then they built one here, right across the street!
https://goo.gl/maps/Qr12iVyVdYu

Both are still in operation and have been for a couple years. There's no other explanation.

Well, there is one, that their margins are so stupidly high that they don't need to sell very many to make a profit. If you buy a mattress for $10 and sell it for $2500, you don't have to sell a whole lot of them to pay for the store being open.

I doubt their margin is that high, but still.

[abefroman329]

They tend to be in smaller markets and places that haven't had a lot of successful competition open nearby.

Makes sense - I remember thinking the food was indistinguishable from Ruby Tuesday or TGI Friday's when I ate there over a decade ago.

[abefroman329]

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Tony Roma's.  My wife and I ate at one in Medellin two years ago.  You won't find a Medellin location on their website, but it exists regardless.  It's a revolving restaurant on top of a high-end hotel.  The menu is fairly close to what was probably the original Tony Roma's menu.  The food was good and they gave you plastic food service gloves to wear while you ate your ribs.  It was one of the most bizarre eating experiences I've had.

[kkt]

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Tony Roma's.  My wife and I ate at one in Medellin two years ago.  You won't find a Medellin location on their website, but it exists regardless.  It's a revolving restaurant on top of a high-end hotel.  The menu is fairly close to what was probably the original Tony Roma's menu.  The food was good and they gave you plastic food service gloves to wear while you ate your ribs.  It was one of the most bizarre eating experiences I've had.

Medellin, Colombia?

[jp the roadgeek]

Huh.  We still have Rite Aids amd Walgreen's kitty-corner to each other up here in upstate NY.

Wait.  About half of those will disappear soon.

I've known about the impending closures for at least a year. They will disappear, just like a ton of locations disappeared when Rite Aid bought Eckerd. Ironically, Rite Aid buying Eckerd is what provided an opening for Walgreens to enter this market in force. The pharmacy market is probably oversaturated, anyway, especially with Kinney Drugs starting to push into the area.

The Ground Round in NJ.  They took over some of the former Howard Johnson Restaurants and were big in the mid 80's for a small regional chain.  When I left in 1990 they had only a couple left and I think in 1993, during a visit to NJ, I saw only one then.

I ate at one in a mall in Frederick, MD in 2005 or so, but I think they're all gone now.

The Ground Round is still around.
http://www.groundround.com/Locations/

They are DEFINITELY still around. I ate at the Bangor one in August 2016. Was even one on Long Island as of October. They tend to be in smaller markets and places that haven't had a lot of successful competition open nearby. Mostly concentrated in northern New England and the upper Midwest at this point.

We had 3 of them within 20 minutes of me. One was torn down, and on the site now, funny enough, is a Walgreens (which has a Rite Aid 1/2 mile away; the Rite Aid would close in the merger case). Another is a local chain location, the third is an Asian restaurant. I remember hearing a story that the Hadley, MA location closed so suddenly that there were people eating dinner that were literally kicked out of the restaurant during their meal.  I'll always remember the baskets of popcorn and the big screen with cartoons playing. 

We had one Tony Roma's here about 30 years ago.  It's now a credit union

[abefroman329]

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned Tony Roma's.  My wife and I ate at one in Medellin two years ago.  You won't find a Medellin location on their website, but it exists regardless.  It's a revolving restaurant on top of a high-end hotel.  The menu is fairly close to what was probably the original Tony Roma's menu.  The food was good and they gave you plastic food service gloves to wear while you ate your ribs.  It was one of the most bizarre eating experiences I've had.

Medellin, Colombia?

Yes, that one.

[abefroman329]

I'll always remember the baskets of popcorn and the big screen with cartoons playing.

Unfortunately the current incarnation has neither of these.

[cl94]

I'll always remember the baskets of popcorn and the big screen with cartoons playing.

Unfortunately the current incarnation has neither of these.

I could have sworn the Bangor one had popcorn. That's actually a common thing at regional chains of that type in this area. The 99 (New England/Eastern NY) and Tully's (Central/Western NY) are both similar and do the popcorn.

[kphoger]

With the closure of Gander Mountain, the news just keeps getting worse for my hometown's mall (Lycoming). Though not inside the mall, a Gander Mountain store occupies a prominent outparcel. Next door looms a huge empty showroom that a woodworking tool company (Grizzly) vacated in 2015.

Since 2015, the mall has lost or will lose Macy's, JCPenney, Gap, Aéropostale, PacSun, Christopher & Banks, Radio Shack, and probably a half dozen other stores I'm not remembering offhand. I've also heard–but can't confirm–that Lycoming's Sears store is slated for closure. (Regardless, Sears surely isn't long for this world.) By the end of this year, the percentage of vacant square footage will surely be in excess of 50%.

Announced yesterday:  The Gander Mountain near me that closed down several months ago is going to reopen as a Gander Outdoors (pending the deal to go through on the property).

[kphoger]

A&P (grocery stores)
Builder's Square
Radio Shack
Waldenbooks

[Flint1979]

A&P (grocery stores)
Builder's Square
Radio Shack
Waldenbooks

Wow I remember all four of those stores.

[abefroman329]

Chase Pitkin - basically a Wegmans version of Home Depot (literally - it was owned/operated by Wegmans)

Howard Johnson's -drops mic-

One more left: https://goo.gl/maps/y2A2ptH5jN72

Wikipedia sez the last HoJo's closed in October 2017, so now the chain is officially defunct.

[cl94]

Chase Pitkin - basically a Wegmans version of Home Depot (literally - it was owned/operated by Wegmans)

Howard Johnson's -drops mic-

One more left: https://goo.gl/maps/y2A2ptH5jN72

Wikipedia sez the last HoJo's closed in October 2017, so now the chain is officially defunct.

Can confirm, live nearby. Place was miserable anyway. And the owner was a pervert (his arrest was why the place closed).

[kphoger]

A&P (grocery stores)
Builder's Square
Radio Shack
Waldenbooks

Wow I remember all four of those stores.

I should hope so, because you're a couple of years older than me.