The Dover Friendly's restaurant becomes the latest to close in Delaware. How many are left?

Ben Mace, Delaware News Journal
·4 min read

A mainstay for decades in Dover where you could gather for a family breakfast or for ice cream after a Little League game is no more.

Friendly's restaurant on Route 13 closed in February following the closures of other Friendly’s restaurants in Newark and Seaford in the past several years.

This note was posted on the front door of the building at 318 N. Dupont Highway:

“Thank you for the years of your patronage. This restaurant is permanently closed.”

Friendly's restaurant and ice cream shop at 318 N. Dupont Highway in Dover recently closed and the property is for sale, as pictured here Feb. 22, 2023.
Friendly's restaurant and ice cream shop at 318 N. Dupont Highway in Dover recently closed and the property is for sale, as pictured here Feb. 22, 2023.

Dennis Glacken, general manager at the Dover Friendly’s from January 1993 until May 1998, said hearing about the closing “hits me on a personal level.”

“Far and away, the best memories were some of the people I worked with,” he said.

He’s not sure the exact year the Dover store opened but thinks it was in the late 1970s.

Along with the many regular customers, the restaurant was visited by celebrities including rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd and Ronnie James Dio and many NASCAR drivers before and after races at Dover Motor Speedway about a half-mile away.

“The King himself, Richard Petty, would always stop by when in town, for a Jim Dandy,” Glacken said.

More Dover business news:Delaware is getting a new beer garden. Details of the indoor/outdoor bar coming to Dover.

During those years, the restaurant was profitable and never in any danger of closing, he said.

“We always had a robust breakfast crowd, especially on weekends, and summer nights always saw the takeout window very busy as locals got their sundaes to beat the heat. Race week was always very busy,” Glacken said.

The takeout ice cream window is boarded up at the Friendly's restaurant at 318 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, pictured here Feb. 22, 2023.
The takeout ice cream window is boarded up at the Friendly's restaurant at 318 N. Dupont Highway, Dover, pictured here Feb. 22, 2023.

What we know and don't know about the closure

A representative of the commercial real estate company selling the Dover property said he couldn’t disclose the owner’s name without permission, and permission hadn’t been granted as of Feb. 22.

According to Kent County property records, the owner is Merion LLC. The corporation couldn’t immediately be reached for comments.

Glacken said while he was working there, the restaurant was still owned by the Friendly’s corporation, but then the Dover location was sold to DavCo.

A Washington Post story from July 1997 reported that DavCo Restaurants, based in Crofton, Maryland, bought most of the Friendly's locations in the Washington, D.C., area including Delaware. Then in December 2000, a subsidiary of DavCo called FriendCo Restaurants obtained the right to close or transfer restaurants to another franchisee, according to the Friendly's annual report to shareholders.

Where you can still find Friendly's in Delaware

  • Brandywine Hundred in Brandywine Town Center

  • Middletown in Dove Run shopping center

  • Glasgow in Peoples Plaza

  • Hockessin in Lantana Square

  • Rehoboth Beach on Coastal Highway (Route 1)

Other Delaware Friendly's that have closed

In February 2022, Friendly’s in Newark on Route 896 near the I-95 exit shut its doors, while the Seaford Friendly’s and the location on Kirkwood Highway near the Newark Farmers Market went out of business about six years earlier.

Brian Myers, the owner of the Friendly’s restaurants in New Castle County, spoke to Delaware Online/The News Journal for a story in March 2022.

He said the Newark location on Route 896 had struggled to hire employees since the beginning of the pandemic. His staff of more than 30 was down to four when he converted the restaurant to carryout only before deciding to close altogether. The building, constructed as a Howard Johnson's restaurant in the 1960s, was also requiring regular repairs, he said.

See more about the Newark restaurants:With Friendly's closed, what is being built at Newark's I-95 access point?

The rise, bankruptcies and fate of Friendly's

The business was founded in 1935 in Massachusetts. At its peak, the chain had 850 restaurants in the United States, according to Business Insider.

When the company first filed for bankruptcy in 2011, it had 423 restaurants, according to the Boston Globe.

In November 2020, the company announced it had filed for bankruptcy again as part of an agreement to sell assets to Amici Partners Group.

At the Dover Friendly's restaurant, a sign posted on the front door reads, "Thank you for the years of your patronage. This restaurant is permanently closed."
At the Dover Friendly's restaurant, a sign posted on the front door reads, "Thank you for the years of your patronage. This restaurant is permanently closed."

At that time, Friendly’s chief executive officer George Michel said the company had made “important strides toward reinvigorating our beloved brand in the face of shifting demographics, increased competition, and rising costs.”

However, he said the pandemic hobbled the company, "with a decline in revenue as dine-in operations ceased for months and reopened with limited capacity.”

In January 2021, Amici Partners Group announced it had completed the acquisition of Friendly’s Restaurants, with 130 corporate-owned and franchised locations, according to a company press release.

“We believe we will be able to continue to reinvigorate this much-loved brand for both loyal patrons and new customers alike,” said Amici president and chief executive officer Craig Erlich.

Reporter Ben Mace covers real estate, housing and development stories. Reach him at rmace@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Dover Friendly's restaurant closes, but five remain in Delaware