death knell of yet another american icon

Friendly Restaurant chain has filed for bankruptcy, citing declining sales and the general impact of the recession. I am of the opinion that they have succumbed to the Howard Johnson phenomenon; a disease that is unique to heavily branded and highly visible retail businesses. Howard Johnson, which started in the store  pictured above in Quincy, Massachusetts, helped pioneer the travel based franchise dining experience. The founders built stores along interstates, served reliable food and established a reputation that made lots of money for a long time. And then, it all ended. There are now only three Howard Johnson stores left in the country, and although the motel/hotel chain seems to be steady the big orange roofs that so many Baby Boomers recognize is just another piece of American legend. The cause of their demise, and the cause of Friendly's demise, is the fact that a certain generation of people who were used to eating there lost interest, and more significantly, their children lost interest. "Who wants to go to McDonald's" became a rallying cry that eroded market share for the restaurant and the general deterioration of physical plant probably had the additional impact of making the place less and less attractive. I

I don't think it was a failure of management, a failure of food, or a failure of design. Generational tastes change, consumers are fickle and urban geography evolves in a way that leaves some places in the wrong place and in the wrong era.