A Friendly's Goodbye

Corporate Ax Fells Revered Oneonta Restaurant

By JENNIFER HILL • Hometown Oneonta & The Freeman’s Journal

ONEONTA – Melissa Ackerly, 60, had plans to meet a friend for ice cream at the Friendly’s at Main Street and Walling Avenue on Monday, April 8.

Instead, the Delhi woman found the door locked and a note taped to the glass.

“We apologize for disappointing you on this visit, but this location is now closed for business,” the sign read.

“I’m shocked,” said Ackerly. “There was Burger King, the YMCA, and Friendly’s for eating out when I was in high school.”  More recently, the 2013 closing of the Neptune Diner was a shock.

And now this.

The company released a statement later in the day from Friendly’s President George Michel, revealing the Oneonta closing was one of 23 “corporate-owned” restaurants shuttered.

Oneonta’s was among 14 restaurants closed Sunday, April 7, in Upstate New York, from her to Bingham, Syracuse and Buffalo, plus three in Massachusetts, three in Connecticut, two in New Hampshire and one in Maine.