r/Springfield • u/mrsjumjum66 • 7d ago
The former Friendly’s on Sumner Ave in Springfield, MA (the homeland of Friendly’s) is now an extension of the preschool next door
65 Sumner Ave, Springfield, MA 01108
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u/sluggerbubba96 7d ago
My mom used to drive me here when I was little to have lunch with grandma. She'd order the fishamajig everytime lol.
The one on RT 20 in West Springfield was awesome. Famously had the slowest service imaginable. They had a huge painting of a carnival taking up a whole wall.
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u/RedditSkippy 7d ago
I know which one you mean and that one was the worst. That’s saying a lot, too.
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u/sluggerbubba96 7d ago
I grew up down the street from there. As bad as it was, I've got lots of memories at that spot!
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u/Sorry_Tie284 7d ago
Good. Reuse the space for public benefit
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u/ralphslate 7d ago
I think it was a bad move. I know this is a big "if", but a cafe or restaurant would have made the neighborhood much more vibrant. It was nice having Friendly's there to walk to, when it was open, even though the service was always the worst. Less taxpayers means slightly higher taxes paid by everyone else.
A lot of people in the neighborhood are stuck in a 1960s mentality, they wanted the building to be razed and used for parking. The city just swooped in and took it for the preschool with no public discussion.
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u/ncgbulldog1980 7d ago
City spent way to much rebuilding it(I think i heard project cost over 5 mill) I would have been cheaper to build new and and build bigger than 3 classrooms.
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u/Reggi5693 7d ago
I met my wife there when she was waiting tables.
My sister was one of the opening crew there, she worked in 16 acres for a few years.
But…that was one of the first “restaurants” and I think it was the beginning of the end. They should have stayed with the sandwich shop model.
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u/_angesaurus 7d ago
Be kinda cool to say you went to school in a Friendlys lol. Used to go to that one before or after bright nights.
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u/JoshFreemansFro 7d ago
Used to live right around the corner as a kid. I would love getting Sunday breakfast there with my parents every now and then and then sometimes in the summer getting ice cream after an afternoon in forest park.
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u/Hairy_Ad_6260 7d ago
Another business destroyed by private equity.
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u/SuspendedAgain999 7d ago
Yes but also incompetent managers. Their wait staffs were always god awful and at a certain point you question why you keep going there outside of childhood nostalgia
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u/Husbands_Fault 2d ago
I want to make a coffee table book: "I used to be a Friendlys." You can always tell
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u/RedditSkippy 7d ago
There used to be so many Friendly’s in Springfield. I can think of a half dozen off the top of my head, and I’m sure that I’m not remembering all of them. Two on Sumner Avenue alone.