It came as no surprise when I learned of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Friendly Ice Cream Corporation last week. The company, which was once a local success story, was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts by brothers S. Prestley and Curtis Blake at the height of the Great Depression. From those humble beginnings, the company grew into a regional chain of over 500 restaurants, but neither the restaurants nor the company seemed capable of keeping up with changes in consumption patterns, despite belated efforts in that regard. Changes in corporate ownership in recent years compounded a general lack of focus, starting with the ill-fated purchase by Hershey Foods Corporation in 1979 and ending with current owners, Sun Capital Partners, Inc. What went wrong?

As a young child, I fondly recall trips to the Friendly’s restaurant located in the center of Chicopee, Massachusetts, not far from the company headquarters in Wilbraham. It was located in an early strip mall that was anchored by a W.T. Grant five and dime store that later closed and was replaced as an F.W. Woolworth store which, of course, closed soon afterward. This was a time when competition was sparse and the American public needed to pay little regard to dietary concerns. It was not a time when a restaurant chain needed to either continually evolve or be cushioned by sister properties. For example, if business should slide at Olive Garden, the slack can be absorbed by Red Lobster, LongHorn Steakhouse, or one of the other chains operated by Darden Restaurants. In recent years, the handwriting has been on the wall for Friendly’s.

• Problem 1: Lack of diversification. Sun Capital Partners is a Florida-based investment firm without a broad restaurant portfolio or an apparent interest in food that extends beyond profits.

• Problem 2: The menu. Consumer patterns and tastes in dining have evolved in recent years, with a growing emphasis on healthy menus. The concentration at Friendly’s has remained desserts. Most of the people who I know who dine out frequently probably skip the dessert course 9 out of 10 times. Why are they going to eat at a restaurant where the dessert is the featured course?

• Problem 3: The ice cream. At one time, Friendly’s was a premium brand of ice cream. As times changed, it simply became an ice cream brand with name recognition. It is not a Häagen-Dazs, a Ben & Jerry’s, or an Edy’s. It became just another store brand of ice cream, pumped with air, artificial color, artificial flavor, and high-fructose corn syrup.

• Problem 4: Advertising. A couple of years back, Friendly’s introduced one of the most annoying TV advertising campaigns in history. A 30-second ad was seen daily on local stations within Friendly’s market. I cannot even estimate how many times I either changed the channel or turned off my television within two seconds of recognizing the start of this ad. You be the judge, although I have warned you that this ad is extremely annoying: I Wanna Go to Friendly’s: Mom’s Turn!

Will Friendly’s recover? Can nostalgia come to its rescue? I doubt it. Like so many other brand names from the 1950s, Friendly’s is probably destined to fade into oblivion. You may miss the original double-dip 5-cent ice cream cone or the Friendly’s Fribble; however, like childhood, there is simply no return to the past.