With Closing, Peabody Is Home To Last North Shore Friendly's

PEABODY, MA — Friendly's closed its Amesbury store, leaving the Peabody store its lone location on the North Shore. The Amesbury store was part of 23 stores in the most recent round of closings announced by the troubled fast-casual chain and follows closings of stores in Stoneham and Saugus.

"As shifting consumer demographics and market dynamics present challenges across the industry, it is incumbent on us to regularly evaluate our restaurant footprint with a focus on long-term viability and strategic resource investment as we work to re-invigorate the beloved Friendly's brand," Friendly's said in an emailed statement about the most-recent round of closings. "Unfortunately, in some cases, this process results in the difficult decision to close underperforming locations that can no longer be sustained by the local market."

The Massachusetts-based chain, founded in Wilbraham in 1935, filed for bankruptcy in 2011. Since then, it has shrunk its footprint to 150 stores, down from a peak of more than 800 in 15 states in the late 1980s. Among the stores closed this year was the last Rhode Island location Friendly's.