Oneonta Friendly's Shut, workers find

Several ice cream outlets at CNY Close

ONEONTA – Employees went to Friendly House on Main Street and Walling Avenue this morning to find the store was closed.

"We apologized for disappointing you during this visit, but this place is now closed for business," says a sign on the door.

The end of Friendly seems locally to be part of Sunday's closure of several chain stores in the area, including some around Syracuse and as far as Buffalo.

"We invite you to visit the location of the closest Friend in Johnson City," the sign says.

"Rest assured," he continues, "that we are placing as many team members as possible in other sites and that we are providing short-term financial assistance as notice to rare people eager to find new opportunities in the region. "

Masslive.com reports that the Waltham-based company has closed 14 restaurants in upstate New York, three in Massachusetts, three in Connecticut, two in New Hampshire and one in Maine.

Following these actions, Friendly's will have 77 corporate restaurants and 97 franchised restaurants.

Chief Operating Officer Dennis Pfaff said he expects more restaurants to be closed when the leases expire. The channel, he said, is reducing its network to adapt to market conditions and eliminating stores that are no longer in busy locations.