America's last Howard Johnson's restaurant has closed

[brooklynite]

CNN

Open for most of the past 70 years, the restaurant was located in Lake George, New York, a popular summer vacation spot near the Adirondack Mountains. The restaurant closed its doors in recent weeks and the property is up for lease, according to a local affiliate.

"Lake George is officially dead," a Howard Johnson's fan wrote on Facebook, adding several pictures of the abandoned restaurant. "Cobwebs on the door. Right before Memorial Day rush up here."

The longtime roadside staple had about 1,000 restaurants in the 1960s and 1970s, and it was once America's largest restaurant chain. Instantly recognizable for its orange roofs, the diners served 28 types of ice cream and became a part of American culture. "Mad Men" recreated the restaurant to film a scene.

But Howard Johnson quickly found itself in the shadow of McDonald's (MCD) and other fast-food chains that maximized efficiency and better managed supply chains. Marriott (MAR) bought a crippled Howard Johnson in 1985, selling hundreds of the brand's hotels and about 200 restaurants to Prime Motor Inn. That company sold the restaurants to other chains, and they lost the "HoJo" name.

Interesting that nobody tried to resurrect the restaurant brand as "retro chic".