And then there was one - Howard Johnson's

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — The closing of one of the last two Howard Johnson restaurants in a couple of weeks will mark the end of its fried clam strips, ice cream and other menu staples that nourished baby boomers and leave the once-proud restaurant chain teetering on the brink of extinction.

The slice of roadside Americana will no longer be served up in Bangor after Sept. 6.

For waitress Kathe Jewett, it’s the only job she’s held since starting work when the restaurant opened in 1966.

“It’s bittersweet, but it’s nothing to be sad about,” the 68-year-old Jewett insisted Tuesday during a break from serving customers. “I’ve been here for 50 years — and it’s time.”

The closing will leave only one Howard Johnson restaurant, in Lake George, New York.

Before falling on hard times, Howard Johnson took restaurant franchises to a new level. The orange-roofed eateries once numbered more than 800, with the New England-based restaurant chain predating the ubiquitous Howard Johnson hotels.

tGreenWay wrote:I miss Stuckeys.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Damn i used to love me some HoJo fried clams when I was a kid.

LooseGoose wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:Damn i used to love me some HoJo fried clams when I was a kid.

So you were the Super Sailor?

tGreenWay wrote:

DWags wrote:Burger chef and Jeff and now hojo's

A part of me is dead.

That's what your wife told me about you when we were in bed a few months ago.

The Pantry wrote:Trying to remember where the locations were around here.  Think there was one on Van Dyke north of what is now 696.  Maybe one in the 13 Mile & Woodward area?  Remember one on 75 north of the old drawbridge in Zilwaukee.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Trying to remember where the locations were around here.  Think there was one on Van Dyke north of what is now 696.  Maybe one in the 13 Mile & Woodward area?  Remember one on 75 north of the old drawbridge in Zilwaukee.

Definitely 13 & Woodward area. That was clam central for me.

Floyd Robertson wrote:Damn i used to love me some HoJo fried clams when I was a kid.

The Pantry wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:

Definitely 13 & Woodward area. That was clam central for me.

Do you remember exactly where? I'm drawing a blank

LooseGoose wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:Damn i used to love me some HoJo fried clams when I was a kid.

I sent this link to my sisters earlier, they're now talking a road trip to NY to get the fried clams before that one closes. LOL, old people with time on their hands do silly things.

Floyd Robertson wrote:

The Pantry wrote:Do you remember exactly where? I'm drawing a blank

I know it was on Woodward. I just can't remember if it was between 12 & 13 or 13 & 14.

The Pantry wrote:

Floyd Robertson wrote:

I know it was on Woodward. I just can't remember if it was between 12 & 13 or 13 & 14.

Found a list. The Royal Oak location was the SE corner of Coolidge and Woodward. The Van Dyke location I remembered was actually south of 10 Mile. The I-75 location by Zilwaukee must have been a motor lodge.

Michigan HoJo's

GRR Spartan wrote:When I graduated from MSU and went on the road in sales in the early 80's HoJo Motor Lodge's were all over and because of the restaurant made it an easy choice.

But a decade later Holiday Inn Express and at least a half dozen other competitors appeared on the hotel side and at least a dozen others like Cracker Barrel, Appleby's had HoJo in their sights.

DWags wrote:

GRR Spartan wrote:When I graduated from MSU and went on the road in sales in the early 80's HoJo Motor Lodge's were all over and because of the restaurant made it an easy choice.

But a decade later Holiday Inn Express and at least a half dozen other competitors appeared on the hotel side and at least a dozen others like Cracker Barrel, Appleby's had HoJo in their sights.

A friend told me McDonald's would do all these traffic studies and point of stop studies and decide where to put a new place. Burger King had caught on and just would look to buy a place near it and plop one down near it. They knew McDonald's was spending money and time figuring this shit out and they'd just find a place for a franchise and keep pace. Don't know if it's bullshit or not but it makes sense

The Pantry wrote:

DWags wrote:

A friend told me McDonald's would do all these traffic studies and point of stop studies and decide where to put a new place. Burger King had caught on and just would look to buy a place near it and plop one down near it. They knew McDonald's was spending money and time figuring this shit out and they'd just find a place for a franchise and keep pace. Don't know if it's bullshit or not but it makes sense

Tim Hortons has done the same thing around here with Dunkin' Donuts. Put a store near a DD on Dequindre south of 12 Mile. Same thing on Groesbeck south of 12. The location they put on Mound north of 16 years ago put the DD south of 16 out of business.

DWags wrote:Burger chef and Jeff and now hojo's

A part of me is dead.

duffy munn wrote:

DWags wrote:Burger chef and Jeff and now hojo's

A part of me is dead.

Did you know a guy named Jingles worked at the Burger Chef is St. Johns in high school ?

They called him burger Jeff. Did you know his real name is Jeff ?