Glassboro Friendly's getting upgraded, and some neighbors

GLASSBORO — A Friendly’s Restaurant here will be extensively updated and remodeled as part of a multi-year project that also will add a daycare and a coffeehouse.

In the first phase, a 10,000-square-foot daycare facility would rise in what now is a wooded area. That work is to start in 2025 and should take about a year to complete, business owner Amol Kohli said on Friday.

Once the daycare is completed, the 3,567-square-foot Friendly's would be expanded into a 5,000-square-foot structure. The new building would be occupied by a slightly smaller Friendly’s and a coffeehouse with a drive-thru lane.

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Kohli said the Friendly’s is staying open throughout phase one. And any closing period for the restaurant will be minimal during phase two, he said.

Kohli said the Delsea Drive restaurant is successful, but the almost 2.4-acre property has been underutilized.

The question was what businesses would make the best additions without disrupting the restaurant, he said.

“It’s a very strong and stable business there,” Kohli said. “None of these are competing (uses). They’re kind of harmonious, and we took a lot of time deliberately to determine those.”

Kohli said operators already are lined up for the planned spaces, but their identities are confidential for now.

A rendering included with the application shows a coffee shop with Starbucks signage.

The borough Zoning Board approved the project at its July 18 meeting.

“It’s a big project,” Kohli said. “It’ll happen over a couple years. But, you know, this was the first step to get the gears in motion. And we’re really happy and thankful to the Glassboro board for looking at our plan and approving it for the variances we needed to get it done.”

Kohli said consideration of an expansion started before the COVID pandemic, which slowed the process.

“As we looked at the project, we had several users approach us,” he said. “But we wanted to make sure it was the right fit and the right mix.”

The Friendly’s property is between the signalized intersection at Charles III Drive to its south and Vermillion Drive to its north. Two driveways will be added on the Charles III Drive side, according to the site plan.

The Friendly’s chain was acquired in January 2021 by Brix Holdings, a Texas-based restaurant franchiser. It is in a rebuilding mode after 23 sites closed between 2020 and 2022, including some in New Jersey.

Nationally, there are more than 100 Friendly’s locations and almost all of them are franchise operations.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Glassboro Friendly's getting upgraded, and some neighbors