Interview with S. Prestley Blake, Author of A Friendly Life

Joining us today is S. Prestley Blake, co-founder of Friendly Ice Cream Corp. I recently reviewed his autobiography, A Friendly Life. You can read that review here.

Welcome to The Book Connection, Mr. Blake. It’s an honor to have you with us.

You and your brother Curtis opened the first Friendly store in Springfield, MA during the height of the Great Depression. Did either of you have fears that your business would fail because of the economic climate?

Regarding whether we had any fears of the business failing: I would say, “No.” We had plenty of energy and determination and no fear of hard work, and not much to lose but our time. If it did fail we could chalk it up to experience and use the lessons learned for our next endeavor.

A second Friendly store opened in 1940. Why did you choose West Springfield?

I was looking for another location while Curt was in college and found the West Springfield location. It was in a good community, on a main road, near good housing, and it was available. Also, it had 200 feet of frontage, was properly zoned, and the price was reasonable.

When the United States entered WWII, you closed both stores and you and your brother joined the war effort. What was it like coming back to the business after the war? Were people happy to see you back? Did business pick up where it left off once you returned?

When the war was over everyone was happy, I was eager to get going on expanding the business. I believe Curt shared my enthusiasm, though possibly to a slightly lesser degree. Business was good as everyone was joyful and anxious to get back to normal.

Through the years, Friendly Ice Cream Corp has grown and prospered. What do you feel are the keys to Friendly’s success?

I feel our key to success was being very careful with money management and not overextending ourselves. Of course there are many other factors such as hiring good people to assure good quality and service, but on the fiscal side I was especially desirous of avoiding debt. I always felt that if we owned everything outright with no debt, no one could take it away no matter how bad things got!

The suit you brought against former Friendly Chairman and CEO Donald Smith in 2003 cost you a great deal of money and damaged your relationship with Curt. Do you have any regrets?

My suit against Smith cost a lot of money, which I did not expect to get back, because in a derivative suit any money awarded would go to the company, but toward the end, Smith and his entrenched board could avoid going to court by selling the company, and that’s what they did. At the same time they avoided the proxy battle, which would have thrown them out. I for one wanted to expose all our evidence in court, but I felt I should consider the other shareholders that I was fighting for instead of my own personal feelings. Of course, I have no regrets as far as the battle went because I got all my money back and then some. My only regret is that my brother did not see the whole story, and still does not understand the fine points of the suit or the Harvard study. If I had conceived of the trouble ahead when we sold the company I would have bought him out and continued to run the business with selected partners.

What is different about the modern day Friendly’s versus the stores you first opened? The menu comes to mind, but are there other things? Are you satisfied with how the company has evolved?

Today’s Friendly’s, in my opinion, has far too complicated a menu. As for the management style, I can’t comment, as I am not close enough to the management to understand their motivations.

According to the book, it sounds like you’re enjoying retirement right now. You’ve built a successful business from the ground up, traveled the world, and met many interesting people. Is there anything you haven’t done or would still like to do?

I have done many exciting things, but now I am happy to stay nearer to home. I have so much I love to do here, and I am out on the property most of the time---always busy.

At the end of A Friendly Life, you offer some advice in your Epilogue titled, “What I Tell Kids.” If you could only impart one piece of advice to the young men and women of America just starting out, what would it be?

My advice to anyone now is, “If you can’t pay for it now, don’t buy it.”

Is there anything you would like to add?

I am happy that I wrote the book. Many people have written to tell me it has inspired them. It makes me happy to think that I can be of some help to others.

Thank you for spending time with us today. I wish you the best.

Book Review: A Friendly Life by S. Prestley Blake with Alan Farnham

Had it not been for the fact that two young men couldn't find jobs and had parents who cared enough about them to make sure they weren't hanging around getting into trouble, who knows what would have become of the Blake brothers. During the height of the Great Depression, S. Prestley and Curtis Blake opened their first ice cream shop in Springfield, MA with a small investment from their parents. They called the place, "Friendly Ice Cream," because Curt knew they were two friendly guys and they wanted their store to be a friendly place.

The brothers weren't afraid of hard work, and they worked long hours to develop their business, always keeping the customer in mind. By the time the United States entered World War II, they owned two stores (a second shop had been opened in West Springfield, MA in 1940). When the country called, Curt enlisted and Pres, who was married and had a daughter, became an expediter. They made sure, however, that everyone knew Friendly wasn't closing. They posted signs on the windows to let people know they would be closed only until the war was won.

Upon their return home, nothing could stop the Blake brothers. Friendly continued to grow and prosper, remaining true to good customer service and treating their employees with respect. By the 1970's, Friendly had grown to 500 stores concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

When the Blake brothers sold Friendly to Hershey Food Corporation, the brothers embraced retirement. Hershey sold the company in 1988, and the "s" was added to the company name a year later, making it "Friendly's."  But Pres would put himself back in action after the turn of the century, when word came to him that his beloved company was losing focus due to mismanagement.

I apologize for the long introduction to A Friendly Life by S. Prestley Blake with Alan Farnham, but I couldn't help myself. I grew up on Friendly's ice cream. Friendly's is tied into so many memories: The annual trip to Friendly's on East Street in Chicopee, MA after dance recital each June; trying to be the first to see the Friendly Ice Cream sign from the Mass Pike when returning home from vacation; stopping by Friendly's a few hours before my mother's wake to try and swallow a few bites of food; and now, living less than five minutes from the current Friendly's headquarters in Wilbraham, MA.

When Brigantine Media asked me if I would be interested in reviewing, A Friendly Life, I didn't waste any time in saying yes. I feel like Friendly's is as American as apple pie, and I can't imagine not having these stores around. Even my girls love to visit Friendly's.

In this engaging autobiography of S. Prestley Blake, readers learn of the company's humble beginnings; the growth of Friendly Ice Cream; how the brothers made it a success, and the people Pres met along the way. They are also treated to the years of Blake's retirement: his world travels, his love of the Rolls-Royce automobile, and his affection for sailing. Also provided are details of how after he heard from friends and former employees about lack of training and poor customer service, he pulled himself out of retirement and rose to become the largest shareholder of the company he co-founded, and went on to file suit in 2003 against CEO and Chairman Don Smith. The suit accused Smith of misusing corporate funds.

A Friendly Life is an excellent read not only for business people wishing to know the key elements that made Friendly's such a success. It is also a great book for anyone who enjoys biographies of any kind. For the most part, it reads like a novel. The words simply flow and you find yourself caught up in the Friendly story.

The book is broken down into three parts: Building Friendly Ice Cream, There's More to Life Than Friendly's, and Back to Friendly's. I have to admit that the chapters about Blake's retirement weren't as interesting to me as the rest of the book. That's because the style of the writing changed. Part 2 talks about various people from his life; and while they are amazing people who are worthy of learning about, there are a few pages dedicated to each person and they are told as isolated stories, so it comes across as choppy. This part is also where we learn of his world travels and his Rolls-Royce collection.

What I think amazed me the most about A Friendly Life is how down-to-earth Blake sounds. He's made millions of dollars and he has a great head for business, but he doesn't come across as a know it all. It cost him a great deal of that money to bring suit in order to do what he felt was necessary to save the company he founded, and it also created a rift between him and Curt. Perhaps because of all this, he is able to give some fabulous advice in his Epilogue. I won't share any of it, because you really need to read it directly from him. It's powerful.

I highly recommend A Friendly Life.


Title:  A Friendly Life
Author: S. Prestley Blake with Alan Farnham
Publisher: Brigantine Media
ISBN-10: 0982664419
ISBN-13: 978-0982664414
SRP:  $15.00
Also available in a Kindle edition