| Type | Private by Parlour Enterprises in the U.S., by E Noa in Hawaii |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurants |
| Founded | Portland, Oregon, U.S. (1963) |
| Founder(s) | Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy |
| Headquarters | California and Hawaii |
| Number of locations | 4 |
| Key people | Paul Kramer, Mike Fleming |
| Website | www.farrellsusa.com www.farrellshawaii.com |
Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour is an American ice cream parlor chain that was started in Portland, Oregon by Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy in 1963 .[1] Farrell's became known for their offer of a free ice cream sundae to children on their birthday. The parlors had an 1890s theme, with employees wearing period dress and straw boater hats, and each location featured a player piano.
In 1972, the Farrell's chain was purchased by the Marriott Corporation.[2] By 1975, there were 120 Farrell's nationwide.
Thereafter, sales dropped and most of the parlors were sold off in the 1980s. In 1982, Marriott sold the chain to a group of private investors.[2]
In 1983, the Selective Service purchased Farrell's "Birthday Club" data and mailed warnings to young men to register for the draft before their 18th birthday. Farrell's blamed the situation on an unauthorized sale by a list broker, and the government announced they would stop using the list.[3] One of the last original Farrell's locations in Portland, located near the Lloyd Center mall, closed in 2001. At the time of its closing, it was privately owned and known as The Original Portland Ice Cream Parlor.[2]
Today, the only Farrell's in the mainland U.S. are in the Mountasia Family Fun Center in Santa Clarita, California, The Shops at Mission Viejo in Mission Viejo, California, Rancho Cucamonga, California, and in downtown Brea, California (opening December 2012). Two Farrell's are open in Kaneohe and Aiea, Hawaii. There has also been discussion of an eventual return to Portland, Oregon.[4]
On September 24, 1972 a privately owned F-86 Sabre jet piloted by Richard Bingham failed to take off while leaving the Golden West Sport Aviation Show in Sacramento, California. The jet went through a chain link fence at the end of the runway, across Freeport Boulevard, crushing a parked car and crashed into a local Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. The ice cream parlour was occupied in part by the Sacramento 49ers "Little League" football team. Twenty-two people were killed, including twelve children and two people in the parked car. An eight-year-old survivor of the accident lost nine family members including both parents, two brothers, a sister, two grandparents and two cousins. A family of four was also killed in the accident and immediately after the crash an elderly couple trying to cross the street to the crash site were struck by a vehicle killing the wife.[5]
Nearly ten years after the Sacramento tragedy, on April 9, 1982, a small private plane crashed in the parking lot of the Farrell's location in Torrance, California and burst into flames. The pilot and his two passengers were killed but there were no injuries or fatalities to the people on the ground.[6]