Arthur Treacher's

Fisher Foods

In 1970, Fisher Foods swapped capital with and licensed franchises from National, with a total of 550 franchises sold (106 to Fisher alone), but only 99 stores were actually in operation. Long John Silver's, Captain D's, Skipper's and Alfie's Fish & Chips likewise employed the fish franchise concept about the same time. Aided by Arthur Treacher's advertisements, these companies introduced British fish and chips to northeastern America.

Orange Co.

By the early 1970s, National Fast Food had become Orange Co. Under this name, Davis conducted an aggressive expansion campaign from 1972 through 1976. Lacking equity, he relied on generous sale-leaseback agreements. Under the terms of the agreements, Orange Co. would sell to investors sites for new restaurants and then sign long leases unconditionally guaranteeing to continue lease payments if the restaurants failed.[9]

Mrs. Paul's Seafood

On November 21, 1979, Orange Co. sold Arthur Treacher's to Mrs. Paul's. However, under the terms of its original sale-leaseback agreements, Orange Co. remained liable for millions of dollars of payments to investors.[9]

The "Cod Wars" between the UK and Iceland during the 1970s caused cod prices to double.[10] Mrs. Paul's responded by replacing Icelandic cod in Arthur Treacher's recipe with less expensive pollock.[11] The move exacerbated tensions with franchisees—some of whom had already withheld a total of $5 million in royalties for what they perceived to be a steadily declining level of service. Litigation arising from the conflict eventually reached the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.[12]

Lumara Foods

After losing the case to the franchisees and having no way to compensate them, Mrs. Paul's sold Arthur Treacher's to a Youngstown, Ohio, group of investors called Lumara Foods of America Inc. in March 1982.[13] Lumara Foods filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code four months later.[9]

Investment group

The company was then bought by a group of investors, and the corporate offices were moved to Youngstown, Ohio. It went into bankruptcy in 1983. Two years later, it was merged into a shell company by Jim Cataland. From 1985 to 1993, Cataland slowly expanded the company again. In 1993, money from a new group of investors headed by Bruce Galloway and Jeffrey Bernstein was used to introduce a more modern seafood concept, to buy additional stores, and to move the company from its base operations in Youngstown to Jacksonville, Florida.[14]

In the mid-1980s, franchises in Detroit were converted by their owner to a new chain called Seafood Bay. Arthur Treacher's purchased back six Seafood Bay locations in 1997 but was unsuccessful in reverting them.[15]

The company experimented with co-branding, forming an alliance with Arby's (which originated in the Youngstown suburb of Boardman) for co-branded locations. One such location existed in Breezewood, Pennsylvania. However, by the late 1990s, Arby's parent Triarc Cos. Inc. removed the Arthur Treacher's portions of its co-branded Arby's.

PAT Franchise Systems

In 2002, the company holding the Arthur Treacher's trademark was acquired by PAT Franchise Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of TruFoods Systems. In 2006, Nathan's Famous bought the exclusive rights to market the Arthur Treacher's trademark and sell their products, co-branded with Nathan's Own concepts, Kenny Rogers Roasters, and Miami Subs (now Miami Grill). However, PAT Franchise Systems retained a license agreement entitling it to sell Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips franchises in eight states.

Nathan's Famous

In 2021, Nathan's Famous announced plans to offer Arthur Treacher's branded food nationwide as a ghost kitchen concept only available via food delivery services.[16] James Walker, the senior vice president of restaurants, said, "We think it's a nice combination of historic, storied brand, with new focus on the food.”[3]

Stand-alone

Three stand-alone restaurants remain, all in northeast Ohio. The two oldest are in Cuyahoga Falls (est. 1972) and Garfield Heights (est. 1978) - the former has remained in continuous operation since its founding albeit in different buildings. By 2021, it was the last restaurant in the country.[17] Ben Vittoria, the Cuyahoga Falls owner, kept the last store alive and indeed without him, the entire franchise would have ceased to operate.[18] In recognition of the restaurant's last stand at Cuyahoga Falls, the town mayor Don Walters designated June 30, 2021, as Arthur Treacher's Day.[1] Customers traveled long distances to relive memories of youth and made the town a food destination.[18][1] A map on the wall allowed diners to leave a pin where they came from. On April 1, 2025 a third location opened in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.[19]

Embedded

In addition to the Ohio stand-alone locations, four Salvatore's Pizzerias in Rochester, New York, have embedded Arthur Treacher's franchises.[20] The Twin Oaks Convenience Store in Pomeroy, Ohio, has an Arthur Treacher's sharing kitchen space with a Hunt Brothers Pizza and a Sub Express.[21] As of 2026, it no longer operates under the Arthur Treacher's name. In East Islip, NY, a small strip-mall store has a combination Pudgie's Famous Chicken and Arthur Treacher's.