Bickford's restaurants in Manhattan, including the one at 488 Eighth Avenue. Witnesses said that a passenger in a car driving by used a slingshot to damage and even break the plate glass show windows. Glaziers union representatives had complained about nonunion employees installing glass at the restaurants. Bickford's son, Harold, was in charge of expanding their cafeteria chain into Florida and California. In 1959, Bickford's, Inc. had two geographical divisions: the North-East Coast Division and the South East Coast (M&M Cafeterias, Inc) and West Coast (Foster's Lunch System, Ltd.) Division. Decline Bickford's and its Southeast subsidiary M&M Cafeterias and West Coast subsidiary Foster's Cafeterias had trouble staying in business because of rising labor costs, competition from the non-union labor at fast food restaurants, and rising crime, which kept people home after dark. In 1960, there were 48 Bickford's in New York, down to 42 in 1970 and only two in 1980. By 1982, the last two were closed as well. Evolution In October 1959, in Peabody, Massachusetts, Harold Bickford introduced a new concept, the Bickford's Pancake House, a specialty family restaurant with an emphasis on the breakfast menu. Over the next three decades, the Bickford's Pancake House chain grew to 30 restaurants throughout New England. By the mid-1990s, there were almost 70 Bickford's restaurants in New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Bickford's corporate headquarters were eventually located in Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts. Financial forecaster Jeffrey S. Bickford, the grandson of the founder, maintains a website devoted to Bickford's nostalgia As of 2016, four locations remained, all in Massachusetts: Bickford's Grille, in Brockton, Burlington, and Woburn, and Bickford's Family Restaurant, in Acton. On December 30, 2018, the Brockton Bickford's Grille closed its doors after Tommy Doyle's Pub & Grill bought the restaurant building to expand their business. That left Bickford's with only three locations remaining: Bickford's Grille in Burlington and Woburn, Massachusetts, and Bickford's Family Restaurant in Acton, Massachusetts. As of July 2020, the Acton Massachusetts Bickford's Family Restaurant has permanently closed, which now leaves the company with just 2 Bickford's Grille locations in Burlington and Woburn, Massachusetts. The company is now working on reinventing themselves by giving the remaining "Grille" locations renovations and menu changes. This includes new signage and dining room upgrades. The Woburn location has had a new bar recently installed and they plan on using it once current coronavirus restrictions are lifted. Foster's cafeterias Foster's Cafeterias