Marino's Fish & Chips to reopen; Arthur Treacher's central Ohio return stalled

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A shuttered central Ohio fish and chips restaurant is reopening this month after a deal to convert the restaurant into an Arthur Treacher's location fell through.

Marino's Seafood Fish & Chips at 1216 W. Fifth Ave. near Grandview Heights is once again welcoming customers beginning on Aug. 20, the restaurant said on social media. The announcement comes after Marino's closed earlier this summer as owners Harry and Rosemarie Kougendakis planned to retire while Arthur Treacher's took over.

"Sometimes things just don't work out. Our deal with Treacher's could not be completed," Marino's post said. "We look forward to seeing you again with our same great staff." Watch a previous NBC4 report on Marino's closure in the video player above.

The Kougendakis family has operated the eatery under the Marino's brand since 1992. The move was supposed to be a homecoming for Arthur Treacher's, which operated the West Fifth Avenue building as a location in the 1980s before it became Marino's. The family told Columbus Business First in June that discussions between the brands began earlier this year and that many from the Marino's staff were staying to work under the new owners.

Arthur Treacher's has been attempting an Ohio comeback and reopened a third location this spring in Cleveland Heights at 13216 Cedar Road, which was home to an Arthur Treacher's from the 1970s to the 1990s. The chain had announced the eatery's relaunch last August and held a grand opening celebration on April 1.

Arthur Treacher's launched in 1969 out of Columbus and offered fish and chips, fried chicken, clam chowder, hush puppies and more. The chain was named after the British actor who starred in a series of movies in the 1930s and in 1964's "Mary Poppins."

The fish and chips chain reached its peak in the late 1970s with more than 820 locations across the nation but bounced between several owners. Lumara Foods of America purchased the chain in March 1982, then filed for bankruptcy four months later.

Chapter 11 proceedings and additional ownership changes throughout the following decades dwindled the brand to two locations, which remain open today, also in northeast Ohio at 12585 Rockside Road in Garfield Heights and at 1833 State Road in Cuyahoga Falls.