The ship is sinking and taking infinite shrimp with it.
Seafood chain Red lobster announced that it will close 23 more restaurants in the coming days. This development came amid the chain's bankruptcy turmoil, according to court documents analyzed by CNN. The closure of these locations through August 31 is just one more wave of the storm that caused the company to close more than 100 of its dining locations earlier this summer.
These newest setbacks will leave the once-thriving chain with just 500 outlets, down drastically from the 650 that were operational last year. Navigating murky waters, Red Lobster is trying to find a lifeline in Fortress Credit Corp., a seasoned lender in restaurant management that boasts ownership such as Krystal and Logan's Roadhouse. Fortress took out a $100 million loan to keep the chain afloat amid financial difficulties, and now Red Lobster is hoping they'll buy it.
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The restaurant has faced a sea of problems including mismanagement, stiff competition and rising costs. Taking the helm in 2020, Thai Union, a titan in the global seafood market, led Red Lobster to bankruptcy until May 2024. Under this new leadership, the company's work culture deteriorated, and decisions such as removing venerable suppliers and introducing a perpetual $20 shrimp promotion backfired, plunging the chain into a Loss of 11 million dollars only by offer.
The current filing says the restaurants targeted for closure “are likely to continue to incur losses and are unnecessary to the company's survival going forward.” With its nets spread wide, Red Lobster is navigating the choppy waters of the restaurant industry, hoping for a turn of the tide in its beleaguered saga.
Here is the full list of Red Lobsters closing, according to CNN:
Arizona
1521 S. Yuma Palms Pkwy., Yuma
California
-8703 Murray Drive, La Mesa
-8407 W. Markham St., Little Rock
Colorado
-4925 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs
Florida
-326 Miracle Strip Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach
-5110 N. 9th Ave., Pensacola
-8909 US Highway 19, Port Richey
Georgia
-6550 Tara Blvd., Jonesboro
Illinois
-1604 N. State Road 50, Bourbonnais
-902 Commons Drive, Geneva
-4625 N. Sterling Ave., Peoria
Indiana
-4353 Franklin St., Michigan City
MINNESOTA
-8900 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley
-12515 Elm Creek Blvd. North, Maple Grove
Missouri
-2381 Maplewood Commons Drive, Maplewood
New York
-925 Hunts Point Ave., Bronx
-750 Upper Glen St., Queensbury
North Carolina
-304 A Western Blvd., Jacksonville
OHIO
-17227 Southpark Center, Strongsville
South Carolina
-1270 Knox Abbott Drive, Cayce
Virginia
-555 S. Van Dorn St., Alexandria
-4415 S. Laburnum Ave., Richmond
-709 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach