Is Red Lobster going out of business? Chain officially files for bankruptcy amid restaurant closures Red Lobster \/ CanvaRed Lobster fans are worried that they\u2019ll have to say goodbye to cheddar bay biscuits following news that Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcy and shut down approximately 100 locations. Red Lobster is a popular hotspot for a lobster dinner and some of those famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits, however, despite clever marketing campaigns in the past few years (like their April Fools\u2019 prank), the business has been struggling. Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late on Sunday, May 19, 2024. In a statement, Red Lobster said it plans to sell \u201csubstantially all\u201d of its assets. The company, which reported roughly $294 million in outstanding debt, added that the restaurants that were not closed in the mass shutdown would remain open for guests. There has been some turbulence for the chain in the past, having recently appointed their third CEO in two years. Contents: What is Chapter 11 bankruptcy? – Red Lobster closes more than a fifth of all locations – How did shrimp put Red Lobster in mega-debt? – What is the future of Red Lobster? – Full list affected by Red Lobster closures – What is Chapter 11 bankruptcy? According to United States Courts, \u201cA case filed under chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code is frequently referred to as a \u201creorganization\u201d bankruptcy. Usually, the debtor remains \u201cin possession,\u201d has the powers and duties of a trustee, may continue to operate its business, and may, with court approval, borrow new money.\u201d This basically means that Red Lobster can still operate pretty much as normal whilst still technically being \u2018bankrupt.\u2019 Red Lobster closes more than a fifth of all locations According to a report published by CoStar on May 15 2024: \u201cRed Lobster abruptly closed about 100 of its locations and is auctioning off equipment from some of those sites.\u201d You can see a full list of the locations affected here. Their website currently states that these stores are, \u201ctemporarily closed.\u201d At the same time, restaurant industry liquidator TAGeX Brands announced on LinkedIn that they would be conducting the biggest restaurant equipment auction ever. The Orlando-based chain will now be left with only around 500 restaurants across the US. How shrimp put Red Lobster in mega-debt According to Restaurant Business, the downfall of Red Lobster is down to \u201cLeadership problems, a tough economy and all-you-can-eat shrimp.\u201d In 2022, Red Lobster lost $33 million and closed 16 of their restaurants. In a bid to bring paying customers back to their restaurants, they launched $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp in Summer 2023. The deal was really popular and certainly brought seafood fans through the door, but supplying this much shrimp to their branches cost them $11 million in one quarter. Current owners Thai Union Group, who bought the chain for $2.1m in 2014, are currently preparing the brand for sale. What is the future of Red Lobster? As it stands now, Red Lobster is not currently going out of business, in that they are not currently planning to close all of their stores. News of the company filing for bankruptcy could be a step in the right direction as it allows Red Lobster to focus on the brand rather than their debt and to still serve customers, albeit on a smaller scale. Bear in mind that this is not the first fast-food chain to file for bankruptcy, and even McDonald\u2019s and Wendy\u2019s franchisees filed at one point. All closed Red Lobster restaurants Each of these restaurants is currently listed as \u201ctemporarily closed\u201d on Red Lobster\u2019s website as they prepare to liquidate. The chain is closing 15 of their stores in their home state of Florida. Alabama Decatur – Huntsville – Mobile – Arizona Oro Valley – California Fremont – Montclair – Rohnert Park – Sacramento – San Diego – Torrance – Colorado Denver – Lakewood – Lone Tree – Wheat Ridge – Florida Altamonte Springs – Daytona Beach Shores – Gainesville – Hialeah – Jacksonville (Commerce Center Drive) – Jacksonville (Baymeadows Road) – Jacksonville (City Station Drive) – Kissimmee – Largo – Leesburg – Orlando (E. Colonial Dr.) – Orlando (W. Colonial Dr.) – Orlando (Golden Sky Lane) – Sanford – Tampa (East Busch Blvd.) – Tampa (Palm Pointe Dr.) – Georgia Athens – Dublin – Roswell – Idaho Lewiston – Illinois Bloomingdale – Danville – Indiana Elkhart – Indianapolis (N. Shadeland Ave.) – Iowa Waterloo – Kansas Kansas City – Olathe – Louisiana Bossier City – Maryland Columbia – Gaithersburg – Laurel – Silver Spring – Mississippi Jackson – Missouri Jefferson City – New Jersey Bridgewater – East Brunswick – Ledgewood – Lawrenceville – New York Amherst – Buffalo – Kingston – Lakewood – Nanuet – Rochester – Poughkeepsie – Scarsdale – Stony Brook – Williamsville – North Carolina Burlington – Cary – Durham – Rocky Mount – North Dakota Grand Forks – Oklahoma Lawton – Oklahoma City – Stillwater – Pennsylvania Erie – South Carolina Myrtle Beach – Tennessee Memphis – Texas Dallas (E. Technology Blvd.) – Dallas (Vantage Point Dr.) – Houston – Lake Jackson – Longview – Lufkin – Pasadena – Tyler –<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Is Red Lobster going out of business? Chain officially files for bankruptcy amid restaurant closures Red Lobster \/ CanvaRed Lobster fans are worried that they\u2019ll have to say goodbye to cheddar bay biscuits following news that Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcy and shut down approximately 100 locations. Red Lobster is a popular hotspot for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70473\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}