Red Lobster is closing nearly 50 restaurants. Here's where.
Red Lobster is closing nearly 50 of its restaurants across the country, according to a company that helps businesses liquidate restaurant equipment.
Neal Sherman, CEO of TAGeX Brands, promoted a "Winner Takes All" liquidation sale of "fixtures, furniture and equipment" in a video posted Monday on LinkedIn that included a link for those who wished to bid.
Red Lobster has consistently lost money for years. In an attempt to boost traffic at its restaurants, the company last year expanded its all-you-can-eat shrimp deal. Customers' appetites, however, ate into profits as demand overwhelmed what the chain could afford, resulting in financial losses.
Rumblings of a possible bankruptcy emerged this spring when the company tapped Jonathan Tibus as its new chief executive. Tibus is a managing partner at advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal and is known for restructuring corporate entities.
As recently as last month, Red Lobster was seeking a buyer in hopes the company could avoid bankruptcy, CNBC reported.
The restaurant is preparing to file for bankruptcy later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported. While in bankruptcy, Red Lobster will seek to negotiate new terms with landlords and creditors that could reduce its debt by hundreds of millions of dollars, the Journal reported.
Red Lobster's owner, Thai Union, first invested in Red Lobster in 2016 and upped its stake in 2020. In January, the company announced plans to sell its minority stake. CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said the pandemic, higher interest rates, rising material and labor costs have all played a role in Red Lobster's poor financial performance.
Red Lobster recorded a $19 million loss in the first nine months of last year, Thai Union said in a statement earlier this year.
Red Lobster and Thai Union didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
As of Tuesday morning, auctions for 48 locations were still live after another four sales closed Monday, TAGeX Brands told The Associated Press via email.
Red Lobster's roots date back to 1968, when the first restaurant opened in Lakeland, Florida, as a family-owned establishment under local restaurateur Bill Darden. In the decades following, the chain expanded rapidly. Red Lobster currently touts more than 700 locations worldwide.
Here are the 48 restaurants that Red Lobster has closed.
Alabama1805 Opelika Highway in Auburn2027 Beltline Road Southwest in DecaturCalifornia1345 Dana Drive in Redding6440 Redwood Drive in Rohnert Park1400 Howe Avenue in Sacramento8330 Mira Mesa Boulevard in San Diego21233 Hawthorne Boulevard in TorranceColorado8268 East Northfield Boulevard in Denver810 South Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood9067 Westview Road in Lone Tree4455 Wadsworth Boulevard in Wheat RidgeFlorida340 West State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs6910 West Newberry Road in Gainesville1750 West 49th Street in Hialeah10500 East Ulmerton Road in Largo8003 Golden Sky Lane in OrlandoGeorgia1956 West Broad Street in Athens1050 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell2105 Veterans Boulevard in DublinIdaho2115 Thain Grade in LewistonIllinois391 West Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale3217 Vermilion Street in DanvilleIndiana1752 North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis3009 Brittany Court in ElkhartIowa3040 Dial Drive in Council Bluffs941 East San Marnan Drive in WaterlooMaryland15700 Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg9011 Snowden Square Drive in Columbia8533 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring14368 Baltimore Avenue in LaurelMichigan 4220 24th Avenue in Fort GratiotMississippi3897 Promenade Parkway in D'IbervilleNew York4010 Maple Road in Amherst1 Miron Lane in Kingston655 West Jefferson Road in RochesterNew Jersey303 NJ-10 in LedgewoodNorth Dakota2675 32nd Avenue South in Grand ForksOklahoma3112 Northwest Cache Road in LawtonSouth Carolina10000 Highway 17 North, Myrtle BeachTexas104 Texas 332 in Lake Jackson3515 McCann Road in Longview7835 Interstate 35 South in San AntonioVirginia119 Temple Lake Drive in Colonial Heights2100 Richmond Road in Williamsburg12580 Jefferson Avenue in Newport NewsWashington State3208 Northwest Randall Way in SilverdaleWisconsin2801 North Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa3333 State Road 16 in La Crosse
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Behind the wheel of a $3 million car
