Red Lobster Closing 87 Restaurants, In 27 States
USA Today reports the iconic restaurant chain, Red Lobster, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Florida. Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Orlando, the troubled company released an official statement late Sunday night on May 19, 2024, to explain the situation to customers.
The letter addressed "Dear Guests," Red Lobster confirmed the sad truth on its Facebook page.
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Orlando the famous affordable seafood restaurant chain is now selling off 87 stores in 27 states. Will this work? CNN reports Red Lobster got into this mess because they got screwed by private equity. Bad management managers! It all started in 2014.
Red Lobster, originally owned by the Darden Restaurant Group for $2.1 billion to Golden Gate Capital a private equity firm. According to CNN the firm sold off a lot of chain property and equipment, leased it back to them, and charged them cash rent way above market prices.
Between being drained of cash and assets, the pandemic in 2020, racking up debt to the tune of $1 billion, bad management decisions, and less than $30k in cash flow, the bottom fell out. According to Red Lobster, they've been working with vendors to ensure the remaining locations continue operations uninterrupted.
Here's what we know about the closures, including where they're happening and why these restaurants are closing. Which Red Lobster locations are closed?
Each of these restaurants is currently listed as "temporarily closed" on the website:
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