NEW YORK — Roughly two dozen more Red Lobster locations are scheduled to close within the coming days as part of the seafood restaurant chain’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
A recent court filing shows that the company is rejecting the leases of an additional 23 locations by Saturday, August 31, joining the more than 100 restaurants that Red Lobster closed earlier this summer. Once complete, the chain will have around 500 outlets left — a sharp decline from the 650 it had just last year.
Red Lobster is in the process of selling itself to Fortress Credit Corp., a lender experienced in restaurant management that also owns Krystal, Logan’s Roadhouse and J. Alexander’s. The firm recently gave the seafood chain a $100 million loan to allow it stay afloat.
Mismanagement, competition, inflation and other factors brought down Red Lobster, which has been a pioneer in the restaurant industry. Thai Union, a global seafood supplier, became Red Lobster’s leading shareholder in 2020 and filed for bankruptcy four years later in May.
Under Thai Union’s leadership, Red Lobster’s culture turned toxic, former leaders told CNN. Red Lobster cut costs, removed longtime suppliers and implemented strategies that backfired, such as making $20 endless shrimp a permanent menu item. The chain lost $11 million on the endless shrimp deal.
The new list of restaurants leases identified to be closed “are likely to continue to drive losses” and the company does “not anticipate needing in order to operate their business going forward and can be rejected,” the filing said.
Here are the locations Red Lobster plans to close:
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 U.S. 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
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