Red Lobster’s unit sales have shrunk by more than 20% this year. | Photo: Shutterstock
Red Lobster is closing more restaurants nationwide as part of its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.
In a bankruptcy filing Thursday, the company said it was rejecting leases at 23 troubled restaurants that it considered a burden on its finances and plans to vacate the restaurants by August 31.
The closures follow the closure of 93 Red Lobster stores on a single day in May. This will bring Red Lobster’s total footprint to just over 500 stores, a decrease of more than 20% from the nearly 650 stores the chain had at the end of 2023.
The Orlando-based seafood restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy on May 19, blaming its financial problems on inflation, onerous leases and mismanagement. Shortly thereafter, it announced that more than 120 restaurants were at risk of closure if it failed to renegotiate leases with landlords.
Red lobster is about to be taken over by the Fortress Investment Group from insolvencywhich owns Krystal, Logan’s Roadhouse and other restaurant chains through its subsidiary SPB Hospitality. A hearing on the sale is scheduled for September 5.
In the statement filed Thursday, the company pointed out that the 23 closed restaurants were not necessary for a sale or reorganization.
The Red Lobsters scheduled to close this week are located in:
Pensacola, Port Richey and Fort Walton Beach, Florida; Alexandria, Richmond and Virginia Beach, Virginia; Bourbonnais, Geneva and Peoria, Illinois; Bronx and Queensbury, New York; Michigan City, Indiana; Yuma, Arizona; Cayce, South Carolina; Jonesboro, Ga.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jacksonville, North Carolina; La Mesa, California; Little Rock, Arkansas; Strongsville, Ohio; and Maplewood, Missouri.
Red Lobster is the largest seafood chain in the U.S., with total sales of more than $2.1 billion in 2023. However, due to store closures and falling consumer demand, sales fell 8% last year.
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