As part of the seafood restaurant chain’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, about two dozen more Red Lobster branches are to be closed in the next few days.
A recently filed court document shows that the company is rejecting leases for an additional 23 locations by Saturday, August 31. These will join the more than 100 restaurants that Red Lobster closed earlier this summer. Once the leases are finalized, the chain will have about 500 locations left – a significant drop from the 650 it had last year.
Red Lobster is in the process of selling itself to Fortress Credit Corp., a restaurant-industry-experienced lending company that also owns Krystal, Logan’s Roadhouse and J. Alexander’s. The company recently provided the seafood chain with a $100 million loan to help it survive.
On Monday, Fortress announced that it will appoint former PF Chang’s CEO Damola Adamolekun as Red Lobster’s new CEO once the chain exits bankruptcy proceedings. Adamolekun left the Chinese restaurant chain in August 2023 after four years on the job.
Mismanagement, competition, inflation and other factors brought down Red Lobster, a pioneer in the restaurant industry. Thai Union, a global seafood supplier, became Red Lobster’s majority shareholder in 2020 and filed for bankruptcy four years later in May.
Under Thai Union’s leadership, Red Lobster’s corporate culture became toxic, former executives told CNN. Red Lobster cut costs, cut long-time suppliers and implemented strategies that backfired, such as introducing $20 endless shrimp as a permanent menu item. The chain lost $11 million on the endless shrimp deal.
The new list of restaurant leases to be closed “will likely continue to result in losses” and the company “believes that they are not necessary for future business operations and therefore may be rejected,” the filing said.
Here are the locations Red Lobster plans to close:
Arizona
-1521 S. Yuma Palms Pkwy., Yuma
Arkansas
-8407 W. Markham St., Little Rock
California
-8703 Murray Drive, La Mesa
Colorado
-4925 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs
Florida
-326 Miracle Strip Pkwy., Fort Walton Beach
-5110 N. 9th Avenue, Pensacola
-8909 US 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 Avenue, 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
CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn contributed to this report.
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