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(NEXSTAR) – Red Lobster locations across the country started closing abruptly Monday, surprising residents and, at least in one case, a city official.
As of Tuesday, 90 locations in 27 states were listed as “closed” on the restaurant’s website.
Residents in Florida , New York , Iowa and Illinois , among others, found the stores suddenly shuttered.
“I was just notified by one of our local Red Lobster managers that after 31 years of serving our community, without notice, their parent company laid off the entire crew and closed the restaurant effective immediately,” Danville, Illinois Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. wrote in a Facebook post . “This is despite the fact that they were rated number 15 out of over 600 stores for customer service & satisfaction last year.”
The beleaguered seafood chain will be auctioning off the contents of 48 locations, according to a TAGeX brands, a restaurant supply liquidator. It’s not clear if there are any plans to reopen the restaurants not listed.
Nexstar reached out to Red Lobster for more information about the closures but didn’t receive a response as of publishing time.
Red Lobster owner Thai Union Group announced in January 2024 that it was looking to sell its stake in the brand, citing the impact of a “combination of [the] COVID-19 pandemic, sustained industry headwinds, higher interest rates and rising material and labor costs” on profits.
Why you may get another chance to see the northern lights soon Back in April, Bloomberg and CNBC reported that the seafood chain, which has been a staple of the American restaurant scene for decades, considered filing for bankruptcy. Though, Red Lobster has not publicly confirmed this. The report noted that people who were familiar with the matter said Red Lobster was looking for restructuring advice to address leases and labor costs.
The company has faced some financial and internal challenges within the past few years. Between 2021 and 2022, the company welcomed a fresh lineup of executives, including a new CEO, chief marketing officer, chief financial officer, and chief information officer, according to CNN . All of them reportedly left within two years.
Red Lobster is closing dozens of restaurants and auctioning off equipment Then, there was the endless shrimp fiasco. In June 2023, the company offered its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” — typically a limited offer — on their regular menu for $20. The attempt to get more people into the store worked, but it came at a cost.
Red Lobster posted an operating loss of more than $11 million in Q3 of that year, according to Restaurant Business . It’s a loss that parent company Thai Union Group said the endless shrimp deal was a “key factor” in creating.
These are the locations that appear closed, according to the Red Lobster website:
Alabama
Auburn
Decatur
Huntsville
Arizona
Oro Valley
California
Redding
Fremont
Montclair
Rohnert Park
Sacramento
San Diego
Torrance
Colorado
Denver
Lakewood
Lone Tree
Wheat Ridge
Florida
Altamonte Springs
Daytona Beach Shores
Gainseville
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
Roswell
Dublin
Idaho
Lewiston
Illinois
Bloomingdale
Danville
Indiana
Indianapolis
Elkhart
Iowa
Council Bluffs
Waterloo
Kansas
Kansas City
Olathe
Louisiana
Bossier City
Maryland
Gaithersburg
Columbia
Silver Spring
Laurel
Michigan
Fort Gratiot
Mississippi
D’lberville
New Jersey
Ledgewood
Bridgewater
East Brunswick
Lawrenceville
New York
Amherst
Buffalo
Lakewood
Nanuet
Poughkeepsie
Scarsdale
Stony Brook
Williamsville
Kingston
Rochester
North Carolina
Burlington
Cary
Durham
Rocky Mount
North Dakota
Grand Forks
Oklahoma
Lawton
Oklahoma City
Stillwater
Pennsylvania
Erie
South Carolina
Myrtle Beach
Tennessee
Memphis
Texas
Dallas (E. Technology Blvd.)
Dallas (Vantage Point Dr.)
Houston
Lufkin
Pasadena
Tyler
Lake Jackson
Longview
San Antonio
Virginia
Colonial Heights
Williamsburg
Newport News
Washington
Silverdale
Wisconsin
Wawatosa
La Crosse
Created by Bill Darden, the first Red Lobster opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida, advertised as fresh seafood for people of all walks of life. As of Monday, the website claims that there are over 700 Red Lobster locations around the world.
Nexstar’s Bill Shannon and Brian Farrell contributed to this story.
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