Red Lobster is closing nearly 50 restaurants. Here's where they're located.
Red Lobster is closing nearly 50 of its restaurants across the country, according to a company that helps businesses liquidate restaurant equipment.
Neal Sherman, CEO of TAGeX Brands, promoted a "Winner Takes All" liquidation sale of "fixtures, furniture and equipment" in a video posted Monday on LinkedIn that included a link for those who wished to bid.
Red Lobster has consistently lost money for years. In an attempt to boost traffic at its restaurants, the company last year expanded its all-you-can-eat shrimp deal. Customers' appetites, however, ate into profits as demand overwhelmed what the chain could afford, resulting in financial losses.
Rumblings of a possible bankruptcy emerged this spring when the company tapped Jonathan Tibus as its new chief executive. Tibus is a managing partner at advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal and is known for restructuring corporate entities.
As recently as last month, Red Lobster was seeking a buyer in hopes the company could avoid bankruptcy, CNBC reported.
The restaurant is preparing to file for bankruptcy later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported. While in bankruptcy, Red Lobster will seek to negotiate new terms with landlords and creditors that could reduce its debt by hundreds of millions of dollars, the Journal reported.
Red Lobster's owner, Thai Union, first invested in Red Lobster in 2016 and upped its stake in 2020. In January, the company announced plans to sell its minority stake. CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said the pandemic, higher interest rates, rising material and labor costs have all played a role in Red Lobster's poor financial performance.
Red Lobster recorded a $19 million loss in the first nine months of last year, Thai Union said in a statement earlier this year.
Red Lobster and Thai Union didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
As of Tuesday morning, auctions for 48 locations were still live after another four sales closed Monday, TAGeX Brands told The Associated Press via email.
Red Lobster's roots date back to 1968, when the first restaurant opened in Lakeland, Florida, as a family-owned establishment under local restaurateur Bill Darden. In the decades following, the chain expanded rapidly. Red Lobster currently touts more than 700 locations worldwide.
Here are the 48 restaurants that Red Lobster has closed.
Alabama
- 1805 Opelika Highway in Auburn
- 2027 Beltline Road Southwest in Decatur
California
- 1345 Dana Drive in Redding
- 6440 Redwood Drive in Rohnert Park
- 1400 Howe Avenue in Sacramento
- 8330 Mira Mesa Boulevard in San Diego
- 21233 Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance
Colorado
- 8268 East Northfield Boulevard in Denver
- 810 South Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood
- 9067 Westview Road in Lone Tree
- 4455 Wadsworth Boulevard in Wheat Ridge
Florida
- 340 West State Road 436 in Altamonte Springs
- 6910 West Newberry Road in Gainesville
- 1750 West 49th Street in Hialeah
- 10500 East Ulmerton Road in Largo
- 8003 Golden Sky Lane in Orlando
Georgia
- 1956 West Broad Street in Athens
- 1050 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell
- 2105 Veterans Boulevard in Dublin
Idaho
- 2115 Thain Grade in Lewiston
Illinois
- 391 West Army Trail Road in Bloomingdale
- 3217 Vermilion Street in Danville
Indiana
- 1752 North Shadeland Avenue in Indianapolis
- 3009 Brittany Court in Elkhart
Iowa
- 3040 Dial Drive in Council Bluffs
- 941 East San Marnan Drive in Waterloo
Maryland
- 15700 Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg
- 9011 Snowden Square Drive in Columbia
- 8533 Georgia Avenue in Silver Spring
- 14368 Baltimore Avenue in Laurel
Michigan
- 4220 24th Avenue in Fort Gratiot
Mississippi
- 3897 Promenade Parkway in D'Iberville
New York
- 4010 Maple Road in Amherst
- 1 Miron Lane in Kingston
- 655 West Jefferson Road in Rochester
New Jersey
- 303 NJ-10 in Ledgewood
North Dakota
- 2675 32nd Avenue South in Grand Forks
Oklahoma
- 3112 Northwest Cache Road in Lawton
South Carolina
- 10000 Highway 17 North, Myrtle Beach
Texas
- 104 Texas 332 in Lake Jackson
- 3515 McCann Road in Longview
- 7835 Interstate 35 South in San Antonio
Virginia
- 119 Temple Lake Drive in Colonial Heights
- 2100 Richmond Road in Williamsburg
- 12580 Jefferson Avenue in Newport News
Washington State
- 3208 Northwest Randall Way in Silverdale
Wisconsin
- 2801 North Mayfair Road in Wauwatosa
- 3333 State Road 16 in La Crosse
—The Associated Press contributed to this report.
