new york
CNN
—
About two dozen Red Lobster locations are set to close in the coming days as the seafood restaurant chain moves forward in bankruptcy proceedings.
According to recent court filings, the company plans to reject leases for 23 more locations by Saturday, Aug. 31, joining the more than 100 Red Lobster locations it closed earlier this summer. After the closures, the chain will be left with about 500 locations, a significant drop from 650 last year.
Red Lobster is in the process of selling itself to Fortress Credit Corp., a veteran restaurant lender that also owns Crystal, Logan’s Roadhouse and J. Alexander’s, and which recently provided a $100 million loan to help the seafood chain stay afloat.
Fortress said Monday it will appoint former PF Chang’s chief executive officer Damola Adamolekun as Red Lobster’s new CEO once the chain emerges from bankruptcy. Adamolekun will leave the Chinese restaurant chain in August 2023 after a four-year tenure.
Poor management, competition, inflation and other factors have led to restaurant pioneer Red Lobster’s bankruptcy. Thai Union, a global seafood supplier, became Red Lobster’s largest shareholder in 2020, four years after it filed for bankruptcy in May.
Under Thai Union’s leadership, Red Lobster’s corporate culture became toxic, former leaders told CNN. Red Lobster cut costs, eliminated longtime suppliers and implemented backfired strategies, such as making $20 endless shrimp a permanent menu item. The chain lost $11 million on the endless shrimp deal.
The new list of restaurant leases identified as being closed “are likely to continue to be loss-making” and the company “does not anticipate being necessary for future business operations and may be denied,” the filing states.
Red Lobster is planning to close the following stores:
Arizona
-1521 S. Yuma Palms Parkway, Yuma
Arkansas
-8407 W. Markham Street, Little Rock
California
-8703 Murray Drive, La Mesa
Colorado
-4925 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs
Florida
-326 Miracle Strip Parkway, Fort Walton Beach
-5110 N. 9th Ave., Pensacola
-8909 US Highway 19, Port Richey
Georgia
-6550 Tara Boulevard, Jonesboro
Illinois
-1604 N. State Road 50, Bourbonnais
-902 Commons Drive, Geneva
-4625 N. Sterling Ave., Peoria
Indiana
-4353 Franklin Street, Michigan City
Minnesota
– 8900 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley
-12515 Elm Creek Boulevard North, Maple Grove
Missouri
-2381 Maplewood Commons Drive, Maplewood
new york
-925 Hunts Point Avenue, Bronx
-750 Upper Glen Street, Queensbury
North Carolina
-304 A Western Boulevard, Jacksonville
Ohio
-17227 SouthPark Center, Strongsville
South Carolina
-1270 Knox Abbott Drive, Casey
Virginia
-555 S. Van Dorn Street, Alexandria
-4415 S. Laburnum Ave., Richmond
-709 Independence Boulevard, Virginia Beach
