Yahoo Finance Red Lobster closes 50+ locations. Are Georgia’s days of Cheddar Bay biscuits numbered?
If you’ve ever wanted a lobster tank, now’s your chance.
TageX Brands announced online auctions for more than 50 Red Lobster locations, after abruptly closing the restaurants Monday. Each online auction ends Thursday. And yes, the inventory lists include the lobster tank.
The only notices provided for the abrupt closures were brief notes posted on locked doors. A D’Iberville, Mississippi, Red Lobster left a sign on its locked door, “This location is closed. We look forward to serving you at another Red Lobster location in the future.”
Like D’Iberville, Red Lobsters in Hattiesburg, Mobile and Jackson were listed as “temporarily closed” online. The Mobile location said it was scheduled to reopen May 21.
According to the list of auction sites, three Georgia restaurants closed Monday: Athens, Roswell and Dublin. According to Red Lobster, the closures were temporary. Auburn and Decatur, Alabama, were also shut down, with no signs of reopening.
Fortunately, Middle Georgia still has direct access to all the Cheddar Bay biscuits one’s heart desires. Several Georgia locations, including Columbus, Macon, Perry and Atlanta, have been spared.
Middle GA has several nearby locations:
2679 Adams Farm Drive in Columbus
1425 13th Street in Columbus
1359 Sam Nunn Blvd. in Perry
2077 Riverside Drive in Macon
A spokesperson for Red Lobster did not respond to queries regarding the future of restaurants that are still open and if the downsizing of the chain would stop at the 50 closed restaurants.
This week’s closures made up the chain’s biggest downsizing effort in recent history.
Red Lobster started shutdowns in 2020, closing four restaurants. The following year, five restaurants closed their doors. Thai Union, the company with controlling interest in the Florida-based restaurants, started January 2023 eight stores lighter.
An end in sight thanks to endless shrimp
The auctions and closings are part of a turnaround plan that has been executed and modified several times in the past few years, from cutting staff to replacing executives and hiring a restructuring pro as its newest CEO.
Frozen and chilled seafood business Thai Union bought controlling interest in the seafood chain in 2020. The Bangkok company saw the restaurant bounce back from a dismal 2020 after COVID and even reported a robust first quarter in 2023. More than 40% of the company’s profits came from their North American business interests like Red Lobster, according to industry insiders at Fish Focus.
The company introduced Red Lobster’s first-ever frozen seafood line in grocery stores nationwide and even delivered vegan tuna to the Netherlands.
To continue their momentum and drive in more foot traffic, Thai Union started an Endless Shrimp promotion in June 2023. What once was only a Monday special of all-you-can-eat shrimp, became available every day and at every location.
The promotion drove in the traffic investors wanted to see, but more people did not translate into bigger profits.
“More customers cashed in on $20 bottomless shrimp than Red Lobster was expecting,” said Joe Guszkowski of Restaurant Business. “Traffic rose 4% in the third quarter as a result, but it came at a loss of more than $11 million.”
Thai Union’s plan to turn the company around quickly turned into a projected loss of $20 million. Red Lobster lost $3.3 million in seven weeks, according to CNN.
Going once, going twice…
Don’t start clearing space for your lobster tank just yet, though. The tank is part of a “winner takes all” lot.
The winner of each surplus restaurant equipment auction will take everything in the building. Each inventory list includes, “high-performance ovens, upright refrigerators and freezers, cooking and warming solutions, and comprehensive bar and dining setups.”
To bid on the contents of your local Red Lobster, register for the auction online. Once registered, the auctioneers will send you instructions for the bidding, which is already underway.
According to TageX Brands, all of the equipment is expected to be cleared out by 3 p.m. Friday.
