It’s time to pour another one — or 23 — out for Flavor Flav’s fave.
On Aug. 22, a court filing in the United States Bankruptcy Court Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division showed that Red Lobster will be closing 23 more locations as part of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
The omnibus motion, which is a legal request to grant multiple things at once, asked the court to reject the leases of the locations by Aug. 31. Red Lobster closed 83 locations earlier this year, bringing its total shuttered stores to 106 now.
According to the court filing, the seafood chain currently operates more than 530 restaurants primarily located across the U.S. and Canada, with nearly 36,000 employees. This is a sharp decline from the 700 locations it boasts on its website as of this writing.
In July, Red Lobster said in a court filing that it would accept a sale offer from Fortress Credit Corp., the only acquisition bid the chain received.
The parent company of its now-largest investor, Fortress Investment Group, also owns Logan’s Roadhouse, J. Alexander’s, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant and other restaurant brands, through SPB Hospitality.
The filing notes that the chain is continuing to review and identify leases “that are likely to continue to drive losses for the Debtors and should be rejected.” Red Lobster also calls the closing locations a “burden” in the filing, adding that it aims to manage its “business and assets responsibly and economically.”
Red Lobster did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
These are the closing Red Lobster locations:
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
- 8909 US Highway 19, Port Richey
- 326 Miracle Strip Pkwy S.W., Fort Walton Beach
- 5110 N 9th Ave, Pensacola
Georgia
- 6550 Tara Blvd, Jonesboro
Illinois
- 4625 N Sterling Ave, Peoria
- 902 Commons Drive, Geneva
- 1604 N State Road Route 50, Bourbonnais
Indiana
- 4353 Franklin Street, Michigan City
Minnesota
- 12515 Elm Creek Blvd., N., Maple Grove
- 8900 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley
Missouri
- 2381 Maplewood Commons Drive, Maplewood
New York
- 750 Upper Glen Street, Queensbury
- 925 Hunts Point Ave, Bronx
North Carolina
- 304 A Western Blvd., Jacksonville
Ohio
- 17227 Southpark Center, Strongsville
South Carolina
- 1270 Knox Abbott Drive, Cayce
Virginia
- 4415 S. Laburnum Ave, Richmond
- 709 Independence Blvd., Virginia Beach
- 555 S. Van Dorn Street, Alexandria
Red Lobster closed dozens of stores earlier this year
On May 13, Neal Sherman, founder and CEO of liquidation firm TAGeX Brands, announced on LinkedIn that his company was auctioning off the contents of several Red Lobster locations around the country.
The open auctions planned to dissolve the contents of multiple restaurant locations spanning several states, including furniture, fixtures and equipment.
“People have heard about the closure of select Red Lobsters. TAGeX Brands is proud to launch the largest restaurant liquidation EVER through its online auction marketplace,” Sherman wrote.
Sherman added that the company was handling these closures differently than it has in the past by awarding one winner of each auction the entirety of the location’s listed items. “WINNER TAKES ALL,” he wrote.
A dedicated auction site on the TAGeX website has been live since May 13, noting that it was “auctioning off 50+ locations” and that the sales would close on Thursday, May 16.
The company also noted that the winners of the auctions were required to pick up their winnings — meaning everything contained within the restaurants — within the following day, lest their order be “forfeited without a refund.”
The website lists approximately four dozen auctions across 21 states, including New York, California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, Virginia and more. The auctions include “high-performance ovens, upright refrigerators and freezers, cooking and warming solutions, and comprehensive bar and dining setups,” per the auction verbiage.
At the time, Red Lobster did not respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment on whether or not it planned to reopen the shuttered locations.
Red Lobster has been open since 1968 and is currently America’s largest seafood chain, but it has faced more than a few financial setbacks in recent times.
In November 2023, Red Lobster increased the price of its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” deal to $25, noting that unprecedented demand for the low-cost unlimited deal actually ended up hurting the company’s profits.
Then, in January, Red Lobster investor Thai Union announced it was seeking to exit its investment in the company, reporting a loss of $19 million in the first nine months of 2023 from Red Lobster that it attributed to the “Covid-19 pandemic, sustained industry headwinds, higher interest rates and rising material and labor costs.”
“After detailed analysis, we have determined that Red Lobster’s ongoing financial requirements no longer align with our capital allocation priorities and therefore are pursuing an exit of our minority investment,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, Thai Union Group’s CEO, in a press release.
In April, CNBC reported that Red Lobster considered filing for bankruptcy to help it restructure its debt and get out of a number of expensive and long-term leases. According to sources who spoke with CNBC, the company then sought a buyer to avoid filing altogether.
Red Lobster fans on social media have reacted to the news of its closing locations on X by sharing pictures of printed notes informing patrons that spots are closing, making endless shrimp-related jokes, crying over Cheddar Bay Biscuits and other lamentations.
“This red lobster situation got me in my feelings,” wrote one saddened customer, adding a couple of weary-face emojis for emphasis.
