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A week ago Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy. Got me to wondering if recent astronomical prices for lobster meat are the problem? I can no longer afford it as a healthy protein choice on salads. And even cooked / refrigerated crab meat (good, but not lobster) is running $15-$20 for an 8 ounce can - about right for a large plate salad.
DRI (Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, etc) sold Red Lobster years ago. It's now a private company owned by Asian Thai Union Group and others. If it doesn't trade, it cannot become a meme stock.
"And then was the now-infamous ultimate endless shrimp promotion made in May 2023, for which he blamed former CEO Paul Kenny, who took over in April 2022. He said Kenny made it a permanent $20 item on the menu 'despite significant pushback from other members of the company's management team.'"
A private equity firm bought the chain ten years ago from Darden Restaurants, which owns rivals Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. The firm, Golden Gate Capital, funded the deal partly by selling Red Lobster's real estate.
That meant the chain had to start paying rent. That's now a major financial factor in Red Lobster's bankruptcy filing, which asks the court to reject 108 leases, letting the company abandon those locations.
This is the underlying reason plus declining business on why the chain failed.
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"And then was the now-infamous ultimate endless shrimp promotion made in May 2023, for which he blamed former CEO Paul Kenny, who took over in April 2022. He said Kenny made it a permanent $20 item on the menu 'despite significant pushback from other members of the company's management team.'"
https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/2024052134/what-killed-red-lobster-endless-shrimp-above-market-leases-labor-costs-and-inflation-says-new-ceo
To add to @yogibb’s comment above, please see article below:
https://npr.org/2024/05/20/1252426585/red-lobster-bankruptcy This is the underlying reason plus declining business on why the chain failed.