Where is Red Lobster closing?

(NEXSTAR) — Pink Lobster is reportedly shuttering at the least 48 of its areas, and a restaurant provide liquidator is auctioning off kitchen gear from the impacted eateries this week.

TAGeX Manufacturers introduced on Monday that it’s conducting the web public sale by way of Thursday, Might 16, for choose Pink Lobster eating places closing in a number of states. Most notably, California and Florida are dropping 5 areas every, whereas Maryland and Colorado are dropping 4.

Nexstar’s KETK additionally reported that three Pink Lobster eating places in Texas abruptly shut down this week, itemizing their hours as “closed.” None of these areas may very well be reached through cellphone.

In Illinois, the mayor of Danville posted a message on Fb in regards to the sudden closure of town’s solely Pink Lobster and prolonged his prayers to the affected staff.

“I used to be simply notified by one in every of our native Pink Lobster managers that after 31 years of serving our neighborhood, with out discover, their dad or mum firm laid off your complete crew and closed the restaurant efficient instantly,” wrote Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr.

“That is even if they have been rated quantity 15 out of over 600 shops for customer support & satisfaction final yr,” he added.

As for the public sale, a number of gadgets are up for grabs – from high-performance ovens to upright fridges and eating room furnishings. TAGeX Manufacturers referred to as it “the most important restaurant gear public sale ever” on its web site. It’s vital to notice that the gadgets aren’t being bought individually. Every location can have one successful bidder who will take all contents from the restaurant.

“These auctions are WINNER TAKES ALL – that means, every winner will obtain the ENTIRE contents of the Pink Lobster location they bid on,” TAGeX Manufacturers famous.

Again in April, Bloomberg and CNBC reported that the seafood chain, which has been a staple of the American restaurant scene for many years, thought of submitting for chapter. Although, Pink Lobster has not publicly confirmed this. The report famous that individuals who have been aware of the matter mentioned Pink Lobster was searching for restructuring recommendation to deal with leases and labor prices.

The corporate has confronted some monetary and inner challenges throughout the previous few years. Between 2021 and 2022, the corporate welcomed a recent lineup of executives, together with a brand new CEO, chief advertising and marketing officer, chief monetary officer, and chief info officer, in response to CNN. All of them reportedly left inside two years.

Then, there was the countless shrimp fiasco. In June 2023, the corporate provided its “Final Countless Shrimp” — usually a restricted supply — on their common menu for $20. The try to get extra folks into the shop labored, but it surely got here at a value.

Pink Lobster posted an working lack of greater than $11 million in Q3 of that yr, in response to Restaurant Enterprise. It’s a loss that dad or mum firm Thai Union Group mentioned the countless shrimp deal was a “key issue” in creating.

Thai Union Group introduced earlier this yr that it was seeking to promote its stake within the model, citing the impression of a “mixture of [the] Covid-19 pandemic, sustained business headwinds, larger rates of interest and rising materials and labor prices” on income.

Created by Invoice Darden, the primary Pink Lobster opened in 1968 in Lakeland, Florida, marketed as recent seafood for folks of all walks of life. As of Monday, the web site claims that there are over 700 Pink Lobster areas world wide.

Nexstar’s Invoice Shannon and Brian Farrell contributed to this story.