Red Lobster is abruptly closing dozens of restaurants

New York
CNN
 — 

Struggling Crimson Lobster is abruptly closing at the least 48 of its eating places across the nation, in accordance with a number one restaurant liquidator.

TAGeX Manufacturers is conducting a web based public sale of Crimson Lobster restaurant stock, together with kitchen gear, furnishings, tables and chairs. The public sale begins Monday and continues by way of Thursday, in accordance with firm founder Neal Sherman.

Crimson Lobster places in Buffalo, Orlando, Jacksonville and different cities had been listed as “briefly closed” on Crimson Lobster’s web site, in accordance with native information experiences.

Crimson Lobster didn’t reply to CNN’s requests for remark. The corporate has round 650 places.

Crimson Lobster is reportedly contemplating submitting for chapter safety. The chain has tapped a restructuring skilled as its chief government, a potential indicator of an impending chapter.

The mass closures are one other signal of issues at Crimson Lobster and one of many solely occasions in its greater than 50-year historical past the chain has closed dozens of shops directly.

Crimson Lobster was an off-the-cuff eating pioneer, bringing inexpensive seafood to middle-class shoppers for the primary time.

However the chain has declined in recent times on account of a spread of things, together with company mismanagement, say former leaders and restaurant analysts.

In 2020, Thai Union, a longtime provider to Crimson Lobster, took an undisclosed monetary stake within the chain, turning into a key shareholder.

Below Thai Union’s course, Crimson Lobster has cycled by way of 4 CEOs and an all-you-can-eat shrimp deal final yr that slowed down desk service and reduce into Thai Union’s profitability.

The promotion has been a convention on the chain for greater than 18 years, however Crimson Lobster made infinite shrimp a everlasting fixture on the menu.

“We must be far more cautious,” Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri mentioned in November of the shrimp deal.

Thai Union mentioned earlier this yr it will divest from Crimson Lobster and take a $530 million loss on its funding.

“I’m going to cease consuming lobster,” Chansiri mentioned.

The explosive development and recognition of fast-casual chains like Chipotle and quick-service chains like Chick-fil-A over the previous twenty years additionally squeezed Crimson Lobster and the informal eating sector.

Informal eating has slipped from 36% of whole restaurant business gross sales in 2013 to 31% in 2023, in accordance with Technomic, a restaurant analysis agency.