Red Lobster, formerly the largest seafood restaurant chain in the world, officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. The chain, formerly owned by restaurant group Darden Restaurants Inc (NYSE:DRI), began auctioning off kitchen equipment at some locations, but does not plan to fully shut down operations, according to its CEO, Jonathan Tibus.
Here are some of the juiciest details regarding the seafood chain's demise:
The Endless Shrimp Promotion
Red Lobster famously offered its "Endless Shrimp" promotion, where customers could pay around $20 to eat as much shrimp as they wanted. Customers could order various shrimp dishes, including shrimp scampi and popcorn shrimp.
At one point, the promotion was only offered for a limited amount of time, usually around a month. But, to increase traffic, Red Lobster began offering the "Endless Shrimp" promotion all the time, leading to millions of dollars in losses. Author and podcast host Trung Phan said on X that one of Red Lobster's owners (and suppliers) Thai Union, may have been using the endless shrimp promotion to offload its supply of shrimp.
Read Also: Elon Musk Has 'Fond Memories' From Red Lobster, Expresses Sorrow At Seafood Chain's Bankruptcy News
Leadership Changes
It's not uncommon for struggling businesses to cycle through C-suite executives. Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) recently announced a leadership shake-up amid slowing growth. But, Red Lobster seemed to struggle significantly with finding and retaining talent to lead its operations, cycling through five CEOs in five years, in a sign that things were getting a little fishy.
Thai Union's Motives
As previously mentioned, Thai Union, a large producer of seafood products took a 49% stake in Red Lobster a few years ago. After that, Thai Union became Red Lobster's sole provider of shrimp, and some allege that the seafood producer took advantage of its relationship with Red Lobster, overcharging the restaurant chain for its products and skimping (not shrimping) out on quality control.
Photo: Shutterstock
红龙虾曾是全球最大的海鲜连锁餐厅，周一正式申请了第11章的破产保护。据其首席执行官乔纳森·蒂布斯称，这家连锁店以前归餐饮集团达登餐厅公司（纽约证券交易所代码：DRI）所有，已开始在某些地点拍卖厨房设备，但不打算完全关闭运营。
以下是有关这家海鲜连锁店倒闭的一些最精彩的细节：
无尽的虾类促销活动
Red Lobster曾推出 “Endless Shrimp” 促销活动，顾客可以花大约20美元随心所欲地吃虾。顾客可以订购各种虾类菜肴，包括虾虾和爆米花虾。
有一次，促销活动仅在有限的时间内提供，通常在一个月左右。但是，为了增加流量，Red Lobster开始一直提供 “Endless Shrimp” 促销活动，导致数百万美元的损失。作者兼播客主持人Trung Phan在X上表示，红龙虾的所有者（和供应商）泰盟可能一直在利用无休止的虾类促销来转移其虾类供应。
另请阅读：埃隆·马斯克对红龙虾有 “美好回忆”，对海鲜连锁店的破产消息表示悲伤
领导层变动
陷入困境的企业轮流找高管的情况并不少见。在增长放缓的情况下，Lululemon Athletica Inc（纳斯达克股票代码：LULU）最近宣布了领导层改组。但是，Red Lobster似乎在寻找和留住领导其运营的人才方面困难重重，在五年内轮流接替了五位首席执行官，这表明情况变得有点可疑。
泰国联盟的动机
如前所述，大型海鲜产品生产商泰联几年前收购了红龙虾49％的股份。此后，泰联成为红龙虾的唯一虾类供应商，有人声称这家海鲜生产商利用了与红龙虾的关系，向连锁餐厅多收了产品费用，并跳过（不是捕虾）质量控制。
照片：Shutterstock
