Red Lobster is abruptly closing dozens of restaurants

New York
CNN
 — 

Struggling Pink Lobster is abruptly closing no less than 48 of its eating places across the nation, in line with a number one restaurant liquidator.

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

Pink Lobster areas in Buffalo, Orlando, Jacksonville and different cities have been listed as “quickly closed” on Pink Lobster’s web site, in line with native information reviews.

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

Pink Lobster is reportedly contemplating submitting for chapter safety. The chain has tapped a restructuring professional as its chief govt, a doable indicator of an impending chapter.

The mass closures are one other signal of issues at Pink Lobster and one of many solely occasions in its greater than 50-year historical past the chain has closed dozens of shops without delay.

Pink Lobster was an informal eating pioneer, bringing reasonably priced seafood to middle-class shoppers for the primary time.

However the chain has declined lately as a consequence of a spread of things, together with company mismanagement, say former leaders and restaurant analysts.

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

Underneath Thai Union’s path, Pink Lobster has cycled by 4 CEOs and an all-you-can-eat shrimp deal final yr that slowed down desk service and lower into Thai Union’s profitability.

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

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

Thai Union stated earlier this yr it could divest from Pink Lobster and take a $530 million loss on its funding.

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

The explosive development and recognition of fast-casual chains like Chipotle and quick-service chains like Chick-fil-A over the previous 20 years additionally squeezed Pink Lobster and the informal eating sector.

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