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In the 80's and 90's Red Lobster was really good, and a real treat for middle class families. The go-to place for birthdays, anniversaries and such. Over the years though their quality has degraded while the cost has gone up.
My personal take on this is that there has been a lot of hidden inflation since maybe the late 90's. Supply chain globalization allowed companies to hide that inflation from consumers by changing ingredients, sourcing inferior (but cheaper) product from further away, etc. I see it in a lot of other restaurants too. YES, they're not as good as you remember and NO, it's not because you're getting old.
Now, with inflation high enough it can't be hidden or adjusted for, the piper is being paid. Expect more Red Lobsters down the line I think.
I went to my favorite steakhouse Friday for dinner 45 min. wait to be seated. The good places are busy. RL lost my business about two years ago. The price went up, and the salad was charged extra, it's also very noisy. I found a better fish restaurant in town with good quality and reasonable prices.
Yeah, and it's sad. Not mismanagement, not embezzlement, not criminality - just trying to offer a good deal, and lost control of it.
It wasn’t endless shrimp that did this. It was them selling their real estate and leasing it back that was the issue. The shrimp promo cost them 16mm or so
Details from Red Lobster’s bankruptcy filing are wild and so much mismanagement:
▫️$1B in debt, $30m in cash
▫️Previous PE owner sold land and leased it back to Red Lobster at “above market rates”
▫️$20 Endless Shrimp cost it $11m but the interesting part is that one of the chain’s owners is Thai seafood firm Thai Union (which also owns Chicken By The Sea) and it may have used Endless shrimp to dump its own shrimp supply through the 578 restaurants in North America
▫️Thai Union became the only Red Lobster shrimp vendor, overcharging for shrimp and skipping quality reviews (Thai Union has written off its $500m+ investment)
▫️Red Lobster has had 5 CEO in the last 5 years (!!!)
▫️Sales down 30% since 2019
The real reason for this bankruptcy filing is that the hedgefunds that bought the chain are separating the stores from the land they sit on. The land is in some of the best locations and the new owners have increased the lease amounts to the point that the resturants can't make a profit so they are closing. It has nothing to do with the price of food.
I rarely eat at restaurants but my observations at the most 5 recent visits is that they were sadly lacking business.
By noon, I'd expect to see a line at Chipolte but there was nobody in line.
Weird.
In Chipotle's case, I think a lot of the customers are just ordering delivery/takeout.
They seem to be doing much better than most chains, and aren't going away any time soon.
It's simple, decent-quality, fairly nutritious fast food (some pro athletes practically live on the stuff during the season) at a fair price, and as long as they don't switch up things too much, they'll be fine.
I live in MA and I've never been to a Red Lobster. It seems people love those cheddar biscuits...but so many other restaurants have great bread as well. I mean it's a restaurant chain that has been in business a long time...do people think places like this will last forever?
I doubt that there’s a fresh piece of fish in the place. I remember when they had live lobster in tanks.
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