Red Lobster to revive disastrous ‘limitless shrimp – Business News
Good information for remorseless eating machines, arr!
Red Lobster is reportedly planning to revive the disastrous “endless shrimp” deal that helped push the seafood chain into chapter 11.
A limited-time model of the $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp offer might launch as quickly as this month, Bloomberg reported, citing sources with information of the plans.
A limited-time model of the $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp deal might launch as quickly as this month, the report stated. Red Lobster
A Red Lobster rep advised the outlet that it doesn’t have “anything to announce at this time,” including that limitless shrimp has long been a favourite of friends and one of its hottest promotions.
Red Lobster didn’t instantly reply to The Post’s request for remark.
Fortress Investment Group, which owns Red Lobster, declined to remark.
CEO Damola Adamolekun – the 37-year-old who was employed in August 2024 after main a turnaround effort at PF Chang’s – has repeatedly claimed Red Lobster can be “the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry.”
The revival of its ill-fated limitless shrimp deal would mark an surprising means to attempt that comeback.
The resolution to offer it for a restricted time comes after the everlasting menu fixture brought about Red Lobster to lose a whopping $11 million in a single quarter.
For twenty years, limitless shrimp existed as a seasonal, limited-time deal.
But in 2023, Red Lobster’s earlier homeowners determined to strive making it everlasting.
It was so well-liked and dear that it compelled eating places to churn by means of large inventories of shrimp, and has been blamed for the chain’s downfall.
Since rising from chapter in September 2024, Red Lobster has struggled to win over inflation-battered prospects in a extremely aggressive fast-casual eating sector.
The privately-held company forecast a almost $52 million loss in 2025. It’s hoping to flip a revenue this yr.
Red Lobster has struggled to win over inflation-battered prospects in a extremely aggressive fast-casual eating sector. Getty Images
As the chain’s new homeowners reportedly grow reluctant to shell out more money, Adamolekun has centered on making modifications inside present eating places and making an attempt to appeal to a youthful, more various crowd.
He launched a new hospitality effort in eating places and trimmed menu choices by 20%, protecting classics like cheddar bay biscuits and including new gadgets like bacon-wrapped scallops, lobster bisque, spicy seafood boils and further pleased hour specials.
The company has additionally thought-about promoting more Red Lobster-branded merchandise, like a particular biscuit combine, in retailers.
But Red Lobster remains to be affected by a 2014 deal below prior possession that caught it with costly, long-term leases at unprofitable restaurant places.
The Endless Shrimp deal brought about Red Lobster to lose $11 million in a single quarter. Red Lobster
Some of these leases cowl a number of properties, which has made it tough for the company to close underperforming places which can be coated below the identical lease as high-performing ones.
Red Lobster has been working with advisers to strive to renegotiate many of these burdensome leases, in accordance to Bloomberg.
The company would ideally have dozens fewer eating places in its portfolio if it might skirt round these leases – implying that more store closures might come down the road, the Wall Street Journal earlier reported.
During the 2024 chapter course of, Red Lobster shuttered 130 eating places. It presently has round 500 places.
Meanwhile, Adamolekun has argued that the financial assist from Red Lobster’s homeowners is a key aspect of the model’s turnaround strategy – and implied that his dedication to the company is dependent upon that relationship.
“Part of my role is to show this is a business worth investing in,” he advised Bloomberg in January. “Now, if I make that case, and I believe it, and I’m not getting a positive reaction? Then, you know, this is at-will on all sides.”
