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“Root for us,” Red Lobster told customers in its latest statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The crustacean purveyor filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, but it also wants to assure customers that it still plans to stick around.
“Bankruptcy is a word that is often misunderstood,” Red Lobster said in its statement. “Filing for bankruptcy does not mean we are going out of business. In fact, it means just the opposite.”
The chain, owned by the world’s largest seafood company, said it is filing for bankruptcy in order to “make changes” to its business and get a handle on its cost structure so that it can continue operating.
It pointed to “beloved brands” like Delta and Hertz as prime examples of companies that have “used the same process to protect their futures.”
“Their customers stood with them and rooted them on,” Red Lobster said. “And because of that, they emerged stronger.”
Earlier this month, the Florida-based company said it would close nearly 50 of its stores after rumors surfaced that it would be filing for bankruptcy protection. Meanwhile, its liquidator TAGeX Brands said it would auction off all that’s inside the deserted locations to the highest bidder.
Just this week, however, Red Lobster said that its remaining stores would remain open through the bankruptcy process.
But even so, the chain — famous for its financially dubious “all you can eat shrimp” bundle — couldn’t keep its owner, Thai Union Group, from wanting out. The parent company wants to sell its remaining stake in Red Lobster by the end of the year. While the endless shrimp deal caught on as an explanation for the chain’s struggles, a 2014 decision by former owner Darden to sell off Red Lobster’s real estate drove the company into unaffordable rental arrangements.
Red Lobster operates more than 700 restaurants globally, and employs about 34,000 people in the U.S., with another 2,000 in Canada.