Chinese visit the U.S.-based seafood chain Red Lobster, which opened its second restaurant in China, in Beijing on August 25, 2019. On Monday, Red Lobster abruptly closed more than 50 restaurants throughout the United States amid reports the company is considering filing for bankruptcy. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo
May 13 (UPI) — U.S.-based Red Lobster abruptly closed more than 50 of its seafood restaurants across the country on Monday, as the company is reported to be considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
TAGeX Brands, which dubs itself the “largest restaurant equipment auction ever,” announced a live auction through Thursday for the contents of more than 50 Red Lobster locations throughout the United States.
“As of today, select Red Lobster locations are closed,” TAGeX Brands wrote in a post on its website, adding that it will auction off all of the contents for each location.
“These auctions are ‘winner takes all’ — meaning each winner will receive the ENTIRE contents of the Red Lobster location they bid on,” TAGeX Brands added.
Currently, there are more than 700 Red Lobster locations around the world.
Those Red Lobster restaurants abruptly closed Monday are in 21 states, with four closures each in Maryland and Colorado, and five closures each for Florida and California.
According to Red Lobster’s website, more than 80 locations in at least 27 states were listed as “temporarily closed” on Monday, as workers took to social media saying they had received no notice about the closures. Red Lobster has not commented.
In recent weeks, there have been reports that the seafood dining chain is considering a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in an effort to restructure its debt, according to people with knowledge of the matter who told Bloomberg that Red Lobster is working with King & Spalding for restructuring advice.
Earlier this year, Red Lobster’s top supplier and key shareholder Thai Union cut ties with the restaurant, taking a $530 million loss on its investment.
Red Lobster faced financial and internal difficulties in 2021 with the hiring of a new executive team that left the company within two years.
Last year, Red Lobster offered its “Ultimate Endless Shrimp” deal for $20 to boost business. The deal worked, but came at a cost as orders exceeded expectations, causing the seafood chain to lose $11 million in the third quarter of last year.
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