Red Lobster has closed nearly 50 of their stores including some in New York and New Jersey.
Fourteen locations between New York and New Jersey are temporarily closed until further notice. This comes after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The locations that were shut down were in Buffalo, Williamsville, Poughkeepsie, Amherst, Rochester, Scarsdale, East Brunswick, Bridgewater, and more. Many employees were blindsided by the sudden closure. A sign on one of the stores read, “This location is closed. We look forward to serving you at another Red Lobster location in the future.”
Ramon Garcia, an employee, said that he learned about the closure from his co-worker. “This happened out of nowhere. All the people that we work with, they’re losing their jobs and not knowing what to expect after that,” Garcia said. “It’s taking a toll on them.”
He added, “I didn’t know we were going bankrupt, but I kind of knew, if you know what I’m saying. They were cutting back on a lot of stuff.”
The Thai Union Group PCL, a Thailand-based seafood company that owns Red Lobster, said that they have plans on exiting from its investment. They said that rising costs and the effects of pandemic is the reason why.
“The combination of COVID-19 pandemic, sustained industry headwinds, higher interest rates and rising material and labor costs have impacted Red Lobster, resulting in prolonged negative financial contributions to Thai Union and its shareholders,” Thai Union Group’s CEO Thiraphong Chansiri said.
“After detailed analysis, we have determined that Red Lobster’s ongoing financial requirements no longer align with our capital allocation priorities and therefore are pursuing an exit of our minority investment.”
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