Red Lobster nearly collapsed after selling its real estate and running unsustainable all-you-can-eat deals, racking up over a billion in debt. A new CEO closed weak locations and ditched the promotions, shifting back to regular pricing that made customers care about biscuits and lobster again. The speaker, who restructured restaurants through bankruptcy, explains how the chain clawed its way back.
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Man, I thought Red Lobster was done as well. I mean, they made some really, really bad decisions. They sold off all their real estate. They leased it for ridiculous rates. And then we all know about the shrimp. Yeah. So I worked for Bahama Breeze when they were a Darden company with Red Lobster. So I got, I got my discount. I got 50% off when I worked there. I got them all. So I knew, I knew all of those tricks as well. But yeah, that was expensive. But the new CEO was brilliant. A young guy as well. And they had over a billion dollars worth of debt. Over a billion with a B. So for a company to restructure and come out, and it looks like they're stronger than ever coming out of it— they closed down a lot of the underperforming stores, they got rid of the, the ridiculous promos, and people are still going there for the, for the biscuits, obviously, for the lobster. And they're going, they're going there and they're actually paying for the meals instead of, you know, all you can eat, you just take as much home as you possibly can. Oh, it's definitely stacked. I remember the The first time I reorganized, it was a local restaurant. It was a local Jamaican restaurant. When I first filed the case, the judge said, I've never seen a restaurant reorganized successfully, Mr. Van Horn. I was like, never? And the judge was on the bench for years.
