At least seven additional Red Lobster restaurants have closed since the company filed for bankruptcy about two months ago, according to the company's website.
The seven locations are spread across six states, with two restaurants closing in Florida and one each in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas. The newly closed locations are the following:
Red Lobster filed for bankruptcy on May 19 after closing dozens of locations and announcing that it intended to "drive operational improvements" by simplifying the business. Documents later filed in federal court revealed that the bankruptcy was primarily due to significant debt, a carousel of CEOs, an all-you-can-eat shrimp fiasco and a 30% drop in guests since 2019.
More Red Lobsters have closed:Here's the status of every U.S. location
On May 22, the company's website listed 99 locations closed across 28 states, with some of them having their kitchen equipment auctioned off on an online restaurant liquidator. With the seven newly closed locations, that brings the total number of shuttered locations to at least 106.
In early June, the company revealed in bankruptcy filings a list of 228 rejected leases it says will keep losing money if they continue operating as they were. That list included at least some of the restaurants it had already closed, according to Restaurant Business, meaning the company was at risk of closing an additional 129 restaurants.
On Monday, a stalking horse bidder listed as RL Purchaser LLC, a newly formed entity organized and controlled by Fortress Credit Corporation, filed court documents in the Middle District of Florida in Orlando to be Red Lobster's new owner.
RL Purchaser LLC, which consists of Red Lobster's lenders, bid $376 million to acquire the company's remaining assets, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
Red Lobster would mark Fortress' latest acquisition of a company in bankruptcy, following purchases of Vice Media and Alamo Drafthouse, which was later sold to Sony Pictures Entertainment, Reuters reported.
USA TODAY contacted Red Lobster and its attorneys on Tuesday for comment but have not received a response. Fortress declined to comment on Tuesday.
New Red Lobster owner?:New owner nears purchase of Red Lobster after chain announced bankruptcy and closures
Some of the locations listed have been removed from Red Lobster's website since USA TODAY's original reporting of their closures on May 22. Click on the state to see locations in that area or scroll through the list:
Alabama | Arizona | California | Colorado | Florida | Georgia | Idaho | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Louisiana | Maryland | Michigan | Mississippi | Missouri | New Jersey | New York | North Carolina | North Dakota | Oklahoma | Pennsylvania | South Carolina | Tennessee | Texas | Virginia | Washington | Wisconsin |
Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY
Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at [email protected].
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