Formation and growth The first Red Lobster restaurant was opened on January 18, 1968, in
Lakeland, Florida, by entrepreneurs
Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby. The oft-quoted date of March 27, 1968, is based on the incorporation date of Red Lobster Inns of America, Inc. (now GMRI, Inc.) in the Florida Secretary of State's Office. Originally billed as the "Harbor for Seafood Lovers", the first restaurant was followed by four others throughout the
American South. In 1970,
General Mills acquired Red Lobster as a five-unit company and with new backing, the chain expanded rapidly in the 1980s. Red Lobster entered Canada in the 1980s, in many cases by buying
Ponderosa Steakhouse locations. Currently, Red Lobster generally maintains between 25 and 30 locations in Canada, the bulk in larger urban centres in
Ontario (across
Southern Ontario (from
Southwestern Ontario through
Golden Horseshoe and southern to
Eastern Ontario) plus one in
Sudbury, in northern Ontario and
Barrie, Ontario in
Central Ontario) with a smaller number in larger urban centres in all three Prairie provinces (Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg). It exited the
Quebec market (14 locations including Vanier and Montreal) in September 1997, due to financial losses, and was entirely absent from
the Maritime provinces,
British Columbia and
the Arctic territories. In 1991, Red Lobster introduced its now famous garlic cheese biscuits (given the name Cheddar Bay Biscuits in 1996) developed by culinary leader Kurt Hankins. On March 29, 1994, Bill Darden died, after an extended illness, at the age of 75. In 1995, Red Lobster (along with
Olive Garden and other sister chains), became part of Darden Restaurants, Inc. During that time, General Mills decided to release Darden into an independent, publicly traded
corporation. The new exterior features include shingle and stone towers,
signal flags, and
Adirondack-style benches. The interior updates include dark wood paneling, warm-toned fabrics, soft lighting, and nautical decor and artwork. On December 19, 2013,
Darden Restaurants announced plans to sell or spin off the Red Lobster brand, citing pressure from stock investors. This was in direct response to Darden's going over budget on a new digital platform. On May 12, 2014, Darden announced that as part of its spinoff of Red Lobster, it was converting the co-located Red Lobster and
Olive Garden locations into standalone Olive Garden locations. On May 16, 2014, Darden announced it would be selling the Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain to
Golden Gate Capital for
US$2.1 billion. Darden announced the completion of the sale of Red Lobster on July 28, 2014. As part of the sale, a
sale/leaseback of the real estate for 500 restaurants was completed to American Realty Capital Partners for $1.5 billion to finance the purchase. By 2023, rents totaled $200 million per year and was a factor in the 2024 bankruptcy filing. On August 6, 2014, Red Lobster announced its new headquarters location in
CNL Center City Commons in Orlando. On March 6, 2015, Red Lobster officially opened the Restaurant Support Center. Seafood supplier Thai Union acquired a 25 percent stake in the company in 2016 for a reported $575 million, and in 2020 purchased the remaining portion from GGC. However, in 2022, Thai Union began to bring in its representatives into Red Lobster's headquarters. It was alleged that Thai Union was clearing its inventory as the shrimps they sold were initially fresh and then frozen with dates progressively "went further into the past". On April 16, 2024, Bloomberg reported that Red Lobster was preparing to file for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, highlighting leases and labor costs among the issues. The company planned to exit some underperforming leases as well as address other long-term contracts and rising labor costs. The company expected to continue operating normally during the bankruptcy procedure while discussing a possible bankruptcy debt reduction plan with its creditors. On May 13, 2024, Red Lobster abruptly closed some restaurants in 28 states. On May 20, 2024, Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after securing over $100 million in financing commitments from its lenders. The company had also entered a
stalking horse agreement to sell itself and have its lenders manage it, which would allow for the company to receive financing and shed some of its $1 billion debt. On May 23, 2024, Red Lobster announced that their Canadian operations would also be declaring bankruptcy by no later than May 28. The company would close some underperforming Canadian locations during the proceedings. On June 6, 2024, Red Lobster announced that if their bankruptcy plan ended up getting approved, up to 129 additional locations would be permanently shut down. One of these locations included their restaurant at Times Square in Manhattan. On June 12, hip hop rapper
Flavor Flav was hired by the company to be the spokesperson of Red Lobster commercials, after he previously ordered the entire Red Lobster menu in order to save the company. In his first commercial, he would announce that CrabFest would be returning to restaurants nationwide. On June 14, it was reported that
Fortress Investment Group, a Wall Street investment firm co-founded by the
Milwaukee Bucks co-owner
Wesley Edens, was interested in saving Red Lobster out of bankruptcy. The company evaluated which regions would fit Red Lobster's attempted comeback and revival. That same day, Red Lobster Canada announced that it would ask the Ontario court to recognize its stalking horse bid and approve a sales process as soon as the next week. This procedure would allow the company to preserve their operations in Canada, as the bid would allow for lenders avoid the risk of assets being sold for a lower price. On June 18, an Ontario court approved the sale procedure for Red Lobster Canada. On August 25, 2024, Red Lobster announced the closure of 23 additional restaurants, all of which were set to be shuttered by August 31. On August 26,
Damola Adamolekun was appointed CEO of Red Lobster, replacing Tibus. On September 5, 2024, a court approved Red Lobster's bankruptcy plan. RL Investor Holdings, a private group of investors consisted of TCW Private Credit, Blue Torch and funds managed by Fortress Investment Group, acquired the company after court approval on September 16. Red Lobster officially exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy that day. ==Promotions==