Two of Illinois' more than 20 Red Lobster locations abruptly shut down on Monday, just weeks after Bloomberg reported the embattled chain was mulling a bankruptcy filing.
The Bloomingdale and Danville restaurants were among numerous locations listed as "temporarily closed" on the chain's website Monday afternoon.
In mid-April, a Bloomberg report revealed the seafood chain was considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it looked to restructure its debts. The chain reported a roughly $11 million loss in the third quarter of 2023 due to more customers than expected taking advantage of its "Ultimate Endless Shrimp Deal," according to a previous CNN report.
“We knew the price was cheap. But the idea was to bring more traffic in the restaurants,” Ludovic Garnier, CFO of Thai Union, the chain's parent company, said in an earnings call in November of that year.
Red Lobster also tried to increase sales through another unique advertising campaign, in which it vowed to give 150 winners a complimentary meal of "endless lobster for one day and one day only," according to its website.
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