Red Lobster facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Genre | Casual dining |
| Founded | January 18, 1968 Lakeland, Florida |
| Founders | Bill Darden Charley Woodsby |
| Headquarters | Orlando, Florida U.S. |
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Number of locations
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649 (2024) |
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Area served
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Key people
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Jonathan Tibus (CEO) Salli Setta (President) |
| Products | Seafood, Chicken, Steaks, Pasta |
| Revenue | US$2.6 billion (2018) |
| Owner | Golden Gate Capital (2014–2020) |
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Number of employees
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55,000 |
| Parent | Darden Restaurants (1995–2014) Thai Union Group (2020–present) |
Red Lobster Hospitality, LLC is a well-known American restaurant chain. It specializes in seafood and is based in Orlando, Florida. You can find Red Lobster restaurants in many places. These include most of the United States, Canada, China, Japan, and other countries.
As of 2020, there were 719 Red Lobster locations around the world. For a while, Golden Gate Capital owned Red Lobster. Then, a seafood company called Thai Union Group bought a part of it in 2016. By 2020, Thai Union owned the rest of the company.
Red Lobster moved its main office to CNL Center City Commons in Orlando in 2014. They officially opened their Restaurant Support Center there in 2015.
Contents
History of Red Lobster Restaurants
How Red Lobster Started and Grew
The very first Red Lobster restaurant opened its doors on January 18, 1968. It was in Lakeland, Florida. Two business people, Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby, started it.
The restaurant was first called the "Harbor for Seafood Lovers." After the first one, four more restaurants opened in the southern United States. In 1970, a big company called General Mills bought Red Lobster. At that time, Red Lobster had five restaurants. With General Mills' help, the chain grew very quickly in the 1980s.
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Red Lobster also started opening restaurants in Canada in the 1980s. Many of these new locations used to be other restaurants called Ponderosa. Today, Red Lobster usually has about 25 to 30 restaurants in Canada. Most of them are in bigger cities in Ontario. They also have some in the Prairie provinces. Red Lobster left the Quebec area in 1997.
In 1992, Red Lobster introduced something very famous: their Cheddar Bay Biscuits. A culinary expert named Kurt Hankins created these popular biscuits.
Sadly, Bill Darden, one of the founders, passed away in 1994 at age 75.
In 1995, Red Lobster became part of a new company called Darden Restaurants, Inc. This happened when General Mills decided to make Darden an independent company.
New Look and Changes in Ownership
In 2009, Red Lobster showed off a new design for its restaurants. It was called the "Bar Harbor" prototype. This design looked like buildings from coastal New England. The outside had shingle roofs and stone towers. It also had signal flags and Adirondack-style benches. Inside, the restaurants had dark wood, soft lighting, and decorations with a nautical theme.
In 2013, Darden Restaurants announced they might sell Red Lobster. This was because they were facing pressure from investors. They had also spent too much money on a new digital system.
In May 2014, Darden said they would sell Red Lobster to Golden Gate Capital. The sale was for about $2.1 billion. The sale was completed on July 28, 2014.
As mentioned before, Red Lobster moved its main office to Orlando in 2014. Then, in 2016, a seafood company called Thai Union bought a 25% share of Red Lobster. In 2020, Thai Union bought the rest of the company from Golden Gate Capital.
Facing Challenges and Looking Ahead
In March 2024, Jonathan Tibus became the new CEO of Red Lobster. The company has been facing some tough times. They are exploring different ways to improve their business. This includes looking for a new owner or changing how they operate.
One of the reasons for their financial challenges was a special "endless shrimp" promotion. This promotion led to an $11 million loss for the company. Red Lobster is working to find solutions. They might change some of their restaurant leases. They are also looking at other contracts and the rising costs of their employees. The company plans to keep operating normally while they work through these changes.
Special Promotions
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Red Lobster has offered an "endless snow crab leg" promotion a couple of times. In 2003, this promotion caused some financial problems for the company. This was because the price of crab legs was very high at the time. Also, the company did not expect customers to eat so many crab legs. People also spent a long time at their tables cracking crab legs. This meant fewer customers could be served each hour, and waiting times got longer.
In February 2016, the famous American singer Beyoncé mentioned Red Lobster in her song "Formation". After she released the song and performed it at the Super Bowl halftime show, Red Lobster's sales went up by 33%!
In 2020, Red Lobster started a new Daily Deals menu. This menu includes popular offers like Endless Shrimp on Mondays.
What's on the Menu?
Red Lobster is famous for its seafood. They serve many types of seafood, including crab, fish, lobster, and shrimp. They also offer other dishes like chicken, steak, and pasta. And of course, they have delicious desserts too!
Restaurant Locations
As of June 23, 2020, Red Lobster had 719 restaurants around the world. These restaurants are located in 44 US states. This includes places like Puerto Rico and Guam. You can also find Red Lobster in countries like Canada, China, Ecuador, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Images for kids
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The Red Lobster in Kitchener, Ontario (2013). This is one of the Ponderosa remakes, as are most Red Lobsters in Canada
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The Red Lobster in London, Ontario (2013). This one is also a Ponderosa remake, and also has an addition to the right, as it was added on when the Dundas location in London closed, around the late 80s.
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Red Lobster on 7th Avenue, in Times Square, New York City (2007)
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Red Lobster in Yonkers, New York (2012)
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Red Lobster opening in Hong Kong (2010).
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Red Lobster in Ann Arbor, Michigan (2010)
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Red Lobster in Gaithersburg, Maryland, in September 2013
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Red Lobster in Doha, Qatar, opened to the public in June 2012, making it the company's second Red Lobster restaurant to be established in the Middle East.
See also
- List of casual dining restaurant chains
- List of seafood restaurants
- Last Night at the Lobster, a 2007 novel based around a Red Lobster restaurant
