Many Red Lobster restaurants across the country, including both Montgomery County locations in Gaithersburg and Silver Spring, have abruptly closed. The restaurants are listed as “temporarily closed” on the Red Lobster website, but the Gaithersburg location has a sign in the window stating that “the location is closed” and that Red Lobster “looks forward to serving you at another location.”
Nearby locations in Frederick and Lanham are still listed as open, while other nearby locations in Laurel and Columbia are also listed as temporarily closed on the chain’s website. There are also several reports from cities across the country stating that Red Lobster restaurants in their area “abruptly closed.” Many news outlets, including Business Insider, recently reported that the restaurant chain was considering filing for bankruptcy “after years of financial and executive-level turmoil.” CNBC recently reported that the seafood chain is reportedly looking to sell its restaurants in an effort to avoid filing bankruptcy.
In a press release earlier this year, Thai Union Group PCL announced its intention to pursue an exit of its investment in Red Lobster. Thai Union Group PCL stated that “Red Lobster’s ongoing financial requirements no longer align with our capital allocation priorities and therefore are pursuing an exit of our minority investment.” Thai Union has been a Red Lobster shareholder since 2016 and in 2020 joined Red Lobster management and a new company called Seafood Alliance as owners of the company. Though technically a minority owner as part of a group, Thai Union is widely regarded as the parent company of Red Lobster.
Bill Darden opened the first Red Lobster restaurant in Lakeland, Florida in 1968. He would later go on to launch Olive Garden, too. At the time, there was a gap in the market for affordable seafood, especially in landlocked areas so Red Lobster’s mission was to serve “delicious, high-quality seafood” to the masses, according to the restaurant’s website. In 1992, the restaurant’s popular Cheddar Bay Biscuits were created.
