LAKELAND, Fla. — Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection days after shuttering dozens of restaurants.
The seafood chain has struggled for has been struggling for some time with lease and labor costs piling up in recent years and also promotions like its iconic all-you-can-eat shrimp deal.
Customer demand overwhelmed what the chain could afford, which also reportedly contributed to the millions in losses.
The seafood restaurant chain said in a court filing that it has more than 100,000 creditors and estimated assets between $1 billion and $10 billion. The company's estimated liabilities are between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The document is signed by CEO Jonathan Tibus, a corporate restructuring specialist who took the top post at Red Lobster in March.
Last week Restaurant liquidator TAGeX Brands announced that it would be auctioning off the equipment of over 50 Red Lobster locations that were recently closed as part of the seafood chain’s “footprint rationalization.”
The locations span more than 20 states — cutting back on Red Lobster’s presence in cities like Denver, San Antonio, Indianapolis and Sacramento.
In 1968, restaurateurs Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby opened the first Red Lobster in Lakeland, and it became a near-instant success.
Two years later, Red Lobster was acquired by General Mills, and the chain eventually exploded across the country into what we know it to be today.
10 Tampa Bay's Hannah Dineen contributed to this article.