Red Lobster shuttered nearly 100 restaurants across the country following massive losses, blindsiding many of its employees.
A worker at the company's Ledgewood, New Jersey, outlet told TV station WFTV that he learned he was out of a job when he checked his schedule app Monday and saw a notice that the business was closed.
"My general manager confirmed: No, we're closed for real, like forever," James Berke said. "She had just found out that day too."
A woman who worked at the Red Lobster in Watertown, New York, for more than 30 years also said was on her way to work Monday when she got a call from the general manager telling her she'd been laid off.
"Very emotional. It's been a very rough day today," Aggie Towsley told TV station WWNY.
The cash-strapped seafood chain's website showed that 99 of its roughly 650 U.S. locations were closed as of Tuesday morning, according to the Restaurant Business website.
A liquidation company, TAGeX Brands is conducting online auctions to sell the contents of more than 50 Red Lobster locations in 21 states.
Red Lobster hasn't commented publicly and the latest press release on its website is from April 15, when it touted the release of 30 songs about its "Cheddar Bay" biscuits that were generated by artificial intelligence.
The closures followed an April 16 Bloomberg report that the cash-strapped seafood chain was considering bankruptcy to help it renegotiate leases and other long-term contracts.
It also came after Red Lobster reported it lost a record $12.5 million during the fourth quarter of 2023, following a third quarter loss of about $11 million.
In November, chief financial officer Ludovic Garnier of parent company Thai Union Group, said last year's decision to make Ultimate Endless Shrimp a permanent menu item instead of a seasonal promotion was a key factor.
"We knew the price was cheap, but the idea was to bring more traffic in the restaurants," Garnier told investors during a conference call. "So we wanted to boost our traffic, and it didn't work."
The all-you-can-eat meal initially cost $20 but the tab was increased to $22, then $25 over the course of last year, CNN reported in February, when the company announced an "Endless Lobster Experience" contest.
