Labor Costs May Drive Red Lobster to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Red Lobster is reportedly weighing a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in order to restructure its mounting debt.

The seafood restaurant chain — which has 649 locations nationwide — has sought advice from law firm King & Spalding on how to shed some long-term contracts and renegotiate a chunk of its leases, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

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Red Lobster’s funds have taken a hit in recent months by strenuous leases and rising labor costs, among other issues, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity, per Bloomberg.


Ed Morrissey

In case you're wondering what "strenuous leases" are, the original is "onerous" in Bloomberg's report. Not sure how that turned into "strenuous" at the NYP. And it seems strange that Red Lobster is mired in onerous leases while commercial real estate is tanking, although they may have signed most of those leases pre-pandemic. Chapter 11 would allow them to force new negotiations, and they may get a lot of relief in that process, given the conditions now.

But the real crisis is likely in labor costs, which unlike the leases are rapidly escalating, especially in California and in activist cities imposing high minimum wage levels. It wouldn't surprise me if Red Lobster used Chapter 11 to shed some of those locations and focus their capital on areas with rational and stable labor costs. 

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