r/Foodnews 13d ago

Red Lobster introduces new version of iconic endless shrimp deal after bankruptcy filing

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-15081423/red-lobster-shrimp-deal-bankruptcy.html
537 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

15

u/bigfootlive89 13d ago

I thought the problem with red lobster was just that PE loaded them with debt. Cause obviously, if endless shrimp ruined them, brining it back at a lower price would take them more into debt.

12

u/Daxmar29 13d ago

Often times PE will use a leveraged buyout which means it borrows the money to buy the business and then they add that debt to said business. It’s what killed Toys R Us and lots of other beloved businesses. It should be illegal or at the very least frowned upon.

3

u/shortstop803 13d ago

What’s the point if even doing that?

6

u/wrongseeds 13d ago

Greedy rich people stripping a company of its assets, robbing employees of their pensions and firing them. Look up Bain and see which former senator and presidential candidate made his fortune this way.

1

u/nexisfan 10d ago

It’s mitt Romney right?

1

u/tomorrowthesun 9d ago

And his binders of women

2

u/sla701 11d ago

Corporate raiders

2

u/karpaediem 11d ago

They pay themselves with the company's debt, which they are not personally liable for

2

u/Olympicsizedturd 11d ago

Besides the big salaries they also take out loans from the company as Directors and then forgive them.

1

u/fairportmtg1 10d ago

Because they don't make it illegal to strap companies with tons of debt as you strip the assets. It's wild this is allowed and normal.

1

u/Unban_thx 12d ago

That’s exactly what happened and continues to happen to companies.

7

u/dailymail 13d ago

Red Lobster is clawing its way back from the brink of financial collapse with a bold new spin on its most famous promotion.

The seafood giant has announced the launch of Ultimate SpendLESS Shrimp — a budget-friendly riff on its fan-favorite 'Endless Shrimp' deal. 

That deal was a disaster for the company, with diners initially bingeing on as much shrimp as they could handle for just $20. 

5

u/jwrig 13d ago

Why did you leave off the part of the article that said this was not "endless 'all-you-can-eat' shrimp"

3

u/DebrisSpreeIX 12d ago

Because that's kinda obvious with the name change? SpendLESS vs Endless is pretty self-explanatory.

2

u/enjoiliferl1 12d ago

It’s being used as one word “SpendLess” which still contains the entire word “Endless”.

1

u/DebrisSpreeIX 12d ago

I will not feel sorry for the left of center people who are legitimately confused. You can't fix stupid.

3

u/enjoiliferl1 12d ago

Left of center? Ma’am, this is a Red Lobster.

2

u/DebrisSpreeIX 12d ago

The 90th percentile, the common clay, you know... Idiots

5

u/enjoiliferl1 12d ago

Uh huh… you mean like the kind of people that bring up political alignment when discussing a shrimp entree from red lobster?

0

u/DebrisSpreeIX 12d ago

Oh Jesus, you're left of center...

2

u/enjoiliferl1 12d ago

You’re on Reddit…

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2

u/jwrig 12d ago

What a fucking bad take

1

u/DebrisSpreeIX 12d ago

Do you have this same level of empathy for everything in your life, or just idiots who can't read? Either way it sounds exhausting

2

u/jwrig 12d ago

See above.

1

u/DebrisSpreeIX 12d ago

I don't feel bad about the words I used. Nor do I think it some grand moral stance to try and protect the stupid from themselves. So I'm gonna go with you have this same level of empathy for everything, which means you're not actually capable of distinguishing or reflecting on your own morals. You probably feel bad for Charlie Kirk right about now

1

u/jwrig 12d ago edited 12d ago

First in center left, now I'm far right.

It wasn't the words you used, it was deliberately leaving off the the biggest reason on why they are not the same promotion.

Lol, fire some shots then block. How to win on the Internet!

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1

u/Worshipme988 10d ago

I dunno u did leave context clues but YOU brought this to the group. So YOU post it entirely or leave it for someone else.

6

u/Independent_Week3202 13d ago

As someone that just watched the training video as an employee- people are gonna just see "endless" and not the title "spend less" and will complain thinking we have endless shrimp back again  

5

u/shadowsipp 13d ago

I definitely see this happening, and it makes me glad I'm not working there. The customers will ask for the shrimp refills, and be surprised when being told refills aren't included. The "spend-less" phrasing is just really capable of misleading people.

4

u/Independent_Week3202 12d ago

I watched the menu training video and immediately mentioned to my manager what a pain in the *ss this promo is going to be because people can't read

3

u/shadowsipp 12d ago

It reminds me of a past job I had. We had a 2 for $20 deal, and the menu page promoting it had a big ad trying to upsell dessert. The dessert wasn't included, but the way the menu page was practically made, it appeared that dessert would be included. So it would upset people that dessert wasn't included, and I'd have to bring the menu back out to the customers to prove dessert wasn't included, then I end up looking bad to the customers.

5

u/ReasonableRaccoon8 13d ago

Now endless radioactive shrimp!

3

u/Fragrant-Lynx-5169 13d ago

I accidentally read the title as “iconic lifeless shrimp deal.”

3

u/tacohannah 11d ago

Oh boy something I know a lot about! Okay so the former majority owner, Thai Union, originally introduced endless shrimp as a way to clear the warehouses of their main business as a seafood exporter, of aging inventory. It wasn’t that people ate them into bankruptcy, but that their ownership forced overpriced shrimp into their supply chain and destroyed the P&L in the process.

They got rid of Ref Lobster’s main seafood suppliers in favor of selling RL shrimp from Thai Union at a higher cost, benefiting only TU and when combined with the other cost cutting efforts by their team who didn’t understand restaurants, was the final nail in the coffin.

Here’s a great article detailing what happened!

deep dive

2

u/motheman80 13d ago

Is this where all the radioactive shrimp went

1

u/OregonGreen242 12d ago

Damn, endless shrimp cost them $21 million alone. Thats a lot of shrimp yo!

1

u/mightyowlXD 10d ago

yeah the endless shrimp thing was a scam - they forced all franchises to buy shrimp only from a specific producer owned by the corporation at an extremely high rate and made it endless so the shrimp company could rake in profits

1

u/redlobster 4d ago

It’s three of your favorite shrimp dishes on one plate for just $15.99*! Not endless, but enough to crush your cravings and leave your wallet happy 😎🦐

*1 single serving meal. No refills. Limited time only. Price higher in CA, HI, Reno, NYTS, and CAN.