Here's Why Red Lobster Is Dying

The Huffington Post ^ | May 16, 2014 | Jillian Berman

[rickmichaels]

America's changing eating habits are killing Red Lobster.

The chain's parent company, Darden Restaurants, announced on Friday it was selling Red Lobster to a private-equity firm for $2.1 billion after years of sagging sales. While it may sound strange to call a chain with such a high price tag "dying," much of that $2.1 billion covers Red Lobster's real estate. What's left of the brand's value is "fairly minimal," Sterne Agee analyst Lynne Collier wrote in a note.

The cheddar-biscuit purveyor's demise is being hastened by a growing American preference for micro-managing meals that can be scarfed down quickly. The era of families sitting down to a meal conceived by food scientists and prepared in a kitchen they can’t see is fading. That is bad news for a host of other chains, including Olive Garden, which Darden still owns.

"Even as consumer spending has improved, many consumers have still been less willing to spend on sit-down meals," noted a recent report from market research firm IBISWorld. "Instead, consumers have shown a preference for cheaper fast-casual concepts.”

[Kackikat]

lol...I like hats.

[Kackikat]

To each his own. I think the topic was casual clothes vs dressy clothes....and the reply from Dilbert to Kackikat...you might want to read that one too.

[Madame Dufarge]

Hello, dear ladies! As always, I hope all is well with you.

Never been to a Red Lobster. When we lived on Cape Cod, it always seemed akin to getting a hot dog from a convenience store and then claiming we "went out for dinner." :-)

Here in Bangor, when we get a yen for good seafood, we go to a local place named McLaughlin's. They have a take-out stand located next to their seafood store and they've never disappointed yet. As further testimony to their excellence, they're located just up the road from the sewage treatment plant and still do a land-office business during the season. Their luxuriously appointed dining room (picnic tables) only adds to the ambience.

[Pardeeville Liberator]

We spent all of our money for gas to get there.

[hattend]

at least they are going to church

[mom4melody]

The last time we went to RL, the bill was $147 for 2 adults and 2 kids, and frankly, the food was less then memorable. Our waiter was great so no complaints there.

The last 2 times we were at OG it was gross and the service sucked.

My hubs has a duel fuel grill and a smoker, and his seafood is tastier and cheaper then eating out, and I made homemade bread and dessert that rocks, so we eat at home.

[RegulatorCountry]

Some people who study lobsters say lobsters are as intelligent as octopuses, which I find hard to believe.

I love lobster *in* things but am not wild about whole lobster or even lobster tail, because it looks like a giant mutant cockroach, lol. Some insects have a certain wiliness but intelligence is not a trait I'd associate with them. A praying mantis is the only one that really even seems all that aware.

[SamAdams76]

I'm a New Englander too and going to a Red Lobster around here would be as sacrilegious as going to a Sbarro's in Manhattan for a slice of pizza or going to the Outback to get a steak when you are in Texas.

When you are in New England (from Maine to Hyannis), you must stop at one of the dozens of clam shacks and lobster pounds that dot the coast, especially around the major beaches. Typically they are barn-like structures with picnic-table seating inside (outside during the short months of summer but watch out for the horseflies) and some of them let you lug in your own booze in a cooler. Also, plan to get messy! Grab plenty of napkins and make sure you take advantage of the deep sinks they have to wash your hands more thoroughly afterwards.

[mom4melody]

Sounds like our church.

Our pastor is a retired marine covered in tats and teaches in a Jesus t-shirt and jeans.

[southern rock]

I enjoy the occassional “expensive” dinner out as it gives me the rare opportunity to switch out of barnwear for a favorite dress and necklace. Sorry to say at Red Lobster last year, we were the only patrons that bothered to dress for dinner. Shorts and t-shirts seemed the trend of the day; I could just as well have come straight from the barn. I have to admit I felt a pang of resentment, maybe because the casualness of the other patrons had robbed us a bit of that specialness of ‘going out.

LOL You're kidding, right? It's RED LOBSTER!! There is no "specialness". It's a chain restaurant for proles.

[southern rock]

No one wants portion prepared meals that are so bland they could have well been microwaved.

They are microwaved and prepared. It's called Sysco food.

[metesky]

Nice pic of Brown's @ the Seabrook/Salisbury Line.

When it comes to fried clams I am a proud common sewer. MacIntire's in Georgetown in the fifties, the famous Clam Box in Ipswich, the old Gerrie's on route 28 in West Yarmouth, all the little places in Essex (where the fried clam was first fried), Larry's Clam Bar in Haverhill, Ken's on Rt. 9 in Scarboro and many, many more. Now I'm hungry...

:O)

[southern rock]

Around here, soccer moms only make sure their precious babes get only the best of everything.

In Colorado, I'm sure. Other parts of the country, not so much. ;p

[dc27]

In Huntsville, Alabama the Red Lobster and Olive Garden are always swamped with business. Prime meal time waits are routinely 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I went to Huntsville on business and stopped at the old Greenbrier Restaurant. Amazing hushpuppies and catfish.

[metesky]

It took a minute to come back, it was the Woodman family in Essex that “invented” and perfected the fried clam.

[Bryan24]

The Evans family know how to cook. Our Alabama sports booster club meets there regularly.

[KGeorge]

I’d have thought so, too. (Didn’t click/ read the article)

We eat there (take out) when we just have to have fried flounder. No one else here has it.
I still miss their original cole slaw & hush puppies.

[manic4organic]

I cook at home a lot. But when I do dine out, I prefer to support locally owned non-chain restaurants.

[strider44]

I’ve never eaten at Red Lobster. That being said, I hate seeing articles about businesses suffering. Bums me out. The ghost town malls bum me out. I know times change.

[SamAdams76]

Too funny! If I told my wife I was taking her to the Red Lobster - and that she’d have to get “out of her barnwear” and dress up for the occasion - she’d divorce me.