Posted on 05/17/2014 4:37:41 PM PDT by 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.”
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
The food is crap.
Sincerely,
Everyone in the south
Same. While it’s been awhile since I’ve been, we would always leave saying something on the lines of “that just wasn’t worth the money.
Darden donates heavily to democRATS. The service they provide is not different from the obommacare service people will get. People won’t go to Darden eateries voluntarily, but obummercare is at gunpoint. How many citizens will pay their politicians back for obummercair and make them bankrupt?
Thanks for the link!
We have a lot of small restaurants and pubs around here with FAR better food and service than chain restaurants. When we eat out (which isn’t often), these are the places we choose to spend our money. The ingredients are fresh and the recipes are unique. The thought of going to a chain just doesn’t appeal to me; it’s a waste of money.
In addition, I occasionally take clients out to eat and I make an effort to learn about the best places (in their respective cities) to take them too. I would never take them to a chain place, even if they’re known to be of “higher” quality. I’m just very picky about these things. Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and similar places are just unappealing to me.
I had to look up fast casual. I never heard that term. Anyway, here’s a list of fast casual restaurants. I never heard of most of them.
I never said those restaurants were real good, but they used to be fairly busy.
I go to a church where the dress is casual, and I would never claim they don’t want to dress up. This economy and the cost of just hanging onto their homes, jobs, and putting food on the table trumps buying new clothes...not that clothes are all that expensive. To some, any new clothes are a cost they cannot afford at this time.
However, single parents without child support, child support payers, mothers paying for sports attire, and even the upward costs of things like un edible necessities put Sunday Clothes on the back burner.
Although I grew up in a church where everyone wore their Sunday best, and spectacular clothes on Easter...the gossipy attitude turned me off, as they criticized those less attired.
So for me, I’ll take the casually dressed lover of Jesus, without fancy clothes anyday! And I won’t complain about any negatives since my reason for going to church is to Worship God. I know you care about people, and the many who haven’t known Jesus will change how they dress.... once they see CHRISTIANS love them no matter how they look.
I agree. I can’t stand Red Lobsters micro wave “baked “ potatos.
I havn’t set foot in a RL in years.
That's because these restaurants don't cook anymore, they import bags of cooked foods that are immersed in hot water to retain their consistency/flavor. That's why you don't get the 'kitchen smells' that appetize you as a diner. It's a great hygenic and economic idea, but it blows the ambience of live seastock being freshly dismantled, cooked and served fresh.
If the food is good and the price is right sit-down restaurants do just fine——ask the Nocera family in the Boston area.
Seven restaurants-—always with lots of business.
I started at their original restaurant in 1961.
.
It’s not a “preference for faster food meals”. It’s a nation of part time jobs. Red Lobster is a $50 minimum for 2 to have that sit down meal. For a part time worker, $50 is one third of their weekly take home from one 20 hour a week minimum wage job.
Olive Garden isn’t Italian. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely not Italian.
I like watching the Wahlbergs capturing diners with their offerings.
I got the worst case of food poisoning I have ever had after eating at a Cheddars. When I got back on my feet I called the manager who told me I probably got it someplace else, and it can take a week for food poisoning to take effect. She was undaunted when I explained my father was stricken as well, and since I was visiting from from another state, had just arrived that afternoon, and the only thing we had eaten together was similar meals at their restaurant there was a strong likely hood the restaurant meals were tainted. Neither of us has been back.
I’ve never been there but I hear they are quite good.
.
As I mentioned in another thread, we were served oysters that had a green, algae like slime oozing out of them.
It was oyster poop, they didn't let the oysters sit in the water long enough to thoroughly cleanse themselves before they shucked and served them.
Eat at Red Lobster? NEVER again!
I vowed never to eat at Subway once I found out the terrorist in chief's wife had a deal to promote them. I have stayed true to my word.
Really? I think Red Lobster is one of the better chain restaurants around today, especially in terms of affordability. Not sure why its “dying”, the one around my way is always busy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.