Dead Lobster

[excalibur]

I guess one can say that DEI strikes again. So, Red Lobster D_I_E.

How many more such stories will there be?

Red Lobster’s bankrupt and closing. And for the first time ever, the media’s incessant “but how does this affect black people” articles are actually relevant.

Red Lobster founder Bill Darden knew from the get-go that his deep-fried-fish joint would appeal to blacks who wanted “upscale” soul food. A Red Lobster server in Beachwood, Ohio—87 percent white, 9 percent black—told MadameNoire in 2011, “Ninety percent of guests are black.”

Many of Red Lobster’s CEOs were black, including its final one, Horace Dawson (who grew up in Nigeria and Liberia, so you know he’s competent). Previously general counsel of Hard Rock, Dawson helped negotiate the 2006 sale of Hard Rock to the Seminole Tribe for $965 million, which within a week was blown on booze and smallpox blankets (hey, they’re surprisingly comfortable).

Dawson’s stated goal for Red Lobster? “Adding more minorities and women to top executive posts.”

How’d that work out?

Still, that alone didn’t kill the chain.

What did? Dawson’s “endless shrimp” idea (hatched when he was executive VP but essentially running the company as the CEO position was vacant). That brilliant plan gave Red Lobster an $11 million loss each quarter in 2023.

Worse still, servers told Slate that customers would sit there all night eating plate after plate of shrimp and wouldn’t tip (one server describes a guy pounding down 30 orders, then stiffing her). A black Medium author even bragged about eating $122 in food, giving the waitress $150, demanding $27 in change, keeping it, then calling the police when she didn’t get biscuits.

Along with not tipping, customers would battle staff over the basic rules of all all-you-can-eat joints—no sharing, no take-home.

So in the end, what killed Red Lobster?

To phrase it like the no-nonsense grandma of a black diner, “You ignorant-ass greedy niggaz dun eated too much shrimp.”

BLM is currently protesting Red Lobster closures…and no, that’s not a joke.

“No crustaceans, no peace.”​

The Week That Perished

www.takimag.com

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

I guess one can say that DEI strikes again. So, Red Lobster D_I_E.

How many more such stories will there be?

​

Red Lobster’s bankrupt and closing. And for the first time ever, the media’s incessant “but how does this affect black people” articles are actually relevant.​

​

Red Lobster founder Bill Darden knew from the get-go that his deep-fried-fish joint would appeal to blacks who wanted “upscale” soul food. A Red Lobster server in Beachwood, Ohio—87 percent white, 9 percent black—told MadameNoire in 2011, “Ninety percent of guests are black.”​

​

Many of Red Lobster’s CEOs were black, including its final one, Horace Dawson (who grew up in Nigeria and Liberia, so you know he’s competent). Previously general counsel of Hard Rock, Dawson helped negotiate the 2006 sale of Hard Rock to the Seminole Tribe for $965 million, which within a week was blown on booze and smallpox blankets (hey, they’re surprisingly comfortable).​

​

Dawson’s stated goal for Red Lobster? “Adding more minorities and women to top executive posts.”​

​

How’d that work out?​

​

Still, that alone didn’t kill the chain.​

​

What did? Dawson’s “endless shrimp” idea (hatched when he was executive VP but essentially running the company as the CEO position was vacant). That brilliant plan gave Red Lobster an $11 million loss each quarter in 2023.​

​

Worse still, servers told Slate that customers would sit there all night eating plate after plate of shrimp and wouldn’t tip (one server describes a guy pounding down 30 orders, then stiffing her). A black Medium author even bragged about eating $122 in food, giving the waitress $150, demanding $27 in change, keeping it, then calling the police when she didn’t get biscuits.​

​

Along with not tipping, customers would battle staff over the basic rules of all all-you-can-eat joints—no sharing, no take-home.​

​

So in the end, what killed Red Lobster?​

​

To phrase it like the no-nonsense grandma of a black diner, “You ignorant-ass greedy niggaz dun eated too much shrimp.”​

​

BLM is currently protesting Red Lobster closures…and no, that’s not a joke.​

​

“No crustaceans, no peace.”​

The Week That Perished

www.takimag.com

Awesome. Racism. Right out in the open. You guys aren't hiding it anymore. Good.

Now, if you'd like a lesson in why you don't bury your head in alt-right media, here's why the chain ultimately failed.
Begin at 2016. An exclusive deal for shrimp with a minority stakeholders exclusive company while freezing out all of the competition and multiple suppliers Red Lobster had depended on for years was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The rise and fall of Red Lobster, which just filed for bankruptcy after a failed endless shrimp promotion

Red Lobster just filed for bankruptcy after years of financial and executive-level turmoil.

www.businessinsider.com

Loved their Cheddar Biscuits.

 

[Lord-Humungus]

Awesome. Racism. Right out in the open. You guys aren't hiding it anymore. Good.

Now, if you'd like a lesson in why you don't bury your head in alt-right media, here's why the chain ultimately failed.
Begin at 2016. An exclusive deal for shrimp with a minority stakeholders exclusive company while freezing out all of the competition and multiple suppliers Red Lobster had depended on for years was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The rise and fall of Red Lobster, which just filed for bankruptcy after a failed endless shrimp promotion

Red Lobster just filed for bankruptcy after years of financial and executive-level turmoil.

www.businessinsider.com

Loved their Cheddar Biscuits.

I’ve only been to Red Lobster a few times the biscuits were good the meal taste like it was straight out of the frozen seafood section. I’m lucky that I live on the coast so fresh seafood restaurants are plentiful. I’ve always viewed Red Lobster as the McDonald’s of seafood

 

[excalibur]

Awesome. Racism. Right out in the open. You guys aren't hiding it anymore. Good.

Now, if you'd like a lesson in why you don't bury your head in alt-right media, here's why the chain ultimately failed.
Begin at 2016. An exclusive deal for shrimp with a minority stakeholders exclusive company while freezing out all of the competition and multiple suppliers Red Lobster had depended on for years was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The rise and fall of Red Lobster, which just filed for bankruptcy after a failed endless shrimp promotion

Red Lobster just filed for bankruptcy after years of financial and executive-level turmoil.

www.businessinsider.com

Loved their Cheddar Biscuits.

What racism? Facts are facts.

 

[WEATHER53]

Back 15 years ago they had a great lunch for 7.99 with salad, biscuit, fries and popcorn shrimp

 

[WEATHER53]

What racism? Facts are facts.

Realist got turned into racist

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

What racism? Facts are facts.

You have no idea what you're talking about. And what you're talking about is alt-right nonsense.
Private equity ultimately killed Red Lobster. Not D.E.I. Or Endless Shrimp, although it was tangentially connected.

It Wasn’t Just Shrimp That Killed Red Lobster

It Wasn’t Just Shrimp That Killed Red Lobster | Global Finance Magazine

gfmag.com

 

[Independent thinker]

I guess one can say that DEI strikes again. So, Red Lobster D_I_E.

How many more such stories will there be?

​

Red Lobster’s bankrupt and closing. And for the first time ever, the media’s incessant “but how does this affect black people” articles are actually relevant.​

​

Red Lobster founder Bill Darden knew from the get-go that his deep-fried-fish joint would appeal to blacks who wanted “upscale” soul food. A Red Lobster server in Beachwood, Ohio—87 percent white, 9 percent black—told MadameNoire in 2011, “Ninety percent of guests are black.”​

​

Many of Red Lobster’s CEOs were black, including its final one, Horace Dawson (who grew up in Nigeria and Liberia, so you know he’s competent). Previously general counsel of Hard Rock, Dawson helped negotiate the 2006 sale of Hard Rock to the Seminole Tribe for $965 million, which within a week was blown on booze and smallpox blankets (hey, they’re surprisingly comfortable).​

​

Dawson’s stated goal for Red Lobster? “Adding more minorities and women to top executive posts.”​

​

How’d that work out?​

​

Still, that alone didn’t kill the chain.​

​

What did? Dawson’s “endless shrimp” idea (hatched when he was executive VP but essentially running the company as the CEO position was vacant). That brilliant plan gave Red Lobster an $11 million loss each quarter in 2023.​

​

Worse still, servers told Slate that customers would sit there all night eating plate after plate of shrimp and wouldn’t tip (one server describes a guy pounding down 30 orders, then stiffing her). A black Medium author even bragged about eating $122 in food, giving the waitress $150, demanding $27 in change, keeping it, then calling the police when she didn’t get biscuits.​

​

Along with not tipping, customers would battle staff over the basic rules of all all-you-can-eat joints—no sharing, no take-home.​

​

So in the end, what killed Red Lobster?​

​

To phrase it like the no-nonsense grandma of a black diner, “You ignorant-ass greedy niggaz dun eated too much shrimp.”​

​

BLM is currently protesting Red Lobster closures…and no, that’s not a joke.​

​

“No crustaceans, no peace.”​

The Week That Perished

www.takimag.com

I've worked in business and retail for decades and I find this whole Red Lobster thing unbelievable. Anyone, anywhere can make a bad decision on promotions, etc. But, you sure as hell can almost immediately tell if something is just not working or working this badly. To continue with something that is clearly not working until they go belly up just boggles my mind.

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

I've worked in business and retail for decades and I find this whole Red Lobster thing unbelievable. Anyone, anywhere can make a bad decision on promotions, etc. But, you sure as hell can almost immediately tell if something is just not working or working this badly. To continue with something that is clearly not working until they go belly up just boggles my mind.

That's what happens when you get bought by an equity firm that kicks out all the supplier competition, puts in its own sweetheart supplier that charges a premium price, and then allows a promotion to go on and on.
Every plate of shrimp brought out of the kitchen is a money loser. Not gonna stay in business long doing things like that.

 

[mamooth]

I guess one can say that DEI strikes again. So, Red Lobster D_I_E.

Another fine example of how "DEI" is how racist filth screams "The N-words ruined it."

 

[crossbody]

Usually when they put a black guy in a top position its just a cover for those in positions higher than him to steal the money.

Theft of the money is the ONLY reason this company is bankrupt today. We saw this happen with other companies like Sears where someone at the very top was stealing all the money. Same thing with Well's Fargo, all the top executives were stealing the money.

 

[crossbody]

My mother told me a long time ago that if a company has any issues they will get a crew in to fix them, but if the money is being stolen that is the ONLY reason they shut the place down.

 

[crossbody]

Where I live as soon as they make the illegal Mexicans the managers and supervisors it does not take long at all for those Jack in the box, Churches Chickens, and McDonalds locations to shut down completely and never reopen.

That is because they are stealing the money and most likely the food inventory as well. With Red Lobster and Sears that is all theft by white people at the very top- that is white collar crime.

 

[DGS49]

I agree that it is astounding that Red Lobster didn't immediately end or modify their all-you-can-eat-shrimp promotion. Apparently a lot of their customers stated plainly that that was why they were there, but seriously...to ride that train to bankruptcy?

I didn't have a lot of meals at Red Lobster because it was always packed with long waits to be seated. And I thought that was a good thing for them.

 

[Catsnmeters]

I guess one can say that DEI strikes again. So, Red Lobster D_I_E.

How many more such stories will there be?

​

Red Lobster’s bankrupt and closing. And for the first time ever, the media’s incessant “but how does this affect black people” articles are actually relevant.​

​

Red Lobster founder Bill Darden knew from the get-go that his deep-fried-fish joint would appeal to blacks who wanted “upscale” soul food. A Red Lobster server in Beachwood, Ohio—87 percent white, 9 percent black—told MadameNoire in 2011, “Ninety percent of guests are black.”​

​

Many of Red Lobster’s CEOs were black, including its final one, Horace Dawson (who grew up in Nigeria and Liberia, so you know he’s competent). Previously general counsel of Hard Rock, Dawson helped negotiate the 2006 sale of Hard Rock to the Seminole Tribe for $965 million, which within a week was blown on booze and smallpox blankets (hey, they’re surprisingly comfortable).​

​

Dawson’s stated goal for Red Lobster? “Adding more minorities and women to top executive posts.”​

​

How’d that work out?​

​

Still, that alone didn’t kill the chain.​

​

What did? Dawson’s “endless shrimp” idea (hatched when he was executive VP but essentially running the company as the CEO position was vacant). That brilliant plan gave Red Lobster an $11 million loss each quarter in 2023.​

​

Worse still, servers told Slate that customers would sit there all night eating plate after plate of shrimp and wouldn’t tip (one server describes a guy pounding down 30 orders, then stiffing her). A black Medium author even bragged about eating $122 in food, giving the waitress $150, demanding $27 in change, keeping it, then calling the police when she didn’t get biscuits.​

​

Along with not tipping, customers would battle staff over the basic rules of all all-you-can-eat joints—no sharing, no take-home.​

​

So in the end, what killed Red Lobster?​

​

To phrase it like the no-nonsense grandma of a black diner, “You ignorant-ass greedy niggaz dun eated too much shrimp.”​

​

BLM is currently protesting Red Lobster closures…and no, that’s not a joke.​

​

“No crustaceans, no peace.”​

The Week That Perished

www.takimag.com

DEI is the only reason they lasted as long as they did.

 

[Concerned American]

I guess one can say that DEI strikes again. So, Red Lobster D_I_E.

How many more such stories will there be?

​

Red Lobster’s bankrupt and closing. And for the first time ever, the media’s incessant “but how does this affect black people” articles are actually relevant.​

​

Red Lobster founder Bill Darden knew from the get-go that his deep-fried-fish joint would appeal to blacks who wanted “upscale” soul food. A Red Lobster server in Beachwood, Ohio—87 percent white, 9 percent black—told MadameNoire in 2011, “Ninety percent of guests are black.”​

​

Many of Red Lobster’s CEOs were black, including its final one, Horace Dawson (who grew up in Nigeria and Liberia, so you know he’s competent). Previously general counsel of Hard Rock, Dawson helped negotiate the 2006 sale of Hard Rock to the Seminole Tribe for $965 million, which within a week was blown on booze and smallpox blankets (hey, they’re surprisingly comfortable).​

​

Dawson’s stated goal for Red Lobster? “Adding more minorities and women to top executive posts.”​

​

How’d that work out?​

​

Still, that alone didn’t kill the chain.​

​

What did? Dawson’s “endless shrimp” idea (hatched when he was executive VP but essentially running the company as the CEO position was vacant). That brilliant plan gave Red Lobster an $11 million loss each quarter in 2023.​

​

Worse still, servers told Slate that customers would sit there all night eating plate after plate of shrimp and wouldn’t tip (one server describes a guy pounding down 30 orders, then stiffing her). A black Medium author even bragged about eating $122 in food, giving the waitress $150, demanding $27 in change, keeping it, then calling the police when she didn’t get biscuits.​

​

Along with not tipping, customers would battle staff over the basic rules of all all-you-can-eat joints—no sharing, no take-home.​

​

So in the end, what killed Red Lobster?​

​

To phrase it like the no-nonsense grandma of a black diner, “You ignorant-ass greedy niggaz dun eated too much shrimp.”​

​

BLM is currently protesting Red Lobster closures…and no, that’s not a joke.​

​

“No crustaceans, no peace.”​

The Week That Perished

www.takimag.com

More info on this--note current ownership percentage since 2020.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/20/investing/red-lobster-restaurants-bankruptcy/index.html

 

[initforme]

No loss.

 

[1srelluc]

SYSCO "shrimp"?
No thanks, the blacks can have them.

Any time you see a SYSCO truck at a eatery run away.

 

[my2¢]

Many of Red Lobster’s CEOs were black, including its final one, Horace Dawson

I recall going to Red Lobster only once. I did own stock in Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Cheddar's, plus a handful more) way back when they still owned Red Lobster. Darden fortunately sold it 10 years ago for $2.1 billion. Minority leadership wasn't the problem, it was bought by a capital investment firm that loaded the company with debt and then COVID hit. Since 2021 the restaurant has had a CEO that last less than a year followed by the position being vacant for over a year. Horace Dawson became top man last September and retired after only 6 months. Now they're onto their 3rd since COVID. Not sorry to see this place go away.