Red Lobster was nearly crippled by all-you-can-eat shrimp. Now it’s trying endless lobster
CNN
Red Lobster is in trouble. Its solution: all-you-can-eat lobster, just months after an endless shrimp promotion led to deep losses that the company is still trying to dig out of.
Red Lobster is in trouble. Its solution: all-you-can-eat lobster, just months after an endless shrimp promotion led to deep losses that the company is still trying to dig out of. In celebration of its annual Lobsterfest, Red Lobster is giving 150 winners an “Endless Lobster Experience,” a two-hour complimentary feast of unlimited lobster, two sides and Cheddar Bay Biscuits. The Florida-based chain is hardly the first retailer to use these kinds of stunts to get attention. But the Endless Lobster Experience comes at a tumultuous time: Red Lobster reported a record $12.5 million operating loss in the fourth quarter of 2023. And in January, minority investor Thai Union Group announced its intent to exit Red Lobster, citing a $19 million loss from Red Lobster across the first nine months of 2023. The Covid-19 pandemic, high interest rates, rising costs and industry headwinds ultimately caused Red Lobster to have “negative financial contributions to Thai Union and its shareholders,” said Thiraphong Chansiri, the CEO of Thai Union Group, in a January 16 statement. On a February 19 earnings call with analysts, Thai Union Group chief financial officer Ludovic Garnier updated the $19 million figure and said Red Lobster generated $22 million in losses for Thai Union Group across the entirety of 2023. Chansiri confirmed on the earnings call that the company is in the process of selling its stake in Red Lobster and said the process could take three to four months. “We’re not expecting to get anything much from the sale,” said Chansiri, according to a FactSet transcript of the call.
Last-minute errands always seem to pop up on Christmas and Christmas Eve, whether it’s buying a quick present or picking up one last ingredient.
King Charles III has ended royal warrants for Cadbury and Unilever, which owns brands including Marmite and Ben & Jerry’s, in a blow to the household names.
While businesses across the US are fretting that President-elect Donald Trump’s threat of new tariffs could mean a massive hit to their bottom lines, at least one industry is gearing up for the exact opposite.
Back in 2022, when the labor market was so hot that Beyoncé even released a song about it, Americans were job hopping in large numbers, boosting their salary in the process.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has steered the world’s most powerful central bank during a tumultuous period for the US economy, from the pandemic to a historic bout of inflation shortly after.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has agreed to sell its Australian cable TV unit Foxtel to British-owned sports network DAZN for 3.4 billion Australian dollars ($2.1 billion) including debt, cutting the media empire’s exposure to a business upended by streaming platforms.
Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan have announced plans to join forces, forming world’s third-largest automaker by sales as the industry undergoes dramatic changes in its transition away from fossil fuels.
The strike protests a lack of contract negotiations, including wage increases for union baristas.
This year was brutal for a number of well-known companies, including Red Lobster, True Value and Big Lots.
Last-minute holiday shoppers may want to give their digital carts a hard look, as Amazon workers remain on strike on the final weekend before Christmas.
Campaigners have accused Facebook parent Meta of inflicting “potentially lifelong trauma” on hundreds of content moderators in Kenya, after more than 140 were diagnosed with PTSD and other mental health conditions.