Red Lobster Is Shuttering More Restaurants

The hope for Red Lobster that experts expressed just last month may be increasingly fading. After shuttering more than 100 of its locations earlier this summer amid bankruptcy proceedings, a recent court filing shows the seafood restaurant chain has just turned down the leases for 23 more sites and will ditch those locations by Saturday, reports CNN. Per the Hill, the company decided that the rent and other expenses at those particular restaurants would be too much of a financial drain on the overall business. The move leaves Red Lobster with just over 500 eateries nationwide, after boasting 650 or so sites last year.

The company says in its Thursday court filing that the leases in question "are likely to continue to drive losses" and that the company "[does] not anticipate needing [them] in order to operate their business going forward." Red Lobster is set to be sold in September to Fortress Investment Group, which has named Damola Adamolekun, ex-CEO of PF Chang's, as its next chief executive, per the Wall Street Journal. "Red Lobster is an iconic brand with a tremendous future," Adamolekun said Monday. Check out the full list of closures, which are taking place in 15 states, here. (More Red Lobster stories.)