Red Lobster's "Endless Shrimp" and "Endless Crab Legs" promotions are being blamed, in part, for its financial challenges as the restaurant chain shutters dozens of U.S. locations. While it鈥檚 unclear what these closures might mean for the 27 restaurants in Canada, Red Lobster is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. this month.
To get more diners into its restaurants, Red Lobster made its 鈥淓ndless Shrimp鈥 and "Endless Crab Legs" promotions permanent, but the company didn鈥檛 expect how much seafood its customers would eat.
"That's led to millions of dollars in losses," says Marvin Ryder, a business professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont. "They made a terrible assumption that you and I would only go back twice for endless shrimp, and instead people went multiple times."
While the promotions are partially to blame for steep quarterly losses, they are part of a string of challenges that go back years. The company has gone through four CEOs in five years.
"When you have a different CEO with a different vision of where the company should go, that leads to a lot of jerking around," Ryder says.
Like many restaurants, Red Lobster is also struggling with high interest rates, inflation and a younger generation it has not had a great deal of success connecting with.
麻豆影视 spoke to several people outside a Red Lobster in downtown Toronto, many of whom had fond memories of visiting the restaurant as a child, but have not been back in years.
"I feel like it was a very nostalgic thing," one man said. "But I haven't heard of anyone who has gone to Red Lobster lately."
Another woman told 麻豆影视 she last ate at the restaurant eight years ago, and has no plans to go back.
"If you want to connect with a younger generation you need to rethink your menu into more bite size bits," Ryder says, with menu items that are "less expensive that the younger generation can afford."
By filing for bankruptcy protection, Red Lobster will have time to restructure and offload some of its most expensive leases. Ryder anticipates Red Lobster will survive, but as a smaller company with fewer restaurants.
"Maybe in the order of 500 locations," he predicts. "And the most expensive 140 might be gone."
There are 27 locations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. There were previously locations in Quebec, which the company closed in 1997 due to financial losses.
麻豆影视 reached out to Red Lobster for comment and has not yet heard back.
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
Twenty-seven year 麻豆影视 reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I鈥檓 grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
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Looking after an adult with severe autism can be a full-time job. Ask any parent who has a child severely affected by autism spectrum disorder 鈥 it鈥檚 a job that can get more difficult as the child becomes an adult.
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Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
A body has been found in the vicinity where a woman went missing on the Ottawa River near Pembroke, Ont. while kayaking Tuesday night, according to the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
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Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
The 75-year-old building, formerly the Waskesiu Chamber of Commerce building, was relocated to the Parks Canada compound on the edge of the townsite.
Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president.
Sheba, a 50-year-old seal at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in southwest England, has far surpassed the average lifespan for seals and could be the oldest in captivity in the world.
The more Chelsea Walsh talked to the eccentric fellow American who seemed to pop up in every square and cobblestone street of Ukraine's capital, the more she got creeped out.
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Israel and Hezbollah exchanged fire on Saturday as rescue crews in Beirut searched the rubble of an apartment building that was leveled by an Israeli airstrike that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group's senior leaders as well as women and children.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says close to 45,000 Canadians are in Lebanon, months after warning there is no guarantee Ottawa can evacuate them if the situation deteriorates further.
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A new study is adding to emerging research showing that exposure to metals such as cadmium, uranium and copper may also be associated with the leading cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular disease.
For some young people, a popular method for getting a quick high is by misusing laughing gas 鈥 and lately, that鈥檚 in the form of nitrous oxide from products sold by the company Galaxy Gas.
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The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy.
Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
Kathryn Crosby, who appeared in such movies as 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad', 'Anatomy of a Murder,' and 'Operation Mad Ball' before marrying famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90.fff
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says a recall of Nutrabolics brand Feed Me Vegan Real Food Protein & Oats bars due to undeclared milk has been expanded.
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Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
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Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
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Tattoos are becoming more common in today's society and, as a result, appear to be more acceptable in the workplace than they used to be.
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A man who was found dead behind a curling rink in Nanaimo, B.C., earlier this month was the victim of a homicide, police confirmed.
A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
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Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls 鈥 including one that gave birth to 10 puppies 鈥 from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
Despite the heavy rain, plenty of muscle turned up for United Way鈥檚 annual Pull the Bus fundraiser in Lethbridge Friday.
Lethbridge County has rescinded its fire restriction as a result of the recent cool, wet weathr.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes kicked off the 2024-25 season on a winning note Friday night, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1 in a game played at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
Following an outbreak of COVID-19 on its continuing care floor and just ahead of the flu season, St. Joseph鈥檚 General Hospital in Elliot Lake has opted to re-introduce a universal masking policy until further notice.
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Jim Lester鈥檚 farm hopped on the cow-cuddling trend in early August, and his time slots have been pretty well sold out ever since.
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