Red Lobster CEO Wins Back Diners With New Menu, Friendlier Service
(Bloomberg) – Red Lobster’s new CEO, the restaurant chain has been significantly recovered since the emergence of a renewed menu and a renewed focus on hospitality.
The chain follows online reviews to measure what happy listeners are. In an interview with Damola Adamolekun, the Chairman of the Executive Board, now said that the negative comments and general ratings are far above the sector average. The company partially loan the change due to the more interaction of training employees with customers.
“If a guest comes, someone must be smiling to greet them at the host stand,” Adamolekun said. “If you want to use a guest bathroom, you will accompany them to the toilet – you will not point.”
Founded in Florida in 1968, Red Lobster rapidly expanded in the 1970s and 1980s and developed a loyal follow -up for Kashar Biscuits. It was a leading name of everyday food, which was once seen as a “fancy ör place to celebrate their graduation and other life events. Losing money with expensive labor and rental costs in recent times, the unlimited shrimp promotion helped the close company to be pushed to bankruptcy in May 2024.
Now, a wider slowdown in restaurant traffic, especially when it hit everyday dinner chains, wants to re -connect with Diners and attract new generation of fans. Adamolekun, who had previously made a return in PF Chang’s, was appointed to the top pole in Red Lobster when he left bankruptcy in September. Satış Sales and traffic has developed since then, dedi he said.
One of his first moves was to renew the menu with new items such as lobster pappardelle pasta and bacon -wrapped comb. The 36 -year -old brought back fan favorites, including Hush offspring and popcorn shrimps, while protecting basic biscuits. Other moves involved in starting TV ads, strengthening the chain’s social media presence, and establishing a partnership with sports teams such as Ice Cube’s 3 -to -3 basketball league.
Adamolekun said that he had no urgent plan to bring unlimited shrimp back, but he did not ignore it in the future and said the proposal was profitable. Meanwhile, Red Lobster introduced appetizer opportunities and happy hours of $ 5. Adamolekun also said that he had three kinds of “shrimp sensation” of $ 19.99 in certain places.
“We always want to have a basic value offer, Blo said Bloomberg TV interview. “The ongoing value is important for the guest in a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
The company shifted some of the shrimp supply from China to countries like India to avoid steep tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. Red Lobster, lobster and crab, USMCA Free Trade Agreement, the United States or Canada, which is exempted from many taxes.
The biggest priority for Adamolekun reshapes the 545 restaurant of the chain, so “energetic, lively, inviting, hot”. He expects the renewal costs to be about $ 500,000 or more for each place and said that the process could take four to five years. It aims to open the first renewed place in Atlanta in the next six months. According to CEO, better -looking restaurants tend to do business again.
“Young people especially care about the appearance and feeling of a restaurant,” he said. “They care the most because they want to take pictures, they want to publish on social media.”
-Scarlet fu, Romaine Bostick, Michael Hirtzer and Isis Almeida help.
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