Seafood Chain With 25 Illinois Locations To Close Even More Spots

It seems like it's been longer, but it was only a little over 2 months ago that the news dropped about Red Lobster's very serious and ongoing financial difficulties. Because of those problems, Red Lobster decided to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The news wasn't a total surprise, since rumors had been raging for months that the seafood chain's problems were so massive that only filing for Chapter 11 could save the company from completely going under. Their announcement in May was a pretty good confirmation that the rumor mill was on the right track.

The Closings Started Almost Immediately, And It Appears As Though That Wasn't Enough

The initial announcement said that Red Lobster would be closing up around 100 locations across the country, including 2 Illinois Red Lobster restaurants--and that's what happened. 99 locations in 28 states closed their doors, including Danville and Bloomingdale here in Illinois.

At first, those locations were listed as being closed temporarily, but that status has been changed to "permanently closed."

Now it looks certain that even more closures are going to happen, and at least two more of Illinois' remaining 25 Red Lobster locations may be on the chopping-block.

The Two Big Questions Are Why Is Red Lobster Closing More Than They Initially Said They Would, And Just How Many More Are We Talking About

According to published reports, we may be looking at well over 100 more Red Lobster locations being targeted for closing.

Red Lobster had said that there were more than a hundred locations they wanted to keep open, but they could only do it if they received concessions from the landlords of those properties.

What kind of concessions? The kind that landlords really, really don't want to make:

• New, lower rent
• Complete and total forgiveness of missed and unpaid back rent

Not surprisingly, the majority of those landlords were just not into that idea at all.

Here's What Happens Next, According To The Experts Who've Been Watching This Drama Unfold Over The Last Few Months

According to a piece at TheStreet.com, a Florida bankruptcy judge overseeing the Red Lobster Chapter 11 plan's implementation has agreed to some changes, and that will most likely result in a lot more locations shutting their doors for good:

The company, in a recent court filing, showed that 228 total restaurants cannot make money with their current lease situations. With the 99 Red Lobsters already closed, that suggests that the company could shutter an additional 135 restaurants if landlords object to giving up their past rent claims.

Seeing as how most of the landlords in question are against this, there are going to be more closings. The landlord of Red Lobster's Times Square location not only is saying no to rent reduction and past rent forgiveness, he wants more rent from Red Lobster.