2023: Crimson Lobster expanded its Limitless Shrimp to change into a every day promotion, but it surely was a catastrophe.
Hollis Johnson/Enterprise Insider
In January 2023, Restaurant Enterprise reported that Crimson Lobster had closed eight eating places within the span of some months as a part of a routine evaluation of restaurant efficiency. Nonetheless, the worst was but to come back.
Initially a one-day-a-week deal for $20, Limitless Shrimp grew to become a every day promotion in summer time 2023 to draw extra prospects as Crimson Lobster struggled to maintain up with a altering {industry}.
Nonetheless, inflation and the rising price of seafood created tough seas for the chain. In 2023, Crimson Lobster raised the worth of Limitless Shrimp twice, finally touchdown at $25 to deal with demand and enhance earnings.
Regardless of the elevated value, the all-you-can-eat technique backfired. The chain reported working losses of $11 million and $12.5 million within the two quarters following the preliminary every day infinite shrimp promotion launch.
In 2024, the deal is just obtainable on Mondays.
Nonetheless, Limitless Shrimp is not the only real reason for Crimson Lobster’s demise, Enterprise Insider’s Emily Stewart wrote in an evaluation of the chain’s struggles over time.
Altering tastes are additionally a significant concern.
The seafood restaurant {industry} faces important challenges within the US, Darren Tristano, the CEO and founding father of Foodservice Outcomes, a food-industry consultancy, advised BI.
Many shoppers within the temper for seafood usually tend to search it out at a steakhouse, slightly than a seafood-specific restaurant or chain like Crimson Lobster.
“If something, the Limitless Shrimp offers are most likely as a lot a logo of simply both desperation or poor administration or each,” Jonathan Maze advised BI.
