After a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in May left customers wondering if their beloved cheddar bay biscuits might become a thing of the past, Red Lobster is enlisting the assist of a adolescent Black executive to assist get the company back on its feet.
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On Aug. 26, Fortress Investment Group announced the appointment of former P.F. Chang’s CEO Damola Adamolekun as CEO of RL Investor Holdings LLC, “a new entity that is seeking bankruptcy court approval to acquire from Red Lobster Management LLC.”
The popular seafood restaurant chain took a major financial hit due to some costly regular menu items like its daily Endless Shrimp promotion, which gave customers access to all the shrimp they could eat for just twenty dollars. That delicious deal cost the company over $11 million and led them to file for bankruptcy in May of this year, according to Fortune.
Back in June, we told you that Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav stepped in to assist the struggling chain keep the cheddar bay biscuits flowing by ordering everything on the menu – from the crab legs to the cole slaw.
“Ya boy meant it when I said I was gonna do anything and everything to help @redlobster and save the cheddar bay biscuits,,,ordered the whole menu,!!!,” he wrote on X.
Since the announcement of his hire, Adamolekun has been visiting restaurants across the country to sample menu items and speak with customers about what the company can do to improve, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Sounds like a pretty amazing job, right?
“Red Lobster is an iconic brand with a tremendous future. I’m looking forward to working with our team members across North America to reinvigorate the brand by making it the best place to work for our employees and improving the experience for our guests,” Adamolekun said in a statement announcing his hire.
The 35-year-old holds a Bachelor in Economics and Political Science from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. In a 2023 interview with Fortune, Adamolekun said he’s not substantial on work-life balance: “My life is my work. My work is my life.”
He says he typically starts his day at 4 am with an eight-mile run before arriving at the office at 7 a.m. to start reading emails and attending scheduled meetings.
