Red Lobster wants to prevent further difficulties by closing more branches

WASHINGTON (TN) — By the end of the week, nearly two dozen more Red Lobster stores will close.

This latest announcement comes in the wake of the seafood restaurant’s bankruptcy proceedings.

The company announced in its bankruptcy filing that it was rejecting the leases for 23 crisis-hit locations because it considered them a burden on its finances.

Locations affected by the closure:

• Arizona: Yuma (1521 S. Yuma Palms Parkway)
• Arkansas: Little Rock (8407 W. Markham Street)
• California: La Mesa (8703 Murray Drive)
• Colorado: Colorado Springs (4925 N. Academy Boulevard)
• Florida: Fort Walton Beach (326 Miracle Strip Parkway SW), Pensacola (5110 N. 9th Avenue) and Port Richey (8909 US Highway 19)
• Georgia: Jonesboro (6550 Tara Boulevard)
• Illinois: Bourbonnais (1604 N. State Road Route 50), Geneva (902 Commons Drive) and Peoria (4625 N. Sterling Avenue)
• Indiana: Michigan City (4353 Franklin Street)
• Minnesota: Golden Valley (8900 Golden Valley Road) and Maple Grove (12515 Elm Creek Boulevard N.)
• Missouri: Maplewood (2381 Maplewood Commons Drive)
• New York: Bronx (925 Hunts Point Avenue), Queensbury (750 Upper Glen Street)
• North Carolina: Jacksonville (304 A Western Boulevard)
• Ohio: Strongsville (17227 Southpark Center)
• South Carolina: Cayce (1270 Knox Abbott Drive)
• Virginia: Alexandria (555 S. Van Dorn Street), Richmond (4415 S. Laburnum Avenue), Virginia Beach (709 Independence Boulevard)

These 23 locations will be closed until Saturday.

Red Lobster has already closed nearly 150 stores across the country in an effort to limit losses before the company was sold to a new owner.

New investors brought a new CEO to the national chain.

Damola Adamolekun, who previously headed PF Chang's, has been named the new CEO of Red Lobster.

Adamolekun said he was looking forward to the job.

Red Lobster is an iconic brand with a great future. I look forward to working with our team members across North America to revitalize the brand by making it the best place to work for our employees and enhancing the experience for our guests,” he said in a statement. “I want to thank all of my future colleagues at Red Lobster who have shown extraordinary resilience and dedication to the franchise throughout the bankruptcy process. The future of Red Lobster is now brighter than ever – I can't wait to begin our investment plan and get out there and meet guests across the U.S. and Canada.”

This comes after the restaurant chain filed for bankruptcy in May due to poor management, competition and inflation.

In its previous bankruptcy filing, the company had cited a special promotion with reduced shrimp prices as one of the reasons for its decline.

Red Lobster had a $20 all-you-can-eat deal with shrimp that was extremely popular with customers.