There are lots of stories you can tell about why Red Lobster declared bankruptcy this week. You can point to the impact of the COVID pandemic, which put a dent in the full-service dining market that Red Lobster never recovered from. (According to its bankruptcy filing, Red Lobster’s guest count is down 30% from 2019.) You can cite the impact of inflation and higher wages for restaurant workers, which has raised the cost of dining out and made cheaper fast-casual restaurants more appealing to consumers. And you can enumerate the chain’s marketing missteps, including its introduction of the now-infamous Ultimate Endless Shrimp for $20 promotion in May 2023, which cost Red Lobster $11 million in losses in less than a year. But the biggest reason Red Lobster went under is pretty simple: Its owners sank it. READ MORE