The first Red Lobster restaurant was opened on January 18, 1968, in Lakeland, Florida,

Originally billed as a "Harbor for Seafood Lovers", the first restaurant was followed by four others throughout the southeastern United States. In 1970, General Mills acquired Red Lobster as a five-unit company. With new backing, the chain expanded rapidly in the 1980s.

Red Lobster entered Canada in the 1980s, in many cases by buying Ponderosa restaurant locations. Currently, Red Lobster generally maintains between 25 and 30 locations in Canada, the bulk in larger urban centers in Ontario.

In 1995, Red Lobster (along with Olive Garden and other sister chains), became part of Darden Restaurants, Inc. During that time, General Mills decided to release Darden into an independent, publicly traded corporation.

On December 19, 2013, Darden Restaurants announced plans to sell or spin-off the Red Lobster brand, citing pressure from stock investors. This was in direct response to Darden's going over budget on a new digital platform.

On May 12, 2014, Darden announced that as part of its spinoff of Red Lobster, it was converting the co-located Red Lobster and Olive Garden locations into standalone Olive Garden locations. On May 16, 2014, Darden announced it would be selling the Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain to Golden Gate Capital. Darden announced the completion of the sale of Red Lobster on July 28, 2014.

#RedLobster
#commercial
#seafood
#1990s

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