Los Angeles — Pink Lobster is operating ads with retired NBA energy ahead Blake Griffin, hoping it will possibly assist drive struggling earnings ahead.
It is a part of a full-court press to get clients again within the door and make one of many nation’s oldest informal eating chains related once more.
“Lots of people, their early experiences with seafood have been at a Pink Lobster,” mentioned Pink Lobster CEO Damola Adamolekun, who’s main the transformation.
Adamolekun took over final September, shortly after the chain closed several dozen locations and filed for bankruptcy, together with TGI Friday’s, Buca di Beppo and a couple of dozen different restaurant manufacturers in 2024. There are actually 544 Pink Lobster locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.
At age 36, the Nigerian-born, Ivy League grad is the youngest CEO in Pink Lobster’s practically 60-year historical past, and he is now taking over its hardest problem.
“You recognize, disaster, it forces you to maneuver rapidly, make choices, and you may’t stew too lengthy on like, am I prepared or am I not,” Adamolekun mentioned. “…I feel there’s at all times a technique to make one thing work, you simply want to search out the answer.”
The previous funding banker instantly made waves by eliminating Pink Lobster’s iconic infinite shrimp deal.
“It is an costly product,” Adamolekun mentioned. “The way in which they have been doing it was unmanaged.”
He additionally trimmed down the menu whereas introducing new objects.
5 years in the past, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a seismic shift in informal eating. In accordance with the foodservice knowledge firm Technomic, full-service chain eating places noticed a 28.6% drop in gross sales, in comparison with only a 1.9% drop for quick meals locations.
Lately, inflation continues to be stopping many Individuals from eating out, whereas eating places are navigating rising food costs.
Adamolekun admits a few of these elevated prices are being handed on to Pink Lobster’s clients.
“Your total price construction is gonna transfer up considerably, and costs within the nation will go up considerably, however I do not wish to be greater than general inflation,” Adamolekun mentioned.
Pink Lobster is now not in chapter, and an industry survey final month from the Nationwide Restaurant Affiliation reveals that about eight in 10 restaurant operators count on gross sales in 2025 to be the identical or greater as final yr.
“What folks, particularly younger folks, want along with nice meals is a superb environment,” Adamolekun mentioned. “The place you possibly can are available, really feel good, it seems good. So if you happen to do not dwell as much as what they count on, they will not come again. They will go elsewhere, or they’re going to eat at dwelling.”
