Red Lobster's 37-year-old CEO betting on nostalgia, AI to fuel chain's comeback after bankruptcy
Damola Adamolekun took over seafood chain in 2024, reintroduced popcorn shrimp, seafood boils and more
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Red Lobster closed dozens of locations nationwide in May 2024 before filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Now, the seafood chain's 37-year-old chief executive officer says he's planning "the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry."
Damola Adamolekun, former CEO of P.F. Chang's, became Red Lobster's new CEO in September 2024. Before that, he worked with Fortress Investment Group as it prepared to acquire the Florida-based restaurant chain.
Prior to filing for bankruptcy, Red Lobster reportedly went through five CEOs in five years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}RED LOBSTER'S SUMMER SEAFOOD BOILS GO VIRAL AS CUSTOMERS DEBATE WHETHER WORTH THE HYPE
While at Fortress, Adamolekun visited a variety of Red Lobster restaurants in secret to assess them.
"It's very easy for staff to disengage and check out," he told Vanity Fair in an interview this month. "But they hadn't. I saw people that'd been there 10, 20, 30, 40 years. There was a lot of love for the brand. What they needed was a north star."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Damola Adamolekun took over as Red Lobster CEO in 2024. He's now betting on nostalgia and social media to win back customers. (Paula Lobo/Getty Images)
He reportedly told 30,000 employees at a town hall that the company was "going to execute the greatest comeback in the history of the restaurant industry," setting the tone for an aggressive turnaround effort.
Many analysts and media reports have cited the company's decision to make its endless shrimp promotion a permanent offering as one factor behind its financial troubles. Endless shrimp did return to select Red Lobster locations earlier this year, but Adamolekun made it clear in a statement to Fox 13 in Florida that it would be for a limited time only.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Prior to its bankruptcy filing, Red Lobster was also dealing with "the fallout from a 2014 move that sold off ownership of the chain's real estate and saddled the company with lease payments," FOX Business reported.
In May, a Red Lobster restaurant touted as the chain's oldest continuously operating location shut down in Florida after 56 years.
"Red Lobster continuously evaluates restaurant performance and lease terms and may, from time to time, choose to close or relocate select restaurants," the chain told Fox News Digital not long ago. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"As part of the normal course of business, Red Lobster continuously evaluates restaurant performance and lease terms and may, from time to time, choose to close or relocate select restaurants," Red Lobster told Fox News Digital at the time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Consumers' emotional connection to the brand has become a central part of Red Lobster's turnaround strategy, Adamolekun said.
In addition to streamlining operations and closing underperforming restaurants, Adamolekun and Red Lobster are engaging with customers and indulging their nostalgia. As a high-profile figure, the CEO also often appears on podcasts, in magazines, on television and social media.
Under Adamolekun's leadership, P.F. Chang's began generating revenues of approximately $1 billion a year, according to Goldman Sachs.
"The biggest lesson I learned was the importance of adaptability," he told the investment firm.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Under CEO Damola Adamolekun's leadership, Red Lobster has partnered with celebrities like rapper Ice Cube, pictured at left, to promote the brand. (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)
Consumers' emotional connection to the brand has become a central part of Red Lobster's turnaround strategy, Adamolekun said.
"I underestimated the impact of these emotional connections, which became a guiding principle in our decision-making, from menu changes to ambiance redesigns."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Red Lobster has reintroduced popcorn shrimp and hush puppies, seafood boils, $19.99 shrimp deals and $20 lobster rolls, as Fox News Digital previously reported.
"One of the advantages of being young is that I understand the technology pretty well."
The young CEO has also promoted happy hour and appetizer deals. "One thing that won't be changing," he said in an advertisement, "these Cheddar Bay biscuits. We got that right the first time. Welcome back."
On the "Black Money Tree" podcast, Adamolekun said he wants Red Lobster to become "the most AI-forward restaurant company that exists."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He added, "One of the advantages of being young is that I understand the technology pretty well," noting that he uses AI regularly in his own work.
Adamolekun said he wants Red Lobster to be "the most AI-forward restaurant company that exists." (Paula Lobo/Getty Images)
Red Lobster has long been popular among Black consumers. By 2015, about one in six diners were Black, a higher share than any other major casual chain, according to Vanity Fair. The chain also became a springboard for Black managers and culinary talent, many coming through historically Black colleges and universities.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Red Lobster is projecting positive net income by the end of the fiscal year under Adamolekun's leadership, according to the Vanity Fair profile.
"We're growing [but] we still have work to do to reclaim where we were."
"We're growing mid-single digits to low-double digits on certain weeks, which is good," he told the publication.
After emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy under Adamolekun's leadership, Red Lobster is projecting positive net income by the end of the fiscal year. (iStock)
"More people are ordering delivery than they [did] in the past. We're growing, [but] we still have work to do to reclaim where we were."
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Fox News Digital reached out to Red Lobster for comment; it declined to offer any additional insights at this time.