Darden Planning to Sell Red Lobster

      For those of you who don't know, Darden is a pretty big deal in the restaurant industry. They own restaurants such as Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Yard House, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V's, Longhorn, Capital Grill, and Seasons 52. However, due to recent profit losses they are trying to sell or spin off Red Lobster. As this may come to a surprise to the regular customer, people in the industry have seen it coming. Restaurants are not as busy as they once were. People are trying to cut corners to save money and going out to eat seems to be one of the most popular ways. 

      Working at Olive Garden myself for the past two years, I have definitely seen the difference first hand. Compared to last year, our wait times on a Friday or Saturday night is not as long as they used to be, and the type of people that choose to come to the restaurant are not the same either. I could only assume that Red Lobster is having the same problem, only 10x worse.

      Red Lobster seems to not be able to attract the high-income customers that places like Yard House and Capital Grill do, which causes them to not make as much money. The CEO of Darden Clarence Otis feels this will be good for the company because they will be able to focus more on its core audience. Jean Bertotti, who is a waiter in a Plantation Red Lobster, thinks it is a good idea, and agrees with the CEO that it will help them rebuild their market and cliental. 

      "I think it is great that Red Lobster is branching out into its own company because it gives us more freedom to focus on our brand. They are down 32% I believe over the last quarter and this will help the company reach its ultimate goal. The only drawback is the uncertainty everyone is facing, especially with those who have full careers. I know many people that are strongly considering leaving because of this."

      After talking to other employees it seems to be that most are excited about the separation and think it can only help make their restaurant better.

      There is also another plan in the works that may put Olive Garden in danger as well. I first heard about this from my boss, but then after looking more into it I found everything he said to be true. Barington Capital LP, an investor that owns more then two percent of Darden stock, came up with the idea to separate Darden into two companies. One would be just for Red Lobster and Olive Garden, while the other would be home to all of the rest. As an Oliver Garden employee, I would not mind getting separated and being able to work on our image again. I would love to see my restaurant as nice, well known, and busy as it used to be. 

     As of now there seems to be many ideas and plans on the table. In order for Red Lobster to become officially separated all they need is approval from the Darden Board. They are thinking this plan will close in the early part of 2015. 

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