Red Lobster equipment up for sale after sudden closure

Equipment at Lewiston’s Red Lobster, which is now closed, is being auctioned through 12:30 p.m. Thursday, according to the website of a business that television network CNN describes as a leading restaurant liquidator.

TAGeX Brands is promoting the sale as “the largest restaurant equipment auction ever” on its website.

Items from Lewiston’s Red Lobster at 2115 Thain Road are being auctioned, along with gear from more than 50 of the chains’ other restaurants across the country, according to TAGeX Brands website.

As of early evening Tuesday, the high bid for Lewiston’s equipment was $4,400 after 18 bids, according to TAGeX Brands website.

Red Lobster has more than 700 locations around the world, according to its website.

“These auctions are WINNER TAKES ALL — meaning, each winner will receive the ENTIRE contents of the Red Lobster they bid on,” according to TAGeX Brand’s website.

The equipment is being sold as is, at its current location and not tested, according to TAGeX Brands’ website.

“Winning bidders are responsible for the appropriate removal and loading of their items,” according to TAGeX Brand’s website. “No one on site can assist with disconnect, removal or loading items.”

The more than 50 items being sold as a single lot at Lewiston’s Red Lobster include decor, refrigerators, freezers (one described as being for breaded shrimp), chairs, tables, microwave ovens, a four-burner saute range, a charbroiler, a television, a margarita slush machine and a lobster tank, according to TAGeX Brands’ website. The list is subject to change.

Perishable goods and alcohol are not part of the sale and all purchases have to be picked up by the end of Friday or the purchase will be “forfeited without a refund,” according to TAGeX Brands’ website.

Based in Rochester, N.Y., TAGeX Brands is the world’s largest after-marketplace for restaurant and food equipment and supplies, according to its website.

“Whether buying, selling, moving, storing or any other facility/equipment life-cycle event, we are the resource epicenter for headache relief with white glove service,” according to TAGeX Brands’ website.

The auctions come after Red Lobster has encountered financial issues, which has been reported by news organizations such as CNN.

“In 2020, Thai Union, a longtime supplier to Red Lobster, took an undisclosed financial stake in the chain, becoming a key shareholder,” CNN reported Monday. “Since then Red Lobster has cycled through four CEOs and an all-you-can-eat shrimp deal last year that slowed down table service and cut into Thai Union’s profitability.”

Red Lobster was founded with a single location in Lakeland, Fla., in 1968.

Its atmosphere “is inspired by Bar Harbor, a coastal town in Maine,” according to a Tuesday story in the New York Times.

Despite its challenges, Red Lobster is “still an American institution,” according to the New York Times.

“For many American families, Red Lobster has long been an aspirational dining choice, and for some an introduction to seafood,” according to the New York Times.

The Lewiston Red Lobster opened in 1996 and occupies one of the city’s most prominent commercial lots with a stunning view of the town.

The employees who lost their jobs because Red Lobster closed are entering a job market where the unemployment rate is 3.2 percent in Asotin and Nez Perce Countys, said Lisa Grigg, an economist with the Idaho Department of Labor in Lewiston in an email.

About 2,500 employees in those two counties were employed in the sector last year and had median wages of $15.74 per hour, she said.

Among them were 1,000 fast-food and counter workers, 400 wait staff, 300 first-line supervisors, 250 cooks, 150 food preparation workers and 150 bartenders, she said.

People who are out of work or seeking a different job can use services at the Idaho Department of Labor at 1158 Idaho St. in Lewiston, Grigg said.

An unemployment navigator is available to work with those submitting claims by helping with completing identity verification, and sharing information about what to expect during the process.

The office also has computers for job searches, workshops on topics such as resumes, interviewing and basic computer skills as well as skill assessments that can be used to identify potential employment interests.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.