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The fishy death of Red Lobster

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411–420 of 540 posts

Re: The fishy death of Red Lobster

#411
post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it the same sh* like Tim Hortons? RIP then...

Very tangential to the quality of chain restaurants that have decline in quality: I'm from the US, but on the Canadian border, and Timmy's was the dominant coffee shop growing up. Even if you didn't drink coffee, that was the hang out. We had a Dunkin that was probably less than 100 meters away from it that had a fire and never reopened. I definitely think it was a ploy for insurance money because they never had _any…

> Then something happened around 2017 and their coffee became awful (it was never incredible, but it got much worse)

Tim Hortons got acquired by Burger King (Restaurant Brands International / QSR) in December 2014, and the quality started to decline over the next year or two

Re: The fishy death of Red Lobster

#412

Unfortunately in the late Capitalism that reads more like Feudal than Capitalism, there is not much we can do, and so be it. There is a time that all shall burn and rot and a new world may come forth.

> Unfortunately in the late Capitalism...all shall burn and rot and a new world may come forth.

What if VC and shareholders are just fulfilling their purpose in the capitalist circle of life? We can think of them as jackals, buzzards and bacteria combined into a superform. They cull herds, piece off the carrion and decompose what's left.

They are bringers and eaters of death, working as one.

Re: The fishy death of Red Lobster

#414
post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very tangential to the quality of chain restaurants that have decline in quality: I'm from the US, but on the Canadian border, and Timmy's was the dominant coffee shop growing up. Even if you didn't drink coffee, that was the hang out. We had a Dunkin that was probably less than 100 meters away from it that had a fire and never reopened. I definitely think it was a ploy for insurance money because they never had _any…

> Then something happened around 2017 and their coffee became awful (it was never incredible, but it got much worse) Tim Hortons got acquired by Burger King (Restaurant Brands International / QSR) in December 2014, and the quality started to decline over the next year or two

Ah I didn't even consider the time correlation there. Makes sense. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the same company that operates Burger King (and their god awful Seattle's Best coffee) would also decrease the quality of another food business.

Re: The fishy death of Red Lobster

#415

I'm continually amazed by how much outrage normal and perfectly reasonable business strategies generate in the general public. None of this is unusual or in any way wrong. Red lobster (and olive garden) were mismanaged, and the investment funds were right about that. Their attempts at salvaging the situation were perfectly reasonable, even if they were ultimately unsuccessful. You're welcome to be outraged, but that…

> None of this is unusual or in any way wrong. You're completely correct. Everything described in the article was completely legal. The things that are illegal, like overfishing protected waters, the company doesn't do. Instead, they lobby to make it legal, then do it. See, all above board. It's all legal. Why would anyone get upset about a company that isn't breaking the law? If it were wrong it would be illegal, ri…

While maybe not illegal (yet), there is a lot of deception of retail investors throughout the process:

* astroturf campaign against the company

* fake boost in profits from massive asset liquidation

Once the stock is run up, equity cashed out leaving morons who only had access to financials and not “the plan” holding the bag. It smells like a combination of fraud and insider trading, but perhaps the SEC can name it something more appropriate.

Re: The fishy death of Red Lobster

#418
I've seen many people saying, on this site and others, that they "believe in markets", as if it was their profession of faith.

When markets are allowed to work "normally", this is what always happens: regulations are lobbied to the ground, resources get depleted, profitable companies get destroyed to make a quick buck and everyone is worse off in the long term.

Having a strong economy is sadly harder than letting the markets "work their magic".

Re: The fishy death of Red Lobster

#420
post #393

I went to red lobster in Toronto yesterday as a "lets save red lobster Canada" idea I had in my head, they came to Canada the year I was born and my dad was obsessed so I have a lot of nostalgia. Came out thinking: let em burn. Worse than mediocre rubber for $200 after tip and tax.

I had a really bad dining experience the one single time I went to Red Lobster; happened at the same place probably (Toronto, the one in Bay Street?) hence why I want to share. I came in to the restaurant and there was no one at the front desk, but the place seemed to be operating normally so I just went on to seat at the nearest table I found. Waiters just started ignoring me; at some point I realized this was on pu…

Same location and I also had an amusing experience, I asked the lady who brought our drinks over if she had any idea if the Canadian locations would be ok, and she said she knew about as much as I do, and then out of nowhere randomly said "you look rich, you should buy us!" - my wife almost spat our her drink laughing at that.
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