Red Lobster's 705 restaurant locations will remain open and not close amid reports that they would The News-Herald reported Friday.
"Never have we said we would be closing restaurants," Rich Jeffers, director of media relations at Darden told The News-Herald.
Darden announced Dec. 19, that they are making Red Lobster its own separate entity Forbes reported.
"While were are highly confident the future is bright for both Red Lobster and Darden, excluding Red Lobster, we also recognize that the operating priorities, capital requirements, sales and earnings growth prospects, and volatility profiles of the two parts of the business are increasingly divergent," Clarence Otis, CEO of Darden told Forbes at the time of the announcement. "Our industry is in a period of significant change, with relatively low levels of consumer demand in each of the past several years for restaurants generally, and for casual dining in particular, as well as additional unexpected softness since June," Otis told Forbes.
The new arrangement will put Red Lobster's 705 restaurants alone from Darden, which has not done well for Darden. The organization also has Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze Capital Grille, and Seasons 52 Forbes reported.
The group also plans to halt expansion of Olive Garden, in order to bring in more earnings for shareholders, and slash its capital spending $100 million a year. LongHorn Steakhouse is also expected to stay where it is.
"My job is to take care of our guests, and that's exactly what we plan on doing," Kelly Fitzsimmons, general manager at a Red Lobster in the Downriver Michigan area told The News Herald. "We'll be around for a long time."
Darden saw $2 billion in sales, a 4.6 percent increase compared to 2012's numbers according to information from Forbes last week. Darden's net earnings totaled $19.8 million equal to 15 cents a share.
Darden saw its shares increase 0.02 percent Friday to $54.33 ABC News reported.
Bill Darden established the group in 1968 with Red Lobster as the gateway to the organization's path to fame.
