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Two days after it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Orlando-based Red Lobster sent a letter Tuesday to customers assuring them that most of its restaurants would stay open despite the company’s financial troubles.

“Bankruptcy is a word that is often misunderstood,” states the letter, which does not list an author.

“Filing for bankruptcy does not mean we are going out of business,” it continues. “In fact, it means just the opposite. It is a legal process that allows us to make changes to our business and our coststructure so that Red Lobster can continue as a stronger company going forward.”

Orlando-based Red Lobster files for bankruptcy but will stay open

Red Lobster is looking to restructure amid nearly $300 million in outstanding debt.

The company shuttered as many as 80 of its 650 locations last week, including at least six in Central Florida in Orlando, Altamonte Springs, Sanford and Kissimmee.

San Diego-based restaurant analyst John Gordon said the sale of its real estate by its private equity owners, which required the restaurants to pay rent, and other added debt and poor management decisions over the past decade were key contributors to the company’s financial woes. read more

By PAUL WISEMAN (AP Economics Writer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — As president, Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on foreign steel, which hurt Clips & Clamps Industries, a Michigan auto supplier — raising its materials prices, making it harder to compete with overseas rivals and costing it several contracts.

Jeff Aznavorian, the company president, thought he might enjoy some relief once Joe Biden entered the White House. Instead, Biden largely preserved Trump’s tariffs — on steel, aluminum and a mass of goods from China.

“It was a little surprising that an ideologically different administration would keep the policies so intact,’’ Aznavorian said, recalling how a previous Democratic president, Bill Clinton, had fought for freer trade. “That’s just so different from a 2024 Biden administration.’’

Trump and Biden agree on essentially nothing, from taxes and climate change to immigration and regulation. Yet on trade policy, the two presumptive presidential nominees have embraced surprisingly similar approaches. Which means that whether Biden or Trump wins the presidency, the United States seems poised to maintain a protectionist trade policy — a policy that experts say could feed inflation pressures. read more

By MATTHEW DALY (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday it is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve established after Superstorm Sandy in a bid to lower prices at the pump this summer.

The sale, from storage sites in New Jersey and Maine, will be allocated in increments of 100,000 barrels at a time. The approach will create a competitive bidding process that ensures gasoline can flow into local retailers ahead of the July 4 holiday and sold at competitive prices, the Energy Department said.

The move, which the department said is intended to help “lower costs for American families and consumers,″ follows a mandate from Congress to sell off the 10-year-old Northeast reserve and then close it. The language was included in a spending deal Congress approved in March to avert a partial government shutdown.

The Energy Department said the sale of 1 million barrels, about 42 million gallons, was timed to provide relief for motorists as the summer driving season begins. read more