ORLANDO Fla. While announcing the discontinuation of its Smokey Bones chain, Red Lobster parent Darden Restaurants Inc. quietly cut the size of its Bahama Breeze operation by about a third this weekend, with nine of the chain's 32 units closing nationwide.
The shuttered stores were "not in the best locations or trade areas for the brands," Darden said.
The Caribbean-themed Bahama Breeze was conceived by Darden as a high-volume complement to its more mature brands of Red Lobster and Olive Garden. Early units opened to multi-hour waits and volumes exceeding $5.5 million on an annual basis. But the venture ran into head winds in recent years, with executives expressing concerns about the cost of the concept's original building size and the brand's suitability for some locations. In 2004, six stores were closed, and Darden disclosed plans to try a smaller, less-costly building.
Darden expressed confidence that it can grow Bahama Breeze to more than 150 locations, starting with the opening of a unit in Woodbridge, N.J., and a system generating more than $1 billion in sales.
