PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The state with a red lobster on its license plate is now the only state in the lower 48 without a Red Lobster.
The nation's largest seafood chain has closed its restaurants in Bangor and Auburn, making Maine and Alaska the only states in which Red Lobster, with annual sales of nearly $1.9 billion, has no presence.A spokesman for Maine's dining industry said the state was a tough market for Red Lobster to crack because of an abundance of seafood restaurants.
"Lobster is readily available everywhere, and Maine chefs cook seafood better than anyone, so it makes it very difficult for someone to come in from the outside and compete," said Dick Grotton, executive vice president of the Maine Restaurant Association in Augusta.
The Maine closings last month coincided with closures of restaurants in Newington, N.H., and North Dartmouth, Mass., leaving the chain with 676 locations nationwide.
Red Lobster is a unit of Darden Restaurants Inc. of Orlando, Fla., which also owns 465 Olive Garden restaurants.
Industry experts avoided criticizing the chain for abandoning Maine.
"Red Lobster is a great chain as far as creating awareness of seafood products in general and lobster in particular," said Sue Barber of the Maine Lobster Promotion Council "I'm hoping they'll continue to use a broad range of lobster from Maine."
Maine fishermen hauled in 46.3 million pounds of lobster last year, according to the council. Some was served at Red Lobster, but plenty was available elsewhere in the state -- from ramshackle lobster shacks to white-tablecloth restaurants.
Red Lobster's management brushed aside the suggestion that the abundant competition was too great.
"We face competition everywhere," said spokesman Andrew Dun. "This was just part of an ongoing assessment."
The closings come during a sharp turnaround at Red Lobster, which posted an 11.6 percent increase in sales for the quarter ended Aug. 30.
Rather than pursue rapid growth, the chain has adopted "a strategy of upgrading existing sites and selectively adding here and there," Dun said. He said Red Lobster expects to add four restaurants by the end of next year -- though none will be in Maine.
Red Lobster's departure will be followed by the red lobster's departure. The license plate design, introduced in 1987, will be changed next year to feature a chickadee, the state bird.