In 2024, several well-known companies filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States. Some have requested basic financial restructuring, allowing them to continue operating, while others have announced the closure of many brick-and-mortar locations to avoid liquidation.

The points of sale were the most affected. However, several restaurant chains were affected and one airline.

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 1: A Spirit Airlines plane takes off at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on June 1, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. More than 40 percent of Spirit Airlines flights nationwide were delayed today after a (Getty Images)

Spirit Airlines

The budget airline filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, facing more than $1 billion in looming debt payments and accumulating more than $2.5 billion in losses through 2020. Spirit facing challenges such as declining passenger numbers during the pandemic, competition from major carriers and most significantly, a stalled merger with JetBlue.

Despite the filing, Spirit continues to operate as customers can book flights and redeem frequent flyer points.

Carle Place, NY: The Big Lots store in Carle Place, New York on July 23, 2024. (Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Big Lots

The discount retailer, with more than 1,300 locations, filed for bankruptcy in September. With declining sales and mounting debt that reached $3.1 billion, the store initially announced it would close approximately 545 stores. The company later announced that due to a failed deal with private equity firm Nexus Capital, it would be closing the remaining 963 locations.

However, on Dec. 27, the company announced an agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC that would prevent the potential closure of all other locations. There are no details yet on which locations would remain open, and the deal still requires approval from a bankruptcy judge.

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A Red Lobster restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday, June 7, 2024. Seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster, which filed for bankruptcy last month, will be in bankruptcy court on June 14. (Photo: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

red lobster

The seafood chain, which opened its first location in Lakeland, Florida in 1968, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. The company had significant financial challenges, including higher food costs, higher wages and rising commercial rents. Food prices also brought traffic to a halt as many more people decided to cook at home.

Some analysts also pointed to Red Lobster’s “endless shrimp” deal, in which customers could eat as much shrimp as they wanted for just $20. A Los Angeles Times report spoke to a woman who boasted about eating 108 shrimp over a four-hour meal.

“I think the distinction between something like an olive garden with bottomless breadsticks and red lobster with bottomless shrimp is that the shrimp is like an entree, while the breadsticks are more of a side,” Jim Salera, a research analyst at Stephens, focused on restaurants and packaged foods. and drinks, he told FOX Business. “The goal with any kind of offer like this is that you bring in consumers, and then you add incremental purchases to the ticket, whether it’s alcohol or, you know, snacks, things like that expand the ticket.”

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“You already have a small profit margin,” Salera said. “You can go much further than that when you attract consumers who are just looking to have that item or engage with that offer and not branch out into the menu.”

Eric Revell of Fox Business contributed to this report.