Revenues at Tampa seafood chain drop nearly 22 percent

Rising food costs and the sluggish U.S. economy have been hard on sit-down restaurants, but few chains are faring as poorly as Shells Seafood Restaurants.

The 23-store Tampa chain says its revenues fell nearly 22 percent in the fourth quarter, to $7.6-million, while its same-store sales fell 18.3 percent. Those figures translated into a quarterly loss of $2.3-million, or 10 cents per share. Shells announced Feb. 29 that president Leslie J. Christon had left the company to "pursue other opportunities."

-- Scott Barancik, Times staff writer