Così, Inc : Announces Changes in Its Board of Directors, Effective as of January 1, 2015
December 29 2014 - 6:30AM
CONTACT:
Scott Carlock
Chief Financial Officer
(857) 415-5020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Così, Inc.
Announces Changes to Its Board of Directors
BOSTON, MA, December 29, 2014 --
Così, Inc. (NASDAQ: COSI), the fast casual restaurant company,
today announced the appointment of David Lloyd to the Company's
Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2015. The
appointment comes as a result of Michael O'Donnell's decision to
step down from his position as a director of the Board as of that
date. Mr. O'Donnell has been a member of Cosi's Board of Directors
since March 2006 and has served as the Chairman of the Audit
Committee since March 2010.
"On behalf of the Board of
Directors, the stockholders and all of the Company's constituents,
I would like to thank Mr. O'Donnell for his immeasurable
contributions to the Company," stated Mark Demilio, Chairman of the
Board of Directors. "Mike's expertise and business acumen
have been vital to the Company during his many years of service on
the Board."
"It is with mixed feelings that I
depart from the Board of Cosi," commented Mr. O'Donnell.
"However, after more than 8 years on the Board and with my other
commitments, I feel it is time for me to step down. I also
feel that the time is right in that I believe the Company is on
solid footing and heading in the right direction given the
completion of the recent Rights Offering by the Company, R.J.
Dourney's leadership and a highly qualified and capable replacement
in David Lloyd."
Mr. Lloyd is currently an
independent restaurant domain expert with Highland Consumer Fund,
which specializes in retail, restaurant and food services and
consumer product investment opportunities in growth-focused
companies with proven business models. From 2005 through
2009, he served as President and CFO, and from 2009 through 2013,
he served as President and CEO of Bertucci's Restaurant
Corporation. Prior to that time, Mr. Lloyd spent 4 years as
the Chief Financial Officer of Taco Bueno Restaurants and prior to
that time spent 6 years as the Chief Financial Officer of Taco
Cabana.
"We are very excited to have David join us," said
R.J. Dourney, Cosi's President and Chief Executive Officer.
"As a veteran CFO in several different restaurant companies,
a past CEO and a nationally recognized consultant in the industry,
he brings a tremendous amount of background and experience that
will prove invaluable to Cosi as we continue to move the Company
forward and become a successful national fast casual brand.
At the same time, I would like to add my sincere appreciation to
Michael O'Donnell for his dedication and commitment to Cosi
throughout his time as a member of the Board."
Mr. Lloyd will serve as Chairman of the Audit
Committee of the Board.
About Così,
Inc.
Così® (http://www.getcosi.com)
is a national fast casual restaurant chain that has developed
featured foods built around a secret, generations-old recipe for
crackly crust flatbread. This artisan bread is freshly baked in
front of customers throughout the day in open-flame stone-hearth
ovens prominently located in each of the restaurants. Così's warm
and urbane atmosphere is geared towards its sophisticated, upscale,
urban and suburban guests. There are currently 63 Company-owned and
48 franchise restaurants operating in sixteen states, the District
of Columbia, Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates. The
Così® vision
is to become America's favorite fast casual restaurant by providing
customers authentic, innovative, savory food while remaining an
affordable luxury.
The Così® menu
features Così® sandwiches,
freshly-tossed salads, bowls, breakfast wraps, melts, soups,
Squagels®, flatbread
pizzas, S'mores, snacks and other desserts, and a wide range of
coffee and coffee-based drinks and other specialty beverages.
Così® restaurants
are designed to be a welcoming and comfortable environment. Così's
sights, sounds, and spaces create a tasteful, relaxed ambience that
provides a fresh and new dining experience.
"Così," "(Sun & Moon Design)"
and related marks are registered trademarks of Così, Inc. in the
U.S.A. and certain other countries. Copyright © 2014 Così, Inc. All
rights reserved.
"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE
PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. This press
release contains statements that constitute forward- looking
statements under the federal securities laws. Forward-looking
statements are statements about future events and expectations and
not statements of historical fact. The words "believe," "may,"
"will," "should," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend,"
"objective," "seek," "plan," "strive," or similar words, or
negatives of these words, identify forward- looking statements. We
qualify any forward-looking statements entirely by these cautionary
factors. Forward-looking statements are based on management's
beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future economic
performance, taking into account the information currently
available to management. Forward-looking statements involve risks
and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance or
financial condition to differ materially from the expectations of
future results, performance or financial condition we express or
imply in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could
contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to:
the results being reported in this release are unaudited and
subject to change; the cost of our principal food products and
supply and delivery shortages and interruptions; labor shortages or
increased labor costs; changes in demographic trends and consumer
tastes and preferences, including changes resulting from concerns
over nutritional or safety aspects of beef, poultry, produce, or
other foods or the effects of food-borne illnesses, such as E.
coli, "mad cow disease" and avian influenza or "bird flu";
competition in our markets, both in our business and in locating
suitable restaurant sites; our operation and execution in new and
existing markets; expansion into new markets including foreign
markets; our ability to attract and retain qualified franchisees
and our franchisees' ability to open restaurants on a timely basis;
our ability to locate suitable restaurant sites in new and existing
markets and negotiate acceptable lease terms; the rate of our
internal growth and our ability to generate increased revenue from
our existing restaurants; our ability to generate positive cash
flow from existing and new restaurants; fluctuations in our
quarterly results due to seasonality; increased government
regulation and our ability to secure required government approvals
and permits; our ability to create customer awareness of our
restaurants in new markets; the reliability of our customer and
market studies; cost effective and timely planning, design and
build out of restaurants; our ability to recruit, train and retain
qualified corporate and restaurant personnel and management; market
saturation due to new restaurant openings; inadequate protection of
our intellectual property; our ability to obtain additional capital
and financing; adverse weather conditions which impact customer
traffic at our restaurants; and adverse economic conditions.
Further information regarding factors that could affect our results
and the statements made herein are included in our filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Additional information is available
on Così's website at
http://www.getcosi.com in the investor relations section.
This
announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the
information contained therein.
Source: Così, Inc via Globenewswire
HUG#1883640