Così, Inc. Names Veteran Restaurant Executive and Cosi Franchisee R.J. Dourney as President and CEO
March 18 2014 - 10:16AM
CONTACT: William
Koziel
(847) 597-8803
Così, Inc. Names
Veteran Restaurant Executive and Così
Franchisee R.J. Dourney as President and CEO
DEERFIELD, IL - March 18, 2014 -
Così, Inc. (NASDAQ: COSI), the fast casual restaurant company,
today announced the appointment of R.J. Dourney as its President
and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Company's Board
of Directors. Mr. Dourney, 55, is the founder and CEO of
Hearthstone Associates, a Massachusetts-based restaurant company
that successfully operates 13 franchised restaurants in the Boston
market and is Così's largest franchisee. He has 30
years of branded industry experience with corporate and franchise
restaurant operations. It was also announced that Stephen
Edwards, previously President and Chief Executive Officer, will
assume the role of Executive Chairman and continue to serve as a
member of Così's Board of Directors.
"I've had the privilege of working
closely with RJ since joining Così and have been impressed with his
knowledge of the brand and industry, his strong operating acumen
and his passion for building a culture of success," said Mr.
Edwards. "RJ and his team have achieved industry leading results
with Così and we are excited to have him carry these results to all
of Così."
Prior to founding Hearthstone
Associates, Dourney served as Chief Operating Officer for Au Bon
Pain, overseeing a $250 million business both domestically and
internationally. Prior to joining Au Bon Pain he held
operating leadership positions with Applebee's International
including as Vice President of Franchise Operations and
Development, overseeing a $3.1 billion franchise system. He
has extensive operations, real estate and organizational experience
having grown multiple concepts throughout the United States.
Così's Chair of the Board, Mark
Demilio, said, "RJ's comprehensive operating background and proven
track record of success, from the restaurant level to the global
level, and from both the corporate and franchisee perspective are
the ideal combination of experience and skills to be a highly
effective leader for Così. RJ's appointment demonstrates our
commitment to focusing our company resources on supporting
franchise development, which is an important key to the long-term
growth potential that we believe Così offers for all of our
stakeholders.
Mr. Dourney stated, "I have long
known that Così is a great brand with tremendous potential. I
am confident that leveraging the culture and operating systems
developed at Hearthstone to the rest of the organization is a
strong first step in moving the brand forward. I look forward
to working closely with the Così team and franchise partners to
leverage our collective talent and passion to turn this business
around for the benefit of our shareholders, franchise partners,
employees and guests. I know what needs to be done and am
ready to move the team and the concept forward."
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 72 Company-owned and 49 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,
Così®
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 welcoming and comfortable with an eclectic
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#1769646