Così, Inc. Reports 2016 Period 7 Comparable Restaurant Sales
August 03 2016 - 6:30AM
Così, Inc. (NASDAQ:COSI), the fast casual restaurant company, today
reported that estimated system-wide comparable restaurant sales for
the 2016 Period 7, as measured for Company-owned and franchised
restaurants in operation for more than 15 consecutive months,
recorded an aggregate decrease of 5.3% as compared to the 2015 P7
period.
The breakdown in estimated comparable restaurant
sales between Company-owned and franchised restaurants for the 2016
Period 7 is as follows:
|
For the 4 Weeks
Ended July 25, 2016 |
Company-owned |
|
-7.8 |
% |
Franchised |
|
0.3 |
% |
System-wide (excl. Hearthstone) |
|
-5.3 |
% |
|
|
Hearthstone |
|
-0.8 |
% |
System-wide (incl. Hearthstone) |
|
-4.6 |
% |
The 13 Hearthstone restaurants acquired by the
Company on April 1, 2015, will be included in the reported
Company-owned comparable restaurant sales results in the 2016 P8,
when they have been in operation as Company-owned restaurants for
more than 15 consecutive months.
“We are relentlessly focused on increasing guest
satisfaction, driving trial and increasing guest frequency,” stated
RJ Dourney, Cosi’s President & CEO. “Leveraging our
strong base of loyal guests and our significant percentage of
guests in the millennial segment, we believe will improve traffic
trends by the end of the year despite challenging industry
conditions,” Dourney went on to say. “Continued focus on unit-level
execution, including great hospitality, along with digital
advertising, will now be complemented by new initiatives to
increase frequency and drive trial. I am pleased with the positive
results we have achieved in margins and cash preservation despite
difficult comparable sales results. I believe management’s ongoing
focus on unit-level costs since our operational ‘reboot’ in October
has allowed us to avoid the unit-level margin degradation that
often accompanies negative comparable sales results. We look
forward to sharing details about these initiatives during the
upcoming August 11th earnings call,” Dourney said.
About Così, Inc.Così (http://www.getcosi.com)
is an international fast casual restaurant company. At the heart of
every Cosi® restaurant is an open-flame stone-hearth oven where the
Così® signature flatbread is made from scratch throughout the day.
The flatbread is made from a generations-old recipe and is part of
many Così® favorites. Così® was founded on the idea that
good-for-you food should be delicious. Menu items are made using
fresh ingredients and distinctive sauces and spreads to create edgy
flavors. The menu features made-to-order sandwiches, hand-tossed
salads, bowls, breakfast wraps, melts, all natural soups, signature
Squagels®, artisan flatbread pizzas, S'mores, snacks and desserts.
Guests can also enjoy handcrafted beverages and a variety of
coffee-based and specialty beverages.
Così® employees create a welcoming environment
where guests are invited to relax and enjoy great food. In many
cases, Così® is the cornerstone of the communities that they are in
and take pride in supporting community organizations and local
charities. There are currently 74 Company-owned and 29 franchise
restaurants operating in fifteen states, the District of Columbia,
Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates.
"Così," "(Sun & Moon Design)" and related
marks are registered trademarks of Così, Inc. in the U.S.A. and
certain other countries. Copyright © 2016 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.
Miguel Rossy-DonovanChief Financial Officer(857)
415-5020
CONTACT:
InvestorRelations@getcosi.com