Così, Inc. Reports 2015 Period 9 and Third Quarter Comparable Restaurant Sales
07 October 2015 - 9:30PM
Così, Inc. (NASDAQ:COSI), the fast casual restaurant company, today
reported that estimated system-wide comparable restaurant sales for
the third quarter of 2015, as measured for restaurants in operation
for more than 15 months, recorded an aggregate decline of -0.3% as
compared to the third quarter of 2014.
The breakdown in estimated comparable restaurant
sales between Company-owned and franchise-owned restaurants for the
third quarter of 2015 is as follows:
|
4 Weeks Ended |
|
13 Weeks Ended |
|
Sept 28, 2015 |
|
Sept 28, 2015 |
Company-Owned* |
|
-4.5 |
% |
|
|
-0.3 |
% |
Franchise |
|
-1.7 |
% |
|
|
-0.2 |
% |
System-Wide |
|
-3.6 |
% |
|
|
-0.3 |
% |
*Does not include Hearthstone locations. Comparable locations
are defined as restaurants in operation for more than 15 months as
Company-owned locations.
Comparable restaurant sales for the third
quarter of 2015 as compared to the third quarter of 2014 were
distorted by certain non-recurring events, including:
- The impact to the 4 Weeks Ended September 28, 2015, resulting
from the year over year shift of the Labor Day holiday, on
comparable restaurant sales of Company-owned and franchise
restaurants has been estimated to be -2.3% and -1.7%,
respectively.
- Business interruptions resulting from the Pope’s visit on
September 22–26, 2015 negatively impacted 30% of our Company-owned
restaurants. The estimated impact to the 4 Weeks Ended September
28, 2015, and the 13 Weeks Ended September 28, 2015, on comparable
restaurant sales of Company-owned locations has been estimated to
be -0.9% and -0.3%, respectively.
- Termination of a Franchise Agreement resulted in the closure of
two franchise locations in California prior to the end of the 2015
third quarter. The estimated impact to the 13 Weeks Ended
September 28, 2015, on comparable restaurant sales of franchise
locations has been estimated to be -0.7%. These restaurants have
been excluded from the Period 9 2014 and 2015 comparable
restaurants base.
“I continue to be encouraged by the
progress we are seeing in restaurants where the Hearthstone Model
has been fully implemented. While I am disappointed in the overall
sales results this quarter, I am confident about the momentum I
continue to see,” stated RJ Dourney, Cosi’s President and
CEO. "We continue to receive positive feedback from our guests
in these markets, and we are ready to invite our guests back while
we continue to layer all the levers of our strategy throughout the
rest of the system,” Dourney went on to say. Dourney then
addressed the franchisee system, stating “One of our
priorities is to ensure that our franchise restaurants uphold the
integrity of our brand and are profitable. We are prepared to make
tough calls when necessary, as we continue welcoming new franchise
partners into the system. I am also excited at the continued growth
of our existing franchise system and the opening of our new
franchise restaurant in the DC area.”
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 79 Company-owned and
30 franchise restaurants operating in fifteen 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 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 © 2015 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 athttp://www.getcosi.com in the investor relations
section.
Miguel Rossy-Donovan
Chief Financial Officer
(857) 415-5020
InvestorRelations@getcosi.com