2013-02-14 17:25:00 -
CONTACT:
William Koziel
(847) 597-8800
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Così Names New Vice President of Operations and Strengthens Operations Team
DEERFIELD, IL, February 14, 2013 - Così, Inc. (NASDAQ: COSI), the fast casual
restaurant company, today announced that it has named seasoned restaurant
executive John Mallon to the position of Vice President of Operations. Mallon
will directly oversee operations at the 75 Company-owned locations.
Mallon has over 30 years of restaurant industry experience including 20 years at
Applebee's where he most recently was Regional Vice President of Company
Operations and was responsible for the oversight of over 200 restaurants as well
as successfully opening a significant number of new
restaurants in the Midwest
region. Earlier in his tenure at Applebee's, Mallon worked on the franchise
operations side of the business. Prior to Applebee's, Mallon spent several
years in restaurant operations at Bennigan's. Most recently, he successfully
developed and operated a six-unit frozen yogurt concept in the Minneapolis
market.
Così also announced today that it has strengthened its operations leadership
team with the recent addition of two new Regional Director positions and the
appointment of several new District Managers.
David Parker has been named a Regional Director with responsibility for several
Company markets in the Midwest. Parker comes to Così with over 15 years of
experience, most recently as an Area Director for Applebee's.
Giovanni Jara was promoted to the position of Regional Director with
responsibility for Company markets in the Northeast. Jara has been with Così
for more than 13 years most recently as a District Manager in the New York
market.
Douglas Converse has been named as District Manager to the Mid-Atlantic region.
Converse has over 25 years of restaurant experience at various concepts
including Regional Vice President for Au Bon Pain Bakery Café on the East Coast.
Gina Wright has been named District Manager in our suburban Philadelphia market.
Wright has over 15 years of restaurant experience much of which was with
Cozymels Restaurants where she rose to the position of Chief Operating Officer
in 2007.
Nathan Owens was named District Manager in the Northeast. Owens has over 10
years of experience with various concepts most recently as Director of
Operations at Kahala Brands which operates several concepts including Cold Stone
Creamery.
"We believe that with the addition of John Mallon and the five other seasoned
and talented restaurant executives, we have significantly bolstered the
leadership of Così's field operating team and better positioned ourselves to
achieve our goal of turning this strong brand into a great business," said Carin
Stutz, Cosi's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Further, we strongly
believe that by adding this new team of professionals, we are demonstrating our
ongoing commitment to improving and growing Così for the benefit of our
shareholders, franchise partners, employees and guests."
About Così®
Così(®) (
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 75 Company-owned and 51 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, breakfast
wraps, melts, bowls, 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 © 2013 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 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
www.getcosi.com in the investor relations section.
This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of
Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that:
(i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and
other applicable laws; and
(ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and
originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Così, Inc via Thomson Reuters ONE
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