Così® Franchisee Opens Sixth Restaurant in Costa

BOSTON, Dec. 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Così, Inc. (NASDAQ: COSI ), the fast-casual restaurant company, today announced that its franchisee, Fast Casual Ltda., has opened its sixth Così® restaurant in Costa Rica at Nuevo City Plaza al lado del Cine in Santa Ana. 

“We are pleased to announce the opening of another new Così restaurant by our franchise partner, Fast Casual,” said RJ Dourney, Così President and Chief Executive Officer.  “Fast Casual has done an outstanding job of building the brand in Costa Rica, and we remain excited about the acceptance of the Così menu and dining experience in this market.  Looking ahead, we continue to explore additional opportunities with Fast Casual and other franchise partners as we focus on driving profitable growth both domestically and in Latin America,” Dourney went on to say.

“We believe there is a broader demand for Così in these markets,” said Luis Diego Escalante, President of Fast Casual.  “As we near completion of our development schedule in Costa Rica, we are working with Cosi on other potential expansion opportunities in the United States and Latin America.” 

This location is the sixth of eight restaurants Fast Casual expects to open in Costa Rica.

About Così, Inc.

Così ( http://www.getcosi.com ) is an upscale national fast casual restaurant company.  At the heart of every restaurant is a hearth 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, 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 79 Company-owned and 31 franchise restaurants operating in fifteen states, the District of Columbia, Costa Rica and the United Arab Emirates.

“COSÌ,” 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 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 the Cosi, Inc. website at www.getcosi.com  in the investor relations section.

CONTACT: Miguel Rossy-Donovan Chief Financial Officer (857) 415-5020 InvestorRelations@getcosi.com