Così (restaurant)

Così
Company type	Private
Traded as	Nasdaq: COSI
Industry	Fast casual restaurant
Founded	1996; 28 years ago, in New York City, United States
Founder	Drew Harre
Headquarters	Mountainside, New Jersey, United States
Number of locations	20 (November 2020)
Area served	New York; Washington D.C.; Virginia; Pennsylvania; Massachusetts; Connecticut; Illinois; Indiana; Ohio
Website	www.getcosi.com

Così, based in Boston, Massachusetts, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain that is known for its homemade flatbread. The name comes from the opera Così fan tutte, which was a favorite of the original owner.^[1] As of November 2020, the company operated 20 locations in New York, Washington D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, down from 66 at the beginning of the year. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2020.

History

The original Così restaurant was opened in 1989 by Drew Harre in Paris, France.^[2] In 1996, Shep and Jay Wainwright opened the first Così in the United States, in New York.^[2]

In October 1999, Così merged with Xando (formerly ZuZu).^[3]

The company became a public company via an initial public offering in 2002.^[4]^[5] A year later, Kevin Armstrong was named chief executive officer of the company.^[6]

In June 2010, Così sold its District of Columbia stores to Capitol C Restaurants as franchises.^[7] Capitol C is the owner of Qdoba Mexican Grill.

In March 2014, Così's largest and most successful franchisee, RJ Dourney was voted by Così's board of directors to the position of CEO and Director and Così announced it was moving its corporate headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois to Boston, Massachusetts.^[8]^[9] However, in August 2016, CEO RJ Dourney was fired.^[10]^[11] That same year, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy reorganization and closed stores.^[12]^[13] As a result of the bankruptcy filing, the company's shares were de-listed from the NASDAQ.^[14] Cosi also sought buyers for "substantially all of its assets."^[15]

In May 2017, the company emerged from bankruptcy under the ownership of MILFAM II L.P., AB Value Partners, LP, AB Value Management LLC and AB Opportunity Fund LLC.^[16] However, on February 25, 2020, Così once again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after closing several locations.^[17] However, the company then withdrew its filing and instead sought pandemic aid from the government.^[18] Then, after surviving the pandemic, on July 1, 2022, Cosi reopened its bankruptcy.^[19]