Those tasty free bread samples just aren’t luring enough customers to Così (COSI) restaurants. Same-store sales fell 2.7 percent last quarter, reflecting what even top management concedes are the struggling sandwich chain’s many problems and lackluster service.
“I think the real issue is Così’s complicated history and lack of true success as a business,” Stephen Edwards, who was appointed the chain’s chief executive in June, writes in an e-mail. What exactly does he mean by that? “The company has never been profitable and leadership has rarely been consistent,” he says.
Annual revenue at Così, a Deerfield (Ill.) chain of 124 restaurants, has declined every year since 2009. Traffic fell 5 percent last quarter, and many of its stores are unprofitable.