Upscale Sandwich Chain Cosi Files to Go Public

The company hopes to raise $60 million through an initial public offering.

Author:: George Mannes
Publish date:: Apr 17, 2002 6:23 PM EDT

You've eaten their sandwiches. Now buy their stock.

Cosi

, an upscale sandwich shop/coffee bar chain heavily concentrated in Manhattan -- including an outlet down the block from the New York Stock Exchange -- announced plans Wednesday to go public.

The 66-store chain, which integrates Xando coffee bars, is seeking to sell up to $60 million in stock, according to its preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 2001, the company had a loss of $42.1 million on sales of $70.2 million. Excluding restaurants in what the company calls its "New York Central Business District," sales in restaurants open at least 15 months rose 6% in the first quarter of 2002 from the corresponding quarter one year earlier.

The chain, which has 19 restaurants in Manhattan alone, lost one outlet in the collapse of the World Trade Center and has closed another location in the adjacent World Financial Center.