Plenty of panini, not enough hospitality, at Così: The fast-casual chain’s CEO got on a conference call with investors last week to address Così’s second-quarter $2.1 million dollar loss and 11 percent decline in revenue, Brand Channel reports, and pinned the problems on rude and unpleasant employees. Common complaints range from screwup orders or long wait times for food when the restaurants are empty, says Stephen Edwards, adding customers have reported feeling “disappointed time and time again by the service or the experience they’ve received in the store.” Perhaps the chain’s management should take a page from rival Pret A Manger and implement a set of happiness-oriented “behaviors” that employees are required to follow, and just make “service with a smile” more of a mandatory kind of thing. [Brand Channel, Earlier]
