Zoës Kitchen is a Mediterranean Style restaurant chain that is a subsidiary of the

Cava Group Cava (stylized as CAVA) and also referred to as Cava Grill, is Mediterranean fast casual restaurant chain with locations across the United States. Cava is owned by the publicly traded Cava Group, which purchased Zoës Kitchen in August 2018. The ...

. Their headquarters are located in Plano,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. By 2013, the chain grew to include over 200 locations across 17 states; however, the acquisition by Cava has resulted in a reduction in Zoe's locations (some replaced by Cava restaurants); as of late December 2022, 35 locations in 13 states remained. At the rate of closures shown in 2022 it is expected the chain will no longer be active sometime in 2023; by March 23, 2023 there was exactly one location remaining.

History

Zoës Kitchen was originally based in

Homewood, Alabama Homewood is a city in southeastern Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is a suburb of Birmingham, located on the other side of Red Mountain due south of the city center. As of the 2010 census its population was 25,167, and in 2019 th ...

in June 1995 as Zoe's Kitchen Inc. It was founded by Zoë and Marcus Cassimus. Originally, the restaurants were not franchised with Cassimus retaining a 51 percent ownership stake in all newly opened locations. Its first location opened in October 1995 in downtown Homewood. A second location opened in the Riverchase section of Hoover in 1999, and a third in downtown Birmingham in March 2001. The restaurant continued its expansion with the opening of its first store outside the Birmingham area in

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...

in May 2001 and its first out of state location in Nashville,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

in the fall of 2001. By 2006, Zoës had expanded to sixteen restaurants, with eight located in Alabama and others located in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, Nashville,

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, Baton Rouge and Destin. With 20 stores open by 2007, Cassimus sold a majority ownership stake to

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. Following the purchase, Cassimus announced that he would remain as chief executive. The company would still be headquartered in Birmingham, and the menu would not be affected. Additionally, it was revealed that the sale could potentially result in the opening of 200 new franchises over the next five years. By Spring 2008 GE Capital Solutions loaned the company ten million dollars to allow for the development of 50 new stores across the southeast and southwest. In November 2008, Cassimus resigned with Greg Dollarhyde taking his place as CEO. Formerly the CEO of

Baja Fresh Baja Fresh is an American chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California in 1990 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona and is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, e ...

, Dollarhyde announced that he would be looking to expand the restaurant to new locales with two-thirds remaining company owned and the remainder being franchised. As of August 2011, Zoës has 11 franchised stores, and the rest are company-owned. President

Kevin Miles Kevin Miles (born 17 April 1929) is an Australian retired actor of theatre and television best known for his role as Godfrey Carson in the Australian television legal drama ''Carson's Law''. Miles also appeared in '' Delta'' (1969), ''Dynas ...

announced that Zoës would consider multi-unit franchisees in the future. Zoës launched online ordering in 2011 and a mobile loyalty app in 2013. Miles promised that the company would stay headquartered in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in 2011. However, when the company announced that it was going to be publicly traded in 2014, SEC filings showed the headquarters as

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

. Reasons given for the shift included simplifying travel, a lack of talent available in Birmingham, and the need to consolidate offices to prepare for an

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. Local media, business, and civic leaders said they were unaware of the move. In August 2018, Zoës was acquired by Cava Group, Inc. for $12.75 in cash for each Zoës common share.

is a privately held Mediterranean restaurant chain. On September 24, 2018, American Airlines announced that Zoe's Kitchen will be the primary food partner to serve the light snack and food items in their aircraft's main cabin seats. In January 2023, Zoës closed their Crestline Village location in Mountain Brook, which made the downtown Birmingham location the last remaining Zoës in the Birmingham metro area. Two Birmingham locations were converted into CAVA franchises, including the original Homewood location. Shortly after the closure of the Crestline location, Cassimus announced that his family, in partnership with the Cava Group, would be taking over the Crestline location to bring back the original Zoës menu from 1995.

Locations

As of December 24, 2022, Zoës Kitchen had 35 locations in thirteen states.

References

External links

*
Zoës Kitchen Corporate
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zoes Kitchen Restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama Economy of the Southeastern United States Economy of the Southwestern United States Restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1995 1995 establishments in Alabama Fast casual restaurants Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies based in Plano, Texas 2014 initial public offerings 2018 mergers and acquisitions Mediterranean restaurants