Over the weekend, we were relaxing in Rittenhouse Square and developed a healthy thirst. Searching for a bottle of water, we made our way to Walnut Street, but stopped dead in our tracks when we came upon 1720 Walnut St., home to a Cosi for as long as we can remember.
Huh, a Cosi that closed. Didn't think that sort of thing ever happened. But look at the photo above and the proof is in the pudding. The sign indicates that the other Cosis (Cosii?) in town are still open, but that should come as no surprise. As to why the business closed, we can only speculate. But we would have to imagine that it's got something to do with rising rents on Walnut Street as the block continues to get even ritzier. It's what we would guess happened across the street at Alfa, which closed on New Years Day and remains vacant.
In recent years, we've seen increasing turnover on Walnut Street, and several businesses move to Chestnut Street ostensibly in search of lower rents. Even the legendary Joan Shepp is set to open a relocated store on Chestnut Street next month. And while we don't expect a relocated Cosi or a reopened Alfa to appear on Chestnut, we do expect some exceedingly fancy new businesses to arrive soon in their former Walnut Street storefronts. Has anybody heard about what might be coming in? What would people like to see?