The fast food giant is closing the brand’s remaining five sites in Illinois and Texas, marking the end of its run.
The first CosMc’s opened in Bolingbrook, Illinois, in December 2023 and was positioned as a snack and coffee/drink concept rather than a fast food restaurant. At the time McDonald’s said it planned to open only 10 locations, including nine restaurants in Texas, by the end of 2024 to test the concept, with a range of sizes and layouts, including multiple drive-thru lanes, being trialled.
For CosMc’s the company ditched its red branding for a retro style blue one and served a drinks-focused menu that pitched it up against competitors such as Starbucks. Drinks options included slushes and frappes, ice tea and lemonades, coffees, and signature ‘galactic boosts’, with drinks such as the Ice French Toast Galaxy Latte, Iced Turmeric Spiced Latte, Pistachio Swirl Shaken Espresso, and Berry Hibiscus Sour-ade featuring.
It also served a tight range of McDonald’s classics such as Egg McMuffins alongside new options like the spicy queso sandwich, and the creamy avo and tomatillo sandwich as well as savory hash brown bites and pretzel bites served with dipping sauces.
In a statement the company says that some of the drinks on the CosMc’s menu will now be introduced into existing McDonald’s restaurants from late June as part of its continuing product testing.
“The main goal of the CosMc’s test was to create a launchpad for learning for the McDonald’s System – and the insights we’ve gathered have given us a whole new way to get closer to our fans,” it says.
“Building on the insights gained from the pilot standalone locations, CosMc’s-inspired flavors will be landing at McDonald’s as part of the upcoming US beverage test, seamlessly blending out of this world tastes into the McDonald’s experience.
“With our new dedicated category team focused on beverages, we know we can bring more delicious and innovative drinks to more fans.”
The company describes CosMc’s as a success, saying that it allowed it to test new, bold flavours and different technologies and processes without impacting the existing McDonald’s experience for customers and crew.
“The CosMc’s team was able to test-and-learn in real customer-facing environments, which allowed for greater agility and speed. Quick adds and edits to the menu based on feedback led to more focused choices for our fans as the test continued.
“We’ve learned so much, so quickly from the CosMc’s test. As part of this next testing phase, starting in late June, we will be closing all stand-alone pilot CosMc’s locations on a rolling basis and discontinuing the CosMc’s app.”
