McDonald’s said on May 23, 2025, it would shut down all five of its trial CosMc’s stores by late June, closing the drink-focused spinoff’s 18-month test. The closings, across stores in Texas and Illinois, are a strategic decision for the fast-food giant as it brings takeaways from the pilot into its business.
Locations closing across the nation
CosMc’s, which opened in December 2023 as a drive-thru-centric concept, will close its existing restaurants on a rolling schedule by June 23, 2025. The below locations are impacted:
- 285 N. Weber Road, Bolingbrook, Illinois – the original location that attracted international fans in its 2023 launch.
- 5341 McPherson Boulevard, Fort Worth, Texas
- 12360 FM 1957, San Antonio, Texas
- 8726 Potranco Road, San Antonio, Texas
- 861 W. Stacy Road, Allen, Texas.
Four Texas closings come after three prior test store closings during January of 2025, leaving no CosMc’s locations remaining. The company’s own CosMc’s mobile app, which allowed mobile ordering for specialty drinks like the Churro Frappé and Turmeric Spiced Latte, will also close.
Why CosMc’s failed to take off
The chain started out targeting afternoon snackers and competed with Starbucks and Dutch Bros in customized beverages. Scalability was constrained, though, by operational complexity and niche popularity. CEO Chris Kempczinski said numerous of CosMc’s offerings were driven by specialized equipment and staffing patterns incompatible with typical McDonald’s kitchens.
Regardless of such creative innovations as the Sour Cherry Energy Burst and Savory Hashbrown Bites, the idea did not meet consistent traffic beyond novelty draw in early stages. Analysts had placed the average sales per unit at 40% lower than projections in early 2025.
Lessons learned and menu migrations
McDonald’s positions the closures as a success, not a failure, as a “learning lab” and says that the chain learned about customization trends from 73% of whom customers topped drinks like Fruity Popping Boba. Those findings will drive an initiative for a new drink strategy:
- Select CosMc’s-inspired beverages, such as the Island Pick Me Up Punch and Vanilla Matcha Latte, to 500+ U.S. McDonald’s restaurants late in 2025.
- An in-house beverages innovation team will look for streamlined versions of CosMc’s top-sellers to launch more widely.
The business also will expand CosMc’s kitchen innovations, including rapid-batch frappé units, to current stores to accelerate drink production.
The rise and fall of a nostalgia play
McDonald’s 1980s alien mascot was the inspiration for CosMc’s, which went whole hog on retro futurism with neon lights and space-themed menu items. Early Bolingbrook success was met with hour-long lines, with fans journeying oceans from Europe to sample limited-edition such as the Galactic Lemonade.
But the small size of the format (1,200 sq. ft. average vs. McDonald’s average 4,500 sq. ft.) restricted menu variety and dine-in popularity. By dedicating itself to drive-thru and take-out only, CosMc’s lost potential as a third-place choice like Starbucks.
What’s next for McDonald’s beverage ambitions
In closing CosMc’s, McDonald’s cemented its resolve in the $100 billion specialty beverage market. The chain will pilot:
- Afternoon package promotions with drinks accompanied by snacks such as Pretzel Bites.
- Turning seasonal drinks into CosMc’s-created flavors such as Pumpkin Chai.
- Enhanced cold brew technology to cut down wait time on personalized orders.
Kempczinski stressed that drink sales are still at the heart of profitability, which is 15–20% greater for drinks than for food.
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