Can shoppy shops like Foxtrot be all things to all people?

A friend texted me the day Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market suddenly ceased operations, closing all 35 locations in Chicago, D.C., and the state of Texas. As a passerby in a world where brands like Viori and Lululemon dominate everyday conversation, the news was the talk of her pilates class, composed of students mostly distraught over the loss of their beloved corner store chain. Their disbelief shouldn’t be a surprise. Foxtrot had developed a reputation among many Chicago residents for catering exclusively to the tastes and whims of the wealthier — and often Whiter — neighborhoods within the city while showing little to no interest elsewhere.

In the days that followed, some regular customers of the brands gathered at the locations across the country to mourn the closures. Often, these displays felt a bit more akin to parody. Where would they go for their matcha lattes? Where would they find inexpensive-but-not-cheap bottles of merlot? What would happen to the points they’d accrued?!

These responses snowballed on social media. A person claimed they moved to a neighborhood, in part, to be closer to a Foxtrot. It wasn’t public transportation, schools, or in-unit laundry. It was to be close to a store that has an app where you can order delivery.

The embellished reaction from observers overshadowed more frantic and uncertain discussions of what would come next for the hundreds of people who had suddenly lost jobs; workers were scrambling to find their next paychecks as vendors braced for the impact on their bottom lines. Kyoto Black, a Chicago-based cold brew coffee maker, was now without its biggest wholesale client and significantly more reliant on customers buying coffee subscriptions to buoy the business while it searched for new stockists. Pretty Cool Ice Cream, the confections company from James Beard Award-nominated pastry chef Dana Salls Cree, has asked customers to purchase surplus inventory because Foxtrot was also its largest account.

Foxtrot and Dom’s, which merged late last year to form Outfox Hospitality, haven’t publicly answered any requests from the media or taken many questions from their former workers. CEO Rob Twyman hung up on a conference call that broke the news of the shutdown to corporate workers on Tuesday, April 23, without fielding any questions. He did tell corporate employees they would not receive severance. In Illinois, “employers with 75 or more full-time employees (excluding part-time workers)” are required “to provide 60 days advance notice of pending plant closures or mass layoffs.” It appears Outfox violated the WARN Act — the company did email some workers a notice around 11 p.m. on April 23. That email also mentions that Outfox tried to find a buyer before the shutdown.

Workers were reportedly told to throw away the food that the stores had stocked, much to the chagrin of representatives from the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago’s largest food bank. A representative from the food bank told me over email they’d be happy to arrange a food rescue, but Outfox had yet to respond to their inquiries.

Since the announcement of their merger in November 2023, Dom’s and Foxtrot felt like odd dance partners: a two-location grocery store chain focused on Chicago combining with a corner store/tech company with visions of national domination. It’s as if the decision was more heavily fueled by projected profits than the brands’ actual creative scopes or goals, but both raised millions in venture capital. Both worked with well-known local chefs, stocked their shelves with the products those chefs created, and hosted cooking demonstrations. Their baristas made standard-issue coffee drinks — and some outposts served wine, providing the kind of third place that many yearned for with indoor dining shut down during the pandemic.

Originally created in response to COVID-19’s impact on the hospitality industry, Eater’s Guide on How to Help highlights a range of programs, organizations, and charities fighting hunger, developing sustainable food networks, and supporting unemployed workers.

Outfox’s cafes also provided competition for locally owned shops. Instead of being the plucky upstart they started as, they’d turned into Goliath. But despite a loyal fanbase, the company never achieved its potential. Outfox invested in pricey real estate in the hopes of becoming a one-stop shop for everything but never bothered to open locations on the South and West sides. When Dom’s opened its second location in 2022, some influential locals still saw opportunity in the brand’s expansion. Then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke with me about how grocery stores would be meaningful in addressing the gaps in reliable access to quality food in neighborhoods without many restaurant options. Food courts and halls could provide affordable and healthy choices, she told me, especially in light of the reduced costs of shared venues. Essentially, to Lightfoot, businesses structured similarly to Outfox’s ventures could have the best of both worlds by meeting the city’s very real needs while continuing to expand.

Three years later, that optimism sounds even more like campaign rhetoric, the kind of rhetoric that Dom’s and Foxtrot never wanted. They were ambitious. They wanted to be the one-stop shop for cool snacks, and trendy wines — a charming spot with a sidewalk patio where you pull up a laptop or catch up with friends.

Outfox wanted to be all things, but only to some people. And in the end, they’re nothing to anyone. —Ashok Selvam, editor, Eater Chicago

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