Mack Liederman's Tweet as reported in the WBEZ Rundown:

Frantic scene outside Dom’s Market in Lakeview as the grocer shuts down with little notice.

Employees were seen walking out with bags full of top-shelf liquor.

AaronSinger wrote:Feel for the employees, absolutely zero notice.

Hopefully they get money eventually. Lawsuit has been filed for a WARN Act violation.

Justin Doggett

Yesterday, my largest wholesale customer closed all locations without notice to employees or vendors. In fact, I delivered coffee to them the day before they shuttered. Kyoto Black was sold in 15 different Foxtrot locations around Chicago.
Their closure represents a loss of thousands of dollars of sales per month. It also devastates my brand presence. People would order from me directly all the time because they first had my coffee at Foxtrot.

This sudden loss requires me to move quickly. I need to recover the lost revenue ASAP. That's why I asking you to help.

If you are capable of subscribing to Kyoto Black, I would appreciate that. I would also appreciate if you could share this information with someone who would subscribe. Even subscribing for just a few months would greatly help

I need to add over 800 monthly subscribers, so this will take a lot of outreach. I'll have more to say soon, but for now I just need to get the word out.

I'm offering 10% off one-time orders and 20% off initial orders for subscriptions. Just use the code JUMPSTART at checkout. https://kyotostylecoffee.com/collections/all
Thank you!

A special place in hell for employers that pull this shit. It's happened to me twice.

Once in S.Fla the day after doing 400 brunches I came to work and found padlocks on the door. Lost my knives and a dozen or so cookbooks. Called the labor board and while understanding, told me they were understaffed and overworked and because it's a right to work state, they doubted anything would be done. Then in Chicago @ a wine bar on Division I had a yr long steady gig with my trio (Jazzfood Ensemble), I used to leave a drumkit there so I wouldn't have to load in/out every wk. "Thanks man, that was great, have a drink" says the owner post gig. So I do. That was Thurs. Saturday I walk by and there's those padlocks again. Took me over a month to get my vintage '67 Ludwig black oyster pearl a la Ringo drumkit back.

These people know they're about to close. They choose to use, fuck and discard you. With these type of ethics it's no wonder they go out of biz.

Crain's reports Foxtrot's assets sold at auction.

Assets belonging to shuttered upscale convenience store chain Foxtrot were sold at auction today for more than $2.2 million. The buyer was Further Point Enterprises, a holding company that already had Foxtrot listed in its portfolio.

The auction took place over a Microsoft Teams call and was conducted by JPMorgan Chase Bank, to which Foxtrot was a debtor, through its counsel, DLA Piper.

The assets of Foxtrot’s sister retailer, upscale grocery store Dom’s Kitchen & Market, were also up for auction today, but they were not sold, according to a person who was on the call. No bids were placed.
...
Included in the purchase were all of Foxtrot’s assets in which JPMorgan had a security interest. That included goods, equipment, inventory, intellectual property, figures and more. Leases were not included.

It looks like the intellectual property is not worth much. I doubt that any unsecured claims will get a cent. This looks like a great case of value destruction.

Fuck them both. You pimp your employees by closing w/o notice and it's no wonder you're out of biz.

Jazzfood wrote:Fuck them both. You pimp your employees by closing w/o notice and it's no wonder you're out of biz.

Amen to that... Somewhat related, it amazes me that Bob Mariano is held in such high esteem. He comes up with novel ideas that end up bleeding red ink, sells out (gets his) and he ends up unscathed....

cito wrote:

Jazzfood wrote:Fuck them both. You pimp your employees by closing w/o notice and it's no wonder you're out of biz.

Amen to that... Somewhat related, it amazes me that Bob Mariano is held in such high esteem. He comes up with novel ideas that end up bleeding red ink, sells out (gets his) and he ends up unscathed....

All the virtues of private equity rolled into one spectacular human being.

=R=

cito wrote:Somewhat related, it amazes me that Bob Mariano is held in such high esteem. He comes up with novel ideas that end up bleeding red ink, sells out (gets his) and he ends up unscathed....

Honest question here: What were his novel ideas? Yes, pre-Kroger Marianos was a fancy grocery store, but how was it significantly more advanced than Lunds/Byerly's in the Twin Cities, some of the Hy-Vee locations, even some of the Sunset Foods? Is there something I'm missing?

tjr wrote:

cito wrote:Somewhat related, it amazes me that Bob Mariano is held in such high esteem. He comes up with novel ideas that end up bleeding red ink, sells out (gets his) and he ends up unscathed....

Honest question here: What were his novel ideas? Yes, pre-Kroger Marianos was a fancy grocery store, but how was it significantly more advanced than Lunds/Byerly's in the Twin Cities, some of the Hy-Vee locations, even some of the Sunset Foods? Is there something I'm missing?

He was considered the mastermind behind Dominick’s “Fresh Stores”… Don’t know if he borrowed the concept from Byerly’s or if it was vice versa - this was decades ago.

Still on topic (I think), but over the last few years I've had a chance to sample grocery chain stores in the Washington, DC area as well as northern New England, and all I can say is that nobody's immune from the changes.

In DC--actually Woodley Park to Bethesda/Chevy Chase, MD--we've found that Safeway holds their own, Harris Teeter & the humongous Wegman's stores take care of the posh upper end, with Giant bringing up the rear with limited offerings and suspect cleanliness. Yecch--it's like T.J. Maxx opened a grocery. And filling a nice little niche is a smaller Whole Foods in Bethesda that without fanfare is a very pleasant place to shop--interesting & smart selections with nary a self-checkout kiosk. I used to mock them unmercifully but no more.

I think that's what's pissing off customers more than anything. Yesterday afternoon, drove to the local Hannaford's in York Beach, ME to pick up a few items for dinner. And with the store being only mildly busy, only two of 11 checkout lines were open, lines 5 and 6 deep, with a self-checkout queue snaking out into the aisles. By the time customers get up to the poor checkers, they're frothing at the mouth.

I'll cross my fingers for today's shopping foray and will visit a Market Basket store in Portsmouth, NH, hoping to pick up some nice salami & mortadella for an antipasto tomorrow. Market Baskets are small-aisled, someone's always clipping your ankles with a cart, but prices are very reasonable and its 'Italian-ness' (used to be called DeMoula's) reminds me of the old Dominick's days like my grandmother's Afghan.

Yes--Dominick's store #24 in Skokie, Oakton & Crawford. First real job at 16. Six checkout lanes jammed into a tiny store. Store manager Rich would get crazy when customer lines got long, and many times he'd jump out of the courtesy booth, open a closed register and check items like a maniac--no scanning in 1973. He taught the checkers and was still faster than any of them. We baggers hated them but wore our red vests with a laminated 'How May I Help You' tag, and if Rich thought you were lagging in the least as the canned goods or gefilte fish came down the conveyor, he'd push you aside, say 'stand here and watch' while having one hand inside the grocery bag, tossing items into it with the other, and placing them just right, never ever any breakage. It was partly for show, but also there was an intense pride on getting those customers in and out. FYI if anybody remembers, Heritage House was the 'house' brand in the days of our don Dominick DeMatteo. Never have seen a store operate like that since.

Foxtrot is poking its head back out of the den.

The high-end grocery and convenience store chain is aiming to reopen multiple locations in Chicago and Texas after suddenly closing 33 shops in those markets as well as Washington, D.C. on April 23.

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2024/05 ... urce=share

Dave148 wrote:

Foxtrot is poking its head back out of the den.

The high-end grocery and convenience store chain is aiming to reopen multiple locations in Chicago and Texas after suddenly closing 33 shops in those markets as well as Washington, D.C. on April 23.

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2024/05 ... urce=share

Zombie market? Yeah, kinda'. Either way, this one has some serious stink all over it. It's reminiscent in some ways of the shameful shit The Berghoff pulled back in the day . . .

Foxtrot is poking its head back out of the den.

The high-end grocery and convenience store chain is aiming to reopen multiple locations in Chicago and Texas after suddenly closing 33 shops in those markets as well as Washington, D.C. on April 23.

Multiple Chicago landlords are considering deals with the new ownership group of Foxtrot, which several people familiar with the matter have said involves the brand’s founder Mike LaVitola. Some other Chicago property owners have already refused to work with the company to reopen some stores, opting instead to try to snag new tenants to come into their spaces.

A landlord of Foxtrot’s former Southport Corridor location, at 3334 North Southport Avenue, is among those moving on from the retail chain despite receiving an inquiry about reopening made by the former tenant, according to a person familiar with the property.

Among others potentially following suit is Daryl Carter’s Avanath, a major multifamily investor that bought an apartment complex with a ground-floor former Foxtrot retail space for $119 million last year.

“Avanath is currently exploring multiple options for the former Foxtrot space at 2801 North Broadway,” said Carter, who noted that the property includes a 256-unit apartment complex with ground floor retail. “This is one of the most desirable retail locations in Chicago’s Lincoln Park and has generated significant tenant interest.”

The new owners of Foxtrot are said to be trying to keep the Avanath-owned location, as well as its stores on the Gold Coast, in Fulton Market, at West Hubbard and North Wells streets, and in Old Town, Uptown and at the Willis Tower, according to the sources. But it’s unclear if the chain has agreed to new deals with the landlords of all of those properties.
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It has struck at least one Chicago deal to reopen, though it has yet to perform on the new lease’s requirements such as paying back rent that became delinquent in recent weeks, according to another person familiar with the matter. Foxtrot has a couple weeks to make good on its promises, the person said.

LaVitola, who founded Foxtrot in 2013, is believed to be working with New York-based Further Point Enterprises, which won an auction last week for the brand’s intellectual property, inventory and other assets, with a bid of $2.2 million. The auction was led by JPMorgan Chase over a Microsoft Teams meeting, and was criticized by at least one attendee, Marc Nathan, who told trade publication C-Store Dive that the financial institution entertained no other bids.

LaVitola declined to comment through a representative. Further Point didn’t return requests for comment.

The new Foxtrot ownership group is hotter for some Chicago locations than others, as it’s renegotiated at least one lease at higher rents than previously while pursuing others with less zeal, according to the sources. It isn’t planning to reopen any Washington, D.C. stores, sources said.

The Foxtrot closures also impacted two Dom’s Kitchen & Market stores in Chicago. It’s unclear what will become of those locations. The two brands merged less than a year ago under the company name Outfox Hospitality. At least two Chicago landlords, including a venture of the Podmajersky real estate family, have filed eviction lawsuits against Foxtrot or Outfox ventures since the closures, including for its Pilsen location that the Podmajerskys own, Cook County court records show.

The brand’s former workers have also filed lawsuits against the retail company, seeking class-action status in Illinois courts for being laid off without warning as mandated by the state.

Foxtrot has been marketing its 25,000-square-foot office space at 167 North Green Street in Fulton Market for sublease in recent months. It’s unknown how its office space lease will be handled under the new ownership.

=R=

Perhaps the Outfox name should be a clue for employees, suppliers and landlords...beware the foxy fox, whether in grocers or electronics manufacturing, lest you and your wallet be foxed. Next chapter: government bailout?

tjr wrote:Perhaps the Outfox name should be a clue for employees, suppliers and landlords...beware the foxy fox, whether in grocers or electronics manufacturing, lest you and your wallet be foxed. Next chapter: government bailout?

We're firmly in an era of 'if it's not illegal, it's okay' and this seems to be a classic example of that principle at work.

=R=

Next chapter is chapter 7 filed yesterday by by Outfox according to story in Crain's Chicago Business. Filing document is attached to story.

I have seen a Tik Toc video showing one of the stores 3 weeks later with perishable food just sitting on the counters.

lougord99 wrote:I have seen a Tik Toc video showing one of the stores 3 weeks later with perishable food just sitting on the counters.

A bunch of them have had the lights on for weeks and visible rotting product!

tjr wrote:Perhaps the Outfox name should be a clue for employees, suppliers and landlords...beware the foxy fox, whether in grocers or electronics manufacturing, lest you and your wallet be foxed. Next chapter: government bailout?

Once they reopen they will tell their new associates "we are a family here"

Yes, a lot like the Gambino family.

lougord99 wrote:Yes, a lot like the Gambino family.

The former Lincoln Park location of Dom’s Kitchen & Market will soon be home to another upscale grocery store.

The Fresh Market, a North Carolina-based grocery chain, recently posted job openings for nine manager-level roles for a new store at 2730 N. Halsted St

https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/06/20 ... -location/

The Block Club story Dave linked quotes from a larger story on Crain's for those who have access beyond their paywall.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/retail/ ... ncoln-park

Foxtrot to Reopen in Gold Coast, Old Town, Wicker Park, and Fulton Market

https://chicago.eater.com/2024/7/22/242 ... ation-list