Foxtrot and Dom’s Face a Lawsuit While Former Vendors Scramble For Solutions
<div><figure> <img alt="The facade of a store with revolving door." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rcPZBIzAGcwu7gekSvxjq4VH1Y4=/45x0:1468x1067/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73309088/52475018933_ebd4f7205c_h.0.jpg"> <figcaption>What will replace Dom’s Kitchen & Market in Old Town? | Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago</figcaption> </figure> <p>A local coffee maker Kyoto Black — without warning — is left without its biggest wholesale customer</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap" id="HuZagd"><a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2024/4/23/24138226/foxtrot-dom-kitchen-market-bankrupcty-closing">The debris continues to fall in Chicago</a> where earlier this week, the city saw all 15 <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/venue/foxtrot">Foxtrot</a> convenience stores and two <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/venue/dom-s-kitchen-market-2">Dom’s Kitchen & Market</a> locations suddenly close. Ex-employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against Outfox Hospitality, claiming they weren’t given proper notice of mass layoffs.</p> <p id="bnh2Ms"><a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/work/2024/04/26/foxtrot-workers-rally-demanding-back-pay-doms-kitchen-outfox-hospitality-grocers-closure">Protestors assembled Friday morning</a> outside of Foxtrot’s commissary in Pilsen, but legal experts remain divided <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/small-business/2024/04/24/doms-kitchen-market-foxtrot-class-action-lawsuit-warn-act-layoffs">on whether Outfox will be held legally accountable</a>. Earlier this year, unionized ex-workers at the Signature Room <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2024/3/29/24115502/signature-room-lawsuit-ruling-hancock-authnetico-tortilla-nlrb-complaint-one-off-customer-app">won their lawsuit</a> that accused restaurant management of violating the <a href="https://dceo.illinois.gov/workforcedevelopment/warn.html">Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act</a>, a safe measure requiring companies to file a notice of mass layoff with the government. Eater reviewed an email sent to some ex-Foxtrot workers dated 11 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, and signed by Outfox CEO Rob Twyman notifying employees that their jobs would be immediately eliminated and stating the message was following state law. The letter does not mention the 60-day notice the law stipulates and came after the stores closed.</p> <p id="xdOXYu">Outfox formed after Chicago-based Dom’s and Foxtrot <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/11/27/23978553/specialty-grocers-chicago-foxtrot-doms-merge-outfox-williams-fitzgerald-mariano">combined last year</a>. Foxtrot debuted as a delivery-only app in 2016 that expanded into the convenience store space opening locations in Texas, and the D.C. area. Dom’s debuted <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2021/6/8/22524825/doms-kitchen-market-grocery-retail-shopping-specialty-ingredients-chicago-photos">in 2021 in Lincoln Park</a>. Both entities had major designs on scaling. In the aftermath of the closures, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing — which former employees told Eater to look out for — has yet to pop up, clouding the picture of what went wrong. Outfox hasn’t responded to media inquiries and former vendors tell Eater they haven’t heard anything from them either. They now join the graveyard of Chicago grocery brands like White Hen Pantry, Dominick’s Finer Foods, and Moo & Oink. </p> <figure class="e-image"> <img alt="BIZ-GROCERY-FOXTROT-DOMS-MERGER-2-TB" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/88rYzxRXj-YcQb__UuqJrzL2zrg=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25420450/1806657255.jpg"> <cite>John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images</cite> <figcaption>Grabbed and gone.</figcaption> </figure> <p id="EXMjou">But as the legal theater begins to play out, workers are setting up <a href="https://www.instagram.com/foxtrot_md_tips?igsh=MTVoMGFhdHpzdGxkMw==">online fundraisers</a> and scrambling for jobs. In Chicago, the 17 potential real estate vacancies (liquidation could slow things down), are creating a feeding frenzy. Independent grocers, liquor shop owners, and would-be restaurant owners are contacting their real estate agents, hoping to cut deals with landlords on some prime retail spaces on the North Side. </p> <p id="KoJsVt">Fresh Market Place in Bucktown is an independent grocer that’s become a champion of local vendors, where many chefs from Chicago’s top restaurants shop.</p> <p id="8Fme9F">“I would, at the very least, I would listen to an offer,” Fresh Market GM Kostas Drosos says. “I definitely will inquire — or maybe I have inquired already.” </p> <p id="GAF2wY">The demand for the Foxtrot and Dom’s locations contrasts with what’s happening on the West and South sides, where residents have clamored for more investment. The city has struggled to find a tenant in Englewood <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2022/5/2/23053317/whole-foods-englewood-grocery-ravenswood-restaurant-delivery-bombobar-marz-malort-spritz">to replace Whole Foods</a>. Locals seeking an upscale retailer with a similar cachet were rendered disappointed <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/business/2023/12/6/23990961/yellow-banana-ohio-sued-unpaid-bill-sells-florida-save-a-lot-stores-canfield-chicago">by the pending arrival of Yellow Banana</a>, a division of Ohio-based Save A Lot. Some Chicagoans aren’t missing Foxtrot or Dom’s. You can’t miss <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C6Hh0XGBLC9/">what you never had</a>.</p> <div class="c-float-right"><div id="T6Ume7"> <blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtCVe-QLNFO/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtCVe-QLNFO/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewbox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div> </div></a><p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CtCVe-QLNFO/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Kyoto Black (@kyotoblackcoffee)</a></p> </div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script> </div></div> <p id="TdWBhh">Meanwhile, <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/venue/fancy-plants-cafe-2">Fancy Plants Cafe</a> owner Kevin Schuder spent much of the week trying to reach Dom’s and Foxtrot, hoping to connect them with the Great Chicago Food Depository. He’s had no luck, and his frustrations spiked <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/small-business/2024/04/23/doms-kitchen-foxtrot-closing-stores-grocers-outfox-hospitality-merged">after a <em>Sun-Times</em> report</a> saying workers were instructed to throw away food. Drosos compares that to when Stanley’s, a tiny independent market on the corner of North and Elston Avenue, was razed in anticipation of the Lincoln Yards development. He remembers handing out business cards and hiring a few Stanley’s workers in the two weeks before <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2019/04/23/popular-produce-market-stanleys-abruptly-closes-real-estate-remains-for-sale/">its closure in 2019</a>.</p> <p id="wAVpVF">“Stanley’s put in notice two weeks out and said ‘Come on in, guys!’” Drosos recalls. “They were giving away the food — come in, we’re going to be closing and we’re giving discounts.”</p> <p id="Yhb226">Foxtrot and Dom’s shared some similarities, but it wasn’t a precise fit. Both wanted to attract upscale restaurant customers. They recruited chefs for cooking demonstrations and sold gourmet items with the chefs’ names. The latter was ripped from Trader Joe’s playbook. The concerns were detailed nicely earlier this month <a href="https://tastecooking.com/we-need-to-talk-about-trader-joes/">in an article by Adam Reiner in Taste</a>.</p> <p id="Hkk3vJ">But as Foxtrot raced for scale, with locations in high-rent areas like Fulton Market, execs may have skipped a step in establishing community roots, something Drosos says is integral to Fresh Market’s success. In Andersonville, Foxtrot attempted to open near <a href="https://andalemarket.com/">Andale Market</a>, a small independent shop that stocked specialty items from the kind of vendors Foxtrot desired. Locals <a href="https://www.supermarketnews.com/news/foxtrot-faces-pushback-plans-open-chicago-neighborhood">pushed back</a>.</p> <p id="5Ha1nB">That disconnect with Foxtrot and its community might be why Palita Sriratana says her sales at Fresh Market and <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=66960X1516589&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhereheremarket.com%2F%3Futm_source%3Dads%26utm_medium%3Dgs%26utm_campaign%3Dads_gs_branded0823%26gad_source%3D1%26gclid%3DCjwKCAjwoa2xBhACEiwA1sb1BLFqSAH8MGlsVcjUNRIVqkQczD9cWQinNIUdC54n3Mo5SmFQkStznhoCTWgQAvD_BwE&referrer=eater.com&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fchicago.eater.com%2F2024%2F4%2F26%2F24141661%2Ffoxtrot-doms-kitchen-market-outfox-closing-future-kyoto-black-pink-salt-here-here-fresh-market" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Here Here Market</a> exceeded her brand’s sales at Foxtrot. In November, her company Pink Salt was selected through Foxtrot’s <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/91005317/foxtrot-market-corner-store-up-comer-award-next-big-snack-geem-tings">Up and Comer</a> competition, recognizing vendors selling new snacks, dips, and coffees — stuff Foxtrot wanted to scale and sell nationwide. Sriratana makes a Thai chili jam, which belongs in the same genre as chile crunch, <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2024/4/17/24126541/chicago-chili-crisp-local-vendors-momofuku-david-chang-anna-desai">David Chang be damned</a>.</p> <p id="EdHmqj">Sriratana describes the terms of winning as restrictive. They sounded like the stringent restrictions reality TV show contestants face; winners were barred from selling their products at “major retailers.” There were “unrealistic” deadlines as Pink Salt geared up for the holiday gift-giving season — Foxtrot wanted enough jars of jam to stock at 54 stores versus the eight stores initially ordered. Sriratana says “she held her breath” and carried on with production. She says the system feels “predatory to a very vulnerable group of small makers.” </p> <p id="DmoetK">“I feel sad for the brands that opened [production orders] and took out loans to meet their scale,” Sriratana says.</p> <p id="FgObaF">Here Here, founded in 2021, aimed to give vendors like Sriratana more control. Disha Gulati founded the startup in 2021 to give chefs including Rick Bayless and Stephanie Izard a digital marketplace for sauces, pasta, and spices, It allowed lesser-known names a chance to establish their brands nationally. Over the past few days, Gulati and Drosos have been inundated with requests from former Foxtrot vendors wanting shelf space. Both say they’ll expedite the process to help. Gulati says she spends much of her time connecting vendors so they could better share their experiences and succeed. She feels that’s why they feel a “strong sense of community on our platform.”</p> <figure class="e-image"> <img alt=" " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1DMyGBCS_PihCmnl-Mw223EhIro=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25420325/53139047939_b3ff7f5ac1_o.jpg"> <cite>Garrett Sweet/Eater Chicago</cite> <figcaption>Foxtrot had an eye toward upscale customers.</figcaption> </figure> <p id="JlK7oH">Gulati was careful not to villainize Outfox, saying she doesn’t know what pressures they faced: “Them going under might have been inevitable,” she says.</p> <p id="HBGCCk">But when discussing how Outfox closed without warning without informing vendors, Gulati says: “One hundred percent they should have done it differently.”</p> <p id="Uq1Ccc">Justin Doggett has sold his <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/venue/kyoto-black">Kyoto Black</a> bottled cold brew coffees at Foxtrot since 2021 when the store reps approached him saying they wanted to stock his coffee. He never worried about Foxtrot reverse engineering his Kyoto-style cold brews: “It’s fairly unique, it’s a very niche product,” he says.</p> <p id="ANTwcc">Foxtrot represented his biggest wholesale customer — all 15 Chicago Foxtrots stocked Kyoto Black. The sudden loss of the marketplace has forced Doggett to launch a campaign <a href="https://kyotostylecoffee.com/collections/all">to grow his monthly subscription base</a>, where customers would buy coffee directly from him. He says he’s had zero contact with Foxtrot since the announcement and feels blindsided.</p> <p id="71lPD6">“Their closure represents a loss of thousands of dollars of sales per month,” Doggett wrote in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/doggettjustin/posts/pfbid06AoPeNCcFh5rWSfrBB1J6tEBKjvRpHofDAJFBisccGEQJWbW581qkD2Au1xJpGQ8l">Facebook post</a> from Tuesday, April 23. “It also devastates my brand presence. People would order from me directly all the time because they first had my coffee at Foxtrot.”</p> <p id="ev8MDk">Doggett says he made $120 in coffee deliveries on Monday. If this was in June, prime cold brew season, that delivery could have been larger. He’s looking for 800 new monthly customers; basically converting his Foxtrot customers to direct customers.</p> <p id="1cdBFq">Some independent coffee shops, the same ones that Foxtrot sought to compete with, are helping out. <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/venue/side-practice-coffee">Side Practice Coffee</a> and Drip Collective have offered to sell Kyoto Black while Doggett adjusts. He knows that he won’t make up for the loss immediately. He also stressed that the workers he interacted with treated him well and shouldn’t be conflated with the corporate business.</p> <p id="wZ1LaJ">History has repeated itself for Sriratana who has experience with start-ups suddenly closing; Pink Salt was also the name for her Thai food stall inside <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/venue/fulton-galley-2">Fulton Galley</a>, a food hall in Fulton Market. It closed in 2019, without warning, <a href="https://chicago.eater.com/2019/11/7/20953725/fulton-galley-food-hall-chicago-closing">after being open for five months</a>. The space — located less than a half mile west from Outfox’s headquarters — remains vacant. </p> <p class="c-end-para" id="lkVj8j">“My experience with Fulton Galley made me not trust the partnership with Foxtrot and pushed me to really value independent businesses — I cannot stress that enough,” she says.</p> <aside id="IJCOOg"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"chicago-eater"}'></div></aside><p id="COS1H4"></p> <p id="887sxU"></p> <p id="fA5cLY"></p> <p id="k7qBOO"></p></div>