Foxtrot to reopen third location in Chicago on Thursday

Foxtrot Cafe and Market will reopen in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago on Thursday.

This is the third location that the urban convenience-store chain is reopening in Chicago, in addition to Gold Coast and Old Town, after closing all of its stores in April.

The Wicker Park store is located at 1722 W. Division St.

The reopening will feature an expanded coffee experience and a reimagined food offering, both of which will roll out across all stores. The chains full-day menu features breakfast, lunch, afternoon and snack offerings, including:

The operations will include significantly faster fulfillment times and fresher ingredients, according to Foxtrot.

To celebrate the grand opening of its Wicker Park location, the cafe will offer a free coffee to all visitors on Oct. 17 between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m., with no purchase necessary. Additionally, Foxtrot will host happy hours on Oct. 18 and 19 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., featuring $4 draft and $7 wine pours.

Foxtrot has also relaunched its app. Cafe items are accessible through the app for in-store pickup, allowing customers to skip the lines. Menu items can be picked up in-store within 30 minutes or delivered in one hour.

What Happened to Foxtrot?

After closing all of its locations in April, Foxtrot's assets were sold to holding company Further Point Enterprises at an online auction in May for more than $2.2 million. Days later, Outfox Hospitality, parent company of  Foxtrot and small-format grocer Dom’s Kitchen and Market, filed for bankruptcy.

Further Point then approached LaVitola and asked if he wanted to return to help run a revival of Foxtrot, he said.

The new Foxtrot has “simplified its operations,” LaVitola told CSP, going back to how it operated three or four years ago. The company ran with about 2,500 SKUs at first, which grew to about 5,000 in the last five years, he said.

The Gold Coast and Old Town locations are the first of about 10 that the urban convenience-store chain plans to revive, mostly in Chicago and some in Austin, Texas.

Foxtrot was founded in 2014 as a delivery company selling snacks, beer and wine, and grew into a corner store-restaurant hybrid that featured high-end package goods, prepared foods, coffee bars and wine bars. The chain, once billed as the “convenience store of the future,” raised more than $160 million to fuel its growth over its lifetime.

This story was originally featured on CSP Daily News, a sister publication of Supermarket News.