After turning from one of the darlings of the Chicago startup scene into a cautionary tale for the investment community, Foxtrot made its comeback this month, and original founder Mike LaVitola is once again excited for what the future holds.
Foxtrot reopened its first store in the Gold Coast on Sept. 5 following the brand's sudden closure in April. LaVitola said he expected the Old Town store to be the next location to open — as early as next week depending on licenses.
He'll focus on Foxtrot's existing locations as the specialty grocery store looks to regain its footing in Chicago's food scene.
"We've got seven or eight here in Chicago. We've got another two down in Dallas. So over the next while, it's going to be all about building up Chicago and Dallas," LaVitola said in a candid conversation with NBC 5 Chicago's Steve Dolinsky at a virtual event held by the Executives' Club of Chicago on Thursday.
At its peak, Foxtrot had as many as 33 locations across Chicago; Dallas; Austin, Texas; and Washington, D.C.
Some of its Chicago locations have already been replaced, including two in Lincoln Park that signed new leases to Hotel Chocolat over the summer, according to CoStar.
LaVitola said the pace of reopening going forward will be dependent on the pace of hiring as each store needs "at least 25 to 30" people. It will also be determined by licenses.
With a new company taking over, it requires new licenses for everything, he said.
Reviving Foxtrot with its 'same ethos'
Though the combination would last only a few months, Foxtrot merged with Dom's Kitchen & Market in late 2023 to become Outfox Hospitality, though both food retail ventures kept their respective names.
LaVitola addressed keeping the Foxtrot name through the business' relaunch, saying said that anything else "would have felt like a cop-out."
The sudden shutdown of all of its grocery stores across the city sent shockwaves through food creators and investors alike and put many vendors and employees in a tough situation.
"If it's us coming back and it's our same ethos ... we have to own up to what happened and try to make it right," he said.
The new Foxtrot is about getting back to what made it successful in the first place, LaVitola said.
"The whole ethos of Foxtrot was that we're not going have 15 different kinds of bourbon — we're going to have three, and they are going to be fantastic and we're going to tell you a story about why we picked these three," he said.
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