Dive Brief:
- Dozens of small business owners and consumers in Chicago are urging city officials to prevent Foxtrot from opening its next location in the city’s Andersonville neighborhood, according to a Tuesday report from Block Club Chicago.
- A letter sent to city officials notes that Foxtrot’s effort to open in Andersonville is part of a wider influx of larger chains taking opportunities from local small businesses, according to the report. The letter was signed by 41 small business owners in Chicago.
- The location would be Foxtrot’s 16th store in Chicago — its home base and largest market. The company did not respond by press time to a request to comment on the matter.
Dive Insight:
Beyond the letter to city officials, a separate public petition against Foxtrot’s arrival in Andersonville has garnered over 1,700 signatures as of midday Wednesday.
“Foxtrot offers nothing that the neighborhood’s businesses don’t already provide,” the public petition reads. “This directly threatens our locally owned business community offering coffee, liquor, grocery, convenience and food service.”
Business owner Mia Sakai, whose nearby food and gift shop is about a block away from the proposed Foxtrot, claims that Foxtrot’s staff have shopped at her store, asked questions about popular items, then stocked 25 to 30 of the same products and worked with the same vendors, according to the report.
Sakai told Block Club Chicago that Foxtrot has been “exploiting my ideas” and that this undermines her business.
In light of the neighborhood opposition, the building’s landlord said he’s decided to “also explore other tenant options for the space” in addition to Foxtrot, according to the report.
According to emails reviewed by Block Club Chicago, Foxtrot has reached out to Andersonville neighbors and officials for their support to enter the neighborhood, which the company had hoped would happen by spring 2024. The location would feature on-premise consumption of alcohol, as well as outdoor seating and delivery.
Foxtrot’s latest dispute comes about a week after the company revealed plans to merge with Chicago-based grocery chain Dom’s Kitchen & Market. The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year, will create a new food retail brand called Outfox Hospitality, with Foxtrot CEO Liz Williams leading the new company.
Foxtrot currently has 32 locations in the Chicago, Austin, Dallas and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas.
