FOXTROT AND DOM’S FALLOUT CONTINUES AS LIQUIDATION LOOMS

It’s been over a week since all 35 Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market stores shut down in Chicago, the D.C. area, and the state of Texas and a cloud of uncertainty remains. There have been rumblings of a Chapter 7 liquidation with an asset auction happening later this month, but that has yet to be confirmed by Eater. There are no answers at storefronts, still stocked with food that organizations like the Greater Chicago Food Depository would love to rescue.

The depository hasn’t heard from parent company Outfox Hospitality, and neither have vendors like Dana Cree Salls, owner of Pretty Cool Ice Cream. Salls Cree, an acclaimed pastry chef and author, tells Eater she’s reached out to Outfox — Foxtrot represented her largest account — but no one has responded. She’s asked for the public’s help in buying inventory that Pretty Cool was to deliver to Foxtrot. To worsen matters? Foxtrot closed on Salls Cree’s birthday.

Despite the challenge, Salls Cree says Pretty Cool is hiring which would make the ice cream shop a nice land spot for former Dom’s or Foxtrot workers. Others in Chicago’s culinary community are stepping up. Derrick Tung at Paulie Gee’s Pizza is offering specials for Foxtrot and Dom’s workers throughout May. For vendors, like Pretty Cool, that need a place to sell their goods, Tung is offering vendors space at his pizzeria on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Logan Square. Interested vendors can register via a Google Form. Tung says he lacks any direct connections with Foxtrot. His Wicker Park pizzeria is across from a Foxtrot store and some workers would stop in for a slice.

While some note — and resent — that Foxtrot and Dom’s only had North Side locations, one South Sider wants to help. Ed Marszewski of Marz Community Brewing is pushing his brewery’s initiative, Snack Wave, to help former Foxtrot and Dom’s vendors. The program’s purpose is to sell snacks made in Chicago or its surroundings at Marz’s McKinley Park and Bucktown breweries: “If you are a producer or know someone who is a producer who has been affected by the closures, contact us, or please tag them and send them our way,” Marszewski writes on Instagram. “We will do our best to try selling the products in our spots. We can’t guarantee that everything will be a fit with us, but we will consider every product sent our way.”

Signage remains at all Foxtrot’s and Dom’s locations, including in River North where “coming soon” messages are up where Dom’s planned to open. In Lincoln Park, paper signs list Cash App and Venmo handles from former employees at a space shared with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, 900 W. Armitage Avenue. A “for lease” sign is also up in the window, though it’s partially covered by painted letters. A small paper sign reads that Jeni’s remains open. Another reads that Jeni’s is “getting a facelift, but are still open!”

Despite the signs, a Jeni’s rep tells Eater that the store is temporarily closed and that they have no further information. Large lines are familiar sights during the summer with customers waiting for ice cream on Armitage. As Foxtrot and Dom’s closures surprised its employees, Jeni’s also seems to need a minute to plot their next step in Lincoln Park.

2024-05-03T20:08:21Z dg43tfdfdgfd