Small-Format Grocers Foxtrot, Dom's Closing All Locations 5 Months After Merger

Foxtrot Location At 1560 N. Wells St In Chicago's Old Town Neighborhood.

Less than six months after merging, grocers Foxtrot Market and Dom's Kitchen & Market are closing all stores, effective immediately.

The closures affect 33 Foxtrot locations in Chicago, Washington, D.C., Austin and Dallas. Dom's two storefronts are in Chicago.

Foxtrot's first location locked its doors and sent employees home before 10 a.m., Crain's reported. The retailers, known for their delivery service, stopped accepting orders Tuesday morning and shut their app down. Employees were not notified in advance, according to Crain's.

"We explored many avenues to continue the business but found no viable option despite good faith and exhaustive efforts," a press release from the companies said.

Representatives from Foxtrot and Dom's did not immediately respond to Bisnow's request for comment.

The companies merged in November in an all-stock deal, emerging as Outfox Hospitality. Foxtrot CEO Liz Wiliams took over the helm while Dom's Kitchen co-founder Don Fitzgerald and Chairman Jay Owen assumed president and chairman roles, respectively. In February, Rob Twyman replaced Williams as CEO.

At the time of the merger, Owen said the companies were disrupting the grocery shopping landscape and redefining the neighborhood market. He said Outfox "will certainly be watched in the coming years as to how we are able to have that play out."

Urban convenience store Foxtrot was founded in 2013 and raised over $160M across several rounds of funding before the merger, Crain's reported. Upscale grocer Dom's Kitchen and Market was co-founded in 2021 by Bob Mariano, founder of Kroger subsidiary Mariano's, which operates 44 Illinois locations. It raised $50M prior to Outfox.

Grocery and convenience mergers have been frequent in recent years. Some have proved successful, such as Aldi acquiring 400 Winn-Dixie and Harvey stores in August. It has plans to open 800 storefronts in the next five years.

Others are up in the air. In 2022, Kroger and Albertsons announced a $25B merger, the largest of its kind. The move has been challenged by the Federal Trade Commission due to its size. One federal lawsuit later, the two agreed to sell 579 stores Monday to reduce antitrust concerns and hopefully push the deal approvals along.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Inside The Nationwide Jockeying For Opportunity Zones 2.0

Furniture Outlet The Dump Is Getting Dumped In Atlanta

Simon Approaching End Of The Road With Struggling Suburban Boston Mall

GTIS Partners Rebrands As Brightshore Capital, Launches $250M Debt Platform

Data Center Spills 5,000 Gallons Of Fuel Into New Jersey River

Hines And Rialto Close Office Credit Fund At $1.1B

Chipotle Adding Hundreds Of New Locations Worldwide

'Beyond A Routine Wobble': 10-Year Treasury Clears 5% Ahead Of Key Fed Meeting

Stockdale Capital Partners, Hamilton Lane Acquire Chino Hills Shopping Center For $157M

Bucks County Mall Closing As Owners Prepare Redevelopment Plans

Trump's DEI Crackdown Is Creating New Risks For Landlords That Lease To The Government

Airbnb Launches $250M Fund To Invest In Affordable Housing