Foxtrot is returning — but with plenty of questions about its future

Dive Brief:

Bankrupt convenience retailer Foxtrot Market is expected to reopen several locations in Chicago, Dallas and Austin this summer, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
The reopened stores will maintain Foxtrot’s layout and merchandising as well as its focus on small, local vendors, the spokesperson said. They also noted that the full list of store openings will be announced in the coming weeks and will include Chicago’s Old Town and Gold Coast locations.
Mike LaVitola, who founded Foxtrot in 2014 and moved into a chairman role last year, will lead this initiative, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson declined to comment on how LaVitola has re-connected with Foxtrot after all of the company’s officers were terminated when the retailer filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month.

Dive Insight:

About three weeks after Foxtrot suddenly ceased all operations, holding company Further Point Enterprises acquired the non-real-estate assets — such as inventory and intellectual property — for 15 of its locations.

In recent days, bankruptcy court documents showed that Further Point entered into lease agreements for six of Foxtrot’s former c-stores in Chicago. Those six locations were part of the group of 15 stores whose assets it acquired for $2.2 million.

Although Foxtrot’s spokesperson declined to share how LaVitola is able to reopen several locations after being removed from the company, signs point to LaVitola being connected to Further Point. Earlier this week, C-Store Dive learned that Foxtrot’s spokesperson also represents Daniel Magruder, managing partner for Further Point.

Magruder has not responded to multiple inquiries to comment on Further Point becoming the tenant for six Foxtrot Locations.

If the six stores Further Point is leasing are included in LaVitola’s reopening plan, plenty of cleanup and maintenance will be required at these locations, which are scattered across Chicago’s Old Town, Wicker Park, Gold Coast and Fulton Market neighborhoods.

When C-Store Dive visited four of these six locations this week, three had perishable goods stocked on shelves in the stores, while the fourth’s windows were taped over. The exteriors of multiple locations were also in poor condition, with the Old Town store’s patio littered with broken glass and food wrappers, while the Wicker Park store’s building was spray painted with graffiti.