The Foxtrot-Dom’s Saga Continues
The curious case of the demise of Outfox Hospitality and its merged Foxtrot Market and Dom’s Kitchen & Market banners continues. This week, Outfox filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the District of Delaware, claiming that it cannot pay its creditors and listed its value and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million, with a range of 5,001 to 10,000 creditors.
The legal move follows the May 10 online auction of its assets conducted by the DLA Piper law firm that works with Foxtrot creditor JPMorgan Chase Bank. That virtual event garnered buzz for its perceived low accepted bid of $2.2 million for Foxtrot’s assets. Crain's Chicago Business reported that a private holding company called Further Point Enterprises made the solo and winning bid for Foxtrot’s assets; the auction ended when no offers were accepted for the estimated $200,000 in assets from Dom’s Kitchen & Market.
According to a report in Eater Chicago, the online auction was somewhat of a head-scratcher because of the swiftness of the bid acceptance and the seemingly vague descriptions of both Foxtrot’s and Dom’s available assets. Following the awarding of Foxtrot’s assets to Further Point Enterprises, potential bidders and other interested parties who attended the virtual event reportedly stayed on the virtual platform to speculate on what had transpired.
Eater Chicago shared that one of the people on that call was Jordan Tepper, co-founder of cocktail company Apologue and a former supplier to Foxtrot. In a LinkedIn post, Tepper asked, “What the HECK was that ‘auction’ put on by JPMorgan Chase & Co.?” He also wrote that Further Point Enterprises is rumored “to be in collaboration with” Foxtrot’s founder Michael LaVitola to revive some Foxtrot locations.
That rumor is gaining steam in some circles. The Real Deal, a real-estate news site, reported that Foxtrot may be working to reopen a few physical stores, with landlords in Chicago allegedly receiving inquiries from the new holders of Foxtrot’s assets. According to The Real Deal, sources familiar with the situation indicated that LaVitola may be part of the revival.
Progressive Grocer reached out to Further Point Enterprises, but did not receive a response as of press time.
Outfox Hospitality was formed in late 2023, when Foxtrot and Dom’s agreed to merge. Dom’s was in the midst of an expansion, working on a third location in Chicago this year, while Foxtrot was also adding new stores, including a site in Washington, D.C. In March, a new CEO, former Whole Foods Market executive Rob Twyman, took the reins at Outfox.
