Illinois-Based Company’s Abrupt Closure of 35 Stores Sends Shockwaves Through Communities

DEBARYLIFE – The same week that a Minnesota wedding venue shuttered without warning or reimbursement, another business committed the same travesties.

On one occasion, hundreds of workers at businesses in Illinois, Texas, and Washington, D.C., were abruptly laid off. Even after the stores had shuttered, patrons continued to enter!

You most likely noticed messages about Foxtrot abruptly closing if you were on X, also known as Twitter, this week.

This is a rather upscale store with a wide selection, in case you’re not familiar with the Chicago, Illinois, area. An “upscale convenience store, third-wave coffee shop, and wine boutique” is how The New Consumer best sums it up.

Regretfully, on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, all of that came to an end. News of Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market locations closing permanently leaked out while guests were still inside. Right now. This is the message that was shared on the companies’ websites and social media pages.

To the customers of Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market,

We have to tell you about a tough choice we had to make, and we do so with sorrowful hearts. Following extensive deliberation and assessment, we are sorry to notify you Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market will be shut as of April 23, 2024.

The shutdown impacts 33 Foxtrot locations and two Dom’s stores in the Chicago, Austin, Dallas, and Washington, DC areas. Even though we looked in all directions and made a lot of effort, we were unable to find a workable solution to carry on the business.

They continued to express their “gratitude” to both customers and staff in the note.

We have given careful thought to this choice and are aware of how it would affect both our committed team members and you, our devoted customers. We would like to sincerely thank you for all of your help and support over the years.

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For those who share our passion for food, transforming the ordinary into an extraordinary shopping experience has been our greatest honor. Serving you and participating in your daily lives has been an honor.

There is, at least, an apology. This one seems a little forced as if it wasn’t intended. Just saying.

We acknowledge that some of you may be surprised by this news, and we sincerely regret any inconvenience this may have caused. We truly thank you for your patience during this trying period.

thanking once more before introducing the terms “loyalty” and “trust” into the conversation. You just broke that, just so you know.

We’d like to take this chance to express our gratitude to every one of you for your patronage of Dom’s and Foxtrot. Serving you has been an honor, and the memories we have made together will always be treasured.

We extend our gratitude to our team members who have dedicated themselves throughout the years to offering a distinctive assortment of premium items and fostering an exceptional in-store customer experience. Last but not least, we want to express our gratitude to all of our partners, without whom we could not have developed such a powerful brand.

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That’s right—one of my major pet peeves with corporate America, or any corporation for that matter—is that they don’t have the decency to be open and honest with their employees about closures.

I’ve written about a lot of businesses closing, but this particular scenario involving consumers in the store may be the worst I’ve seen to date. This closure will likely be used as a real-world example of “What Not to Do When You Own a Company” in a Business 101 lesson.

Clients observed Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen and Market are the locations that close.
Customer Dana Wexler visited one of the locations shortly after the news broke, and she posted on Facebook about what she saw:

I was unaware that Foxtrot had combined with Doms Market. The entire staff was crying and wailing when I noticed them while I was having a snack.

At both locations, everyone was fired at midday and sent home with immediate effect. All were taken aback. They simply eliminated a great deal of employment.

Is it possible for you to enter such chaos? You just wanted to treat yourself to a fun snack or cup of coffee, but when you open the door, all you see are sobbing individuals. Not the vibe that these establishments are known to provide their patrons.

Additional Responses to the Sudden Closure of Dom’s Kitchen and Market and Foxtrot

A corporation with numerous locations attracts a large number of clients and staff members. A selection of responses to this week’s news is shown below.

Workers File Lawsuit Against Parent Company Outfox Hospitality, Which Owns Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen and Market

USAToday.com reports that Jamile Moore, one of the workers who was fired abruptly, filed a complaint on Wednesday, April 24. He is not alone; thousands of workers at Dom’s Kitchen and Market and Foxtrot also went through this. If this closure affected you, have a look at this case to determine if you are among the other class-action participants.