Popular bankrupt restaurant chain reopens first store

After bankruptcy, a five-month hiatus and a troubled lawsuit, a popular restaurant chain has risen from the dead, reopening its first store.

The coffee shop chain had several stores in the urban areas of Chicago, Texas and Washington DC, where its customers could enjoy a wide range of sandwiches, pastries, snacks and its famous coffee bar.

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While the reopening of stores is exciting news for some loyal customers of the once ousted establishment, others who felt betrayed by the company find the announcement appalling.

Chicago Foxtrot Buyer. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Chicago Tribune/Getty Images

A merger gone wrong

Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen & Market joined forces in late 2023 to form Outfox Hospitality with the goal of expanding its footprint in major US cities.

This company merger was created to combine regular stores with cafe food and give them a distinct, trendy urban twist that was convenient for on-the-go customers.

However, on April 23, just five months after forming this partnership, the new company was forced to close all of its locations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy to quickly pay off its mounting debts.

Foxtrot backlash while thousands left unemployed

This sudden filing caused a serious backlash among Outfox customers and employees.

Unfortunately, the company’s employees at the time were not informed of the plans to close the mass stores until the day of the announcement, leading them to learn their fate at the same time as regular customers.

About 100 corporate employees, along with 1,000 service workers, lost their jobs without warning.

Because of this propensity, former Outfox employees filed a class action lawsuit against the company.

The lawsuit alleged that the company violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires companies to give employees 60 days notice before any planned closings or mass layoffs.

In addition, he claimed that the company did not pay any unemployment benefits to his former employees.

Related: Bankrupt Popular Retailer Reopens After Suddenly Closing Stores

Foxtrot comes back to life

After a five-month hiatus, the famous Foxtrot Café & Market is reopening its doors to customers and has chosen Chicago and Dallas as the first cities to become part of the chain’s reopening execution.

The first Foxtrot location reopened on September 5th in Chicago’s Gold Coast with a completely new concept designed to better suit the modern urban lifestyle.

The company has revamped its cafe experience by introducing an expanded all-day menu with new and returning items.

To set itself apart from the rest, Foxtrot will also feature products made by small local producers in all its locations, from snacks to coffee.

More Foxtrots:

• Popular restaurant chain files for bankruptcy, closing all locations
• The popular bankrupt retailer is reopening after suddenly closing stores

While the company plans to open more locations, it is in no rush to do so and said it will gradually open them as it sees fit.

The company previously said it plans to reopen 15 stores, but is not specifying the number.

The reaction comes back to haunt Foxtrot

While the store’s reopening might excite some loyal Foxtrot fans, others aren’t too happy about the news.

On Foxtrot’s Instagram page, all pre-rebrand images have been removed and replaced with teasers of the store’s upcoming reopening.

However, the comments below the posts are extensive and don’t include much praise for Foxtrot; rather, users are incredibly vocal about the company’s past mistakes.

One Instagram user commented: “Ex supplier here – Still waiting for my March payment.”

Another user stated: “Have you paid all your former employees and small businesses you left in the dust?”

One seller commented, “We were charged 25K by our distributor that you made us sign up for because there is a product you ordered in stock when you closed.”

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