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Less than a month ago, Foxtrot and Dom’s Kitchen and Market abruptly ceased operations at all locations after finding “no viable option” to continue the business just five months after merging to form Outfox Hospitality.
This week, Outfox Hospitality filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, per a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. In the filing, the company claimed 5,001 to 10,000 creditors and $10 million to $50 million in estimated assets, with the same range claimed for liabilities.
The filing notes that store locations are “in need of immediate action” due to the presence of perishable goods. It also indicates that Outfox’s board approved and authorized the filing on April 23, the day all Foxtrot and Dom’s locations were shut down. Caroline Barry, Outfox’s secretary and treasurer and Foxtrot’s former VP of strategy, is serving as the company’s designated representative.
The filing follows the foreclosure sale of Outfox’s assets held on May 10, when holding company Further Point Enterprises, an existing investor in Foxtrot, bought the chain’s assets for $2.2 million. JPMorgan Chase conducted the sale, which spanned assets like inventory, IP, furniture, and equipment, per C-Store Dive. No bids were placed on assets from Dom’s.
Several outlets have noted leases were not included in the asset auction. Real estate news publication The Real Deal reported this week that the chain may be looking to re-open some locations in Chicago and Texas, with at least one deal to reopen in Chicago secured. Sources told the outlet the brand’s founder and former CEO Mike LaVitola is involved in these talks.
Foxtrot and Outfox are also facing legal action, as days after the shutdown it was sued by former employees seeking a class-action lawsuit for allegedly violating the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires companies with 75 or more employees to give 60 days notice before a mass layoff. A WARN notice from the company was received by the state on April 24, which identified 281 layoffs from Dom’s Kitchen & Market and 66 from Foxtrot Ventures, Inc., a day after the layoffs were conducted, as the filing notes.