- Credibility:
BUCKTOWN — Bucktown grocery store Local Foods and butcher shop Butcher & Larder will close their retail operations this month, the company announced.
Tucked away near the Chicago River along the Elston Avenue industrial corridor, Local Foods, 1427 W. Willow St., operates as a retail grocery store and a wholesale food distributor, connecting Chicago restaurants with local farmers.
A specialty butcher shop inside the store, Butcher & Larder focuses on premium meats sourced from farms across the Midwest, “taking care to utilize every possible bit of the animal – from head to tail,” according to its website.
But in a social media post last week, the company announced both retail operations will close permanently March 26.
“Our staff has been incredibly flexible and supportive over the past year as we have attempted multiple approaches to make the business viable,” the post reads. “Unfortunately, our best efforts have not been successful in the face of an isolated location and macroeconomic headwinds.”
The store is offering up to 50 percent off specialty grocery items until its closure. Butcher & Larder will continue operations until that day, too.
Local Foods will still operate its wholesale distribution business after its retail division closes. The wholesale arm had record sales last year, according to the company.
“We look forward to continuing to provide source-identified foods to restaurants, schools, businesses, and other food operations committed to supporting sustainable food systems,” according to the closure announcement.
During the early days of the pandemic, Local Foods decided to fully shift to curbside grocery pickup and delivery, even though it could have stayed open as an essential business.
Customers were able to order their groceries online, limiting contact with Local Foods staff.
“When you’re dealing with something like a pandemic and a virus there’s so much you can’t control,” the company’s co-founder Dave Rand told Block Club in April 2020. “We felt very strongly about was that we wouldn’t risk our employees at the expense of the business.”
Current Local Foods President Andrew Morgan said the initial months of the pandemic were actually great for the store, as more people spent money on groceries while restaurants were closed. But Local Foods was slower than its competitors to return to in-person shopping, he said, which had a lasting impact on the business.
“I think that unfortunately kind of took a big hit and then when we finally reopened to the public and in-person shopping, people’s behavior and their normal weekly stuff, the way that they shopped, it had changed and we largely fell out of that part of their routine,” he said.
The store’s out of the way location also remained a challenge, as did its specific focus on local products, Morgan said.
Morgan said Tuesday the company is working with its staff to connect them to possible jobs in the wholesale warehouse or neighboring HandCut Foods, but that it’s really “case-by-case.”
“Our staff … They’re all really strong individuals with very, very unique interests and things that they want to do professionally. So I know that some of our butcher staff are probably going to be going out there and pursuing some of their more culinary focused endeavors, starting to think about doing pop-ups and things like that. So as much as we can, we’re going to support them and help get the word out.”
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