ANDERSONVILLE — Small business owners are rallying against Foxtrot’s efforts to open in Andersonville, saying another chain in the neighborhood would further harm local shops.
Foxtrot, the Chicago-based upscale convenience store, has been working to open in the former Reza’s restaurant space at 5259 N. Clark St. Neighboring businesses, including Ándale Market, a locally owned curated corner store with a similar premise, have pushed back fiercely against the plans.
Besides the increasing presence of chains in Andersonville, Foxtrot’s move to open on Clark Street is personally concerning for Ándale Market owner Mia Sakai, she said. Foxtrot staff have shopped Sakai’s store, then stocked the same products and contracted with the same vendors for its locations, undermining her business, she said.
Sakai led an effort to rally the business community against Foxtrot’s plan. A letter sent to city officials opposing Foxtrot in the neighborhood has been signed by 41 small business owners or manager representing 35 local businesses, including from the recently opened Paper & Pencil to the Clark Street stalwart Women & Children First bookstore.
A public petition against Foxtrot’s plans has garnered nearly 1,400 signatures as of Monday.
“Foxtrot — backed by $185 [million] in venture capital and operating 30 stores as of September 30, 2023 — is the latest chain actively targeting Andersonville,” the letter from Andersonville businesses to local officials reads. “It offers nothing that the neighborhood’s small businesses don’t currently provide, and directly threatens our community already offering coffee, liquor, grocery, convenience and food service.
“We are at capacity for chains and in danger of deteriorating the neighborhood’s identity into an outdoor strip mall,” the letter reads.
The Foxtrot opposition is the most direct action Andersonville businesses have taken against the increasing presence of national chain stores in the proud small business district.
The efforts may have already seen results, as the owner of the former Reza’s building said he will consider other options for the space. Foxtrot did not respond to requests for comment.
For Sakai, Foxtrot taking ideas from her store and the increasingly unlevel playing field among mom-and-pops and chains in Andersonville was enough to spark the direct action.
“If they had never come in, I wouldn’t have gone toe to toe. But because they’ve been exploiting my ideas and ‘discovering’ brands in my shop for the past almost three years, I needed to protect my business, and to a larger extent, the independent nature of the neighborhood,” Sakai said.
‘It Takes Dollars Away From The Neighborhood’
The news of Foxtrot’s interest in Andersonville comes after several notable chain stores arrive in the neighborhood, also prompting backlash. That includes a Warby Parker store opening across from a mom-and-pop eyeglass shop, Jeni’s ice cream taking over a shuttered sundae shop and Taco Bell displacing Andersonville Antiques from its longtime storefront.
The trend has become a “tipping point” for a neighborhood that is deeply tied to the “shop local” ethos, Sakai and others said.
Lynn Mooney, co-owner of Women & Children First, said money spent in chain stores doesn’t stay in the community to the extent it does when spent at a local firm. That claim is backed up by the findings of a 2004 economic impact study of the Andersonville business corridor commissioned by the chamber of commerce.
Chain stores can drive up the cost of business in Andersonville by meeting the increasingly high asking rents of landlords, business owners said. National brands can also take a loss on the expenses of a retail store, knowing the money can be made up through e-commerce or at other locations. Those resources allow chains to wait out small shops, who can’t withstand such losses.
“It takes dollars away from the neighborhood,” Mooney said of chains. “They’re less likely to donate to a silent auction, less likely to sponsor your kid’s sports team, and the profits from the business don’t stay here.”
Taco Bell’s opening also garnered swift outcry from local businesses and neighbors and was even condemned by the local chamber. But Foxtrot poses a unique threat to businesses because it would compete with established businesses that sell the same products, owners said.
That includes Ándale, 5232 N. Clark St., which a sells a mix of highly curated grab-and-go items, pantry staples and gifts. Sakai opened the shop in 2020 about one block away from the proposed Foxtrot.
Since then, Sakai said Foxtrot workers have come into Ándale to browse the store and ask questions about popular items, she said. The employees sometimes would wear Foxtrot gear or identify themselves as employees of the company, Sakai said.
Around 25-30 brands she carried are now offered by Foxtrot, some matching the exact stock-keeping unit, she said. The business owner took it in stride until she learned about Foxtrot’s plans to open nearby.
“I feel like I’m being cannibalized by own ideas,” Sakai said. “I don’t have the manpower or the [venture capital] funding or the buying power they do, but I have my voice and that of our small business community. I just have to hope in the end, that’s enough.”
Foxtrot has raised over $160 million to fund an expansion into Austin, Dallas and Washington, D.C. The company also just merged with Chicago-based upscale grocer Dom’s Kitchen, according to Crain’s Chicago.
Foxtrot has reached out to Andersonville neighbors and officials to garner their support for opening in the neighborhood, according to emails reviewed by Block Club. Plans for the store include on-premise consumption of alcohol, outdoor seating and delivery, according to the emails. Foxtrot was hoping to open by spring.
The corner storefront Foxtrot is targeting at Clark Street and Berwyn Avenue was occupied by Reza’s restaurant for decades before the business closed over the summer. Before its closing, Reza’s sold its Clark Street building to a partnership of commercial real estate investors for $2.6 million.
The building’s new landlord, Mitch Goltz of GW Properties, confirmed he has been in talks with Foxtrot “for some time now” on occupying the former Reza’s space. But Goltz said he and his partners are keeping their options open given the controversy around Foxtrot.
“In light of some recent neighborhood opposition … we have decided to also explore other tenant options for the space,” Goltz said in an email.
In a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson and other local officials, Andersonville businesses are asking lawmakers to reject Foxtrot’s liquor and outdoor seating permits. They are also asking officials to develop laws that dictate how many and what kind of chain stores can open in the Andersonville business district.
Similar laws are on the books in places including San Francisco.
Businesses and neighbors also pushed city officials to thwart Taco Bell’s efforts to open on Clark Street. Taco Bell has not applied for a liquor license for its under-construction store.
A representative for Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, an Andersonville small business owner whose 48th Ward includes the potential Foxtrot site, said the ward office has received messages of concern about Foxtrot’s plans. The alderwoman’s office has asked Foxtrot to meet with neighbors to garner more feedback.
“We are concerned about the impact that Foxtrot would have on a similar local, woman-owned/minority-owned business nearby,” Nicole Granacki, Manaa-Hoppenworth’s chief of staff, said in an email. “As a small business owner herself, the Alderwoman understands first-hand the challenges small business owners face and is working at the City Council level to remove barriers for small business owners.”
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