Foxtrot Launches Nationwide Shipping Service As It Prepares For Growth

Dive brief:

• High-end convenience store Foxtrot has launched a nationwide delivery platform to increase its growing fleet of physical locations, the company said on Monday.
• The service, known as Foxtrot Anywhere, has a range of popular items from the retailer’s stores as well as a curated selection of gift boxes featuring food, wine and other merchandise.
• Foxtrot’s foray into shipping follows the retailer’s announcement last month that it plans to significantly expand its store fleet in several U.S. cities.

Dive overview:

Foxtrot, which has built its business around neighborhood-focused stores that also offer fast delivery to nearby addresses, is looking to leverage its success in local markets as the foundation of an online operation serving the entire country.

The Chicago-based company’s new department offers a limited selection of products that represent its in-store bestsellers and the products it defines as “trending.” This approach is distinct from the retailer’s existing e-commerce strategy, which allows people living near its stores in Chicago, Dallas and Washington, DC to have their full range of offerings delivered to their homes in an hour or less. .

The new service offers packages focused on items such as pasta made from scratch and snacks to be consumed with wine, fries and desserts. In an effort to add star power to its marketing, Foxtrot also enlisted a TV personality Nilou Motamed, the former editor of Food & Wine magazine, to help choose products to sell online.

“Foxtrot Anywhere allows our friends across the country to experience the best of what we discover and love here at Foxtrot,” said Mike, Founder and CEO of Foxtrot. La Vitola said in an emailed statement. “We are thrilled to now bring the best of the best of our local stores to anyone, no matter where you live.”

Foxtrot Anywhere also represents an effort to expand the audience for its locally sourced products. The company uses proprietary software to make it easier to work with smaller suppliers and runs a program to encourage local producers to showcase their products, La Vitola said earlier this year during an opening visit to the retailer’s 3,000-square-foot store in the Georgetown section of the nation’s capital. Foxtrot supplies about a quarter of the roughly 1,000 SKU at this store from or near District of Columbia growers, depending on La Vitola.

In July, Foxtrot announced plans to open 50 new stores in the United States over the next two years as it rolls out $ 42 million in new funding announced earlier in 2021. The new stores, which will be located both in its three existing markets as well as in new cities such as New York, Boston, Miami and Los Angeles, will be twice the size of Foxtrot’s current locations.