Foxtrot Closing All DC Stores

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I popped into the Dupont store from time to time, hope the staff can find other jobs quickly.

There are so many stores in DC, wonder how long the spaces will be vacant? Lots of vacant retail already in Dupont.

Seems like the merger and rapid expansion was ill advised. Wonder if the Adams Morgan shop will be slow to get a new business?

As long as the landlord wants. Commercial landlords in DC often let desirable properties lay fallow for decades as tax write offs. The Council needs to disincentive this practice. It harms commercial sectors and the neighborhoods that rely on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never really understood the Foxtrot concept but will be sad to see all those stores in prominent locations vacant.

+1. The one in Old Town is at the main intersection of King St and Washington St. Such a prominent location and yet such turnover.

I don't know how, thought they were terrible, but Le Pain Quotidien did manage to last years in that spot. It is a great location that should be able to support something.

[Anonymous]

Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I popped into the Dupont store from time to time, hope the staff can find other jobs quickly.

There are so many stores in DC, wonder how long the spaces will be vacant? Lots of vacant retail already in Dupont.

Seems like the merger and rapid expansion was ill advised. Wonder if the Adams Morgan shop will be slow to get a new business?

As long as the landlord wants. Commercial landlords in DC often let desirable properties lay fallow for decades as tax write offs. The Council needs to disincentive this practice. It harms commercial sectors and the neighborhoods that rely on them.

+1000, so many vacant store fronts that absolutely could be filled. Also, this practice artificially inflates rents in DC because they'll slap some absurdly high rent on a spot with a "for lease" sign in order to claim they are looking for a tenant, but the rent will be too high for even a successful business to afford it and turn a profit. But those artificially high rents become part of the market for commercial spaces, and it enables everyone to charge more. It's a real issue.

I have numerous friends and acquaintances who have wound out of DC with restaurants and storefronts because of this. They'll look at spaces that have been vacant for almost a decade, don't have a legal bathroom, and the landlord is "take it or leave it" with a rent 3x what they'd pay in Old Town or Silver Spring, both of which also get lots of foot traffic.

Those rents contribute to inflation on everything from drinks to sandwiches to childcare, btw.

People will scream at me but I sometimes think DC should set a market rent. You could charge above it if you wanted, but if you had a vacant space going for a certain percentage over the market rate, you'd have to pay extra taxes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I popped into the Dupont store from time to time, hope the staff can find other jobs quickly.

There are so many stores in DC, wonder how long the spaces will be vacant? Lots of vacant retail already in Dupont.

Seems like the merger and rapid expansion was ill advised. Wonder if the Adams Morgan shop will be slow to get a new business?

As long as the landlord wants. Commercial landlords in DC often let desirable properties lay fallow for decades as tax write offs. The Council needs to disincentive this practice. It harms commercial sectors and the neighborhoods that rely on them.

Uh . . .: https://mytaxdc.wordpress.com/2023/11/03/understanding-dc-real-property-tax-classification/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I popped into the Dupont store from time to time, hope the staff can find other jobs quickly.

There are so many stores in DC, wonder how long the spaces will be vacant? Lots of vacant retail already in Dupont.

Seems like the merger and rapid expansion was ill advised. Wonder if the Adams Morgan shop will be slow to get a new business?

As long as the landlord wants. Commercial landlords in DC often let desirable properties lay fallow for decades as tax write offs. The Council needs to disincentive this practice. It harms commercial sectors and the neighborhoods that rely on them.

Uh . . .: https://mytaxdc.wordpress.com/2023/11/03/understanding-dc-real-property-tax-classification/

There are lots of loopholes for landlords to arbitrage the "vacant" or "blighted" real property designation. As long as the landlord pulls a permit to do work or puts the property up for lease or sale (at an absurd price), they can weasel out of the "vacant" designation. A property literally has to become a nuisance crack den or burned out shell before the city will deem it "blighted."

[Anonymous]

Huh, I never understood what the place was beyond looking overpriced. Was this just fancy corner stores?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

You spend $300 a month at Starbucks? You go every day and buy nearly $10 worth of coffee????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

You spend $300 a month at Starbucks? You go every day and buy nearly $10 worth of coffee????

Right? I feel like I live in a different universe than some of these people. I make my coffee at home for pretty cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

You spend $300 a month at Starbucks? You go every day and buy nearly $10 worth of coffee????

Right? I feel like I live in a different universe than some of these people. I make my coffee at home for pretty cheap.

It's not even just that, it's that she said it so smugly like, Now you know why they're out of business haha and it's like...I can see how someone could spend $100 on pre-made meals and wine. But $300 on Starbucks???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

Nothing local at all about Safeway and Starbucks. If you direct your money to local businesses, your money will stay in the community and come back to you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I popped into the Dupont store from time to time, hope the staff can find other jobs quickly.

There are so many stores in DC, wonder how long the spaces will be vacant? Lots of vacant retail already in Dupont.

Seems like the merger and rapid expansion was ill advised. Wonder if the Adams Morgan shop will be slow to get a new business?

As long as the landlord wants. Commercial landlords in DC often let desirable properties lay fallow for decades as tax write offs. The Council needs to disincentive this practice. It harms commercial sectors and the neighborhoods that rely on them.

Uh . . .: https://mytaxdc.wordpress.com/2023/11/03/understanding-dc-real-property-tax-classification/

There are lots of loopholes for landlords to arbitrage the "vacant" or "blighted" real property designation. As long as the landlord pulls a permit to do work or puts the property up for lease or sale (at an absurd price), they can weasel out of the "vacant" designation. A property literally has to become a nuisance crack den or burned out shell before the city will deem it "blighted."

This. What DC should do is allow a commercial landlord to set whatever rent they want for a reasonable time, but every month after six months if they do not fill the space there should be an increased vacancy tax or penalty or whatnot. Idk, someone smart with economics could address it his so that it did not force landlords to rent but also disincentives "holding out". Too many vacant properties and absurd rents charged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

Nothing local at all about Safeway and Starbucks. If you direct your money to local businesses, your money will stay in the community and come back to you

Fully agree. Safeway and Starbucks ships in workers from out of state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I just say that first and foremost I am sad for the employees who were let go on a dime. Btdt, I only hope they get severance pay.

However, as a customer...

I loved Foxtrot and their delivery was great. I hit membership+ every month ($100 worth of goods, which, when you add up coffee throughout the month plus two or three nights a month where I would grab a bottle of wine and a pre-made meal, was pretty easy to hit). I am a little irked I just hit membership+ for May. Literally Monday night I didn't feel like cooking and was like, oh, you know what, I should order from Foxtrot to make sure I hit my total for the month.

Again, nothing in the grand scheme of things but as a customer I feel kind of annoyed. Also I am sad because I googled to see if my favorite wines from Foxtrot were available anywhere else and it turns out all my favorites were in-house. Womp.

I spent $300/month at the Starbucks in my local Safeway. Now, you know why Foxtrot is out of business.

You spend $300 a month at Starbucks? You go every day and buy nearly $10 worth of coffee????

Right? I feel like I live in a different universe than some of these people. I make my coffee at home for pretty cheap.

It's not even just that, it's that she said it so smugly like, Now you know why they're out of business haha and it's like...I can see how someone could spend $100 on pre-made meals and wine. But $300 on Starbucks???

I keep forgetting this board is anti union.