Trendy Chicago Convenience Store Chain Foxtrot Opens First Austin Market

Foxtrot — the Chicago-based trendy curated convenience store chain and delivery service — is expanding into Austin, with four new storefronts planned for 2023. The first is opening at 4800 Burnet Road, Building F in the Rosedale neighborhood on Friday, February 17.

The Austin stores will carry the usual Foxtrot offerings from independent and national companies, with a bunch of Austin brands. The company has long carried products from Austin-based Kosmic Kombucha and Siete Foods. Now, with this expansion into the city, customers can expect even more locally sourced goods from brands, including Lick Honest Ice Creams, Teddy V Patisserie, Chop Chop, Bakery Cloud Nine, Pinthouse Brewing, and St. Elmo Brewing Company. Other items will include coffee, seasonal drinks, smoothies, prepared foods, beers, wines, and everyday essentials.

The next Foxtrot Austin will open at 1804 South First Street in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood in the winter of early 2023. That will be followed by two more — 301 West Second Street in downtown Austin and 2270 Guadalupe Street in West Campus — opening later this year. The South Austin store will be the largest Foxtrot to date, and all four locations will be supported by a commissary kitchen. The company also expanded into Dallas’s Knox-Henderson neighborhood last fall. All will be open for in-person shopping, as well as pickup and delivery orders placed online.

The Rosedale Foxtrot includes a mural by Ion Art and fridge artwork by Studio Bookmark’s Katie Lukes & Painting. The entire space was designed by Foxtrot aided by Austin architect Scott Magic and general contractor Franklin Alan.

Its hours will be from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and then from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It will host a party on Thursday, February 23 with food and live music, and giveaways from 4 to 7 p.m.

Foxtrot’s expansion is part of the current trend for new corner stores with hip, social media-friendly food brands flourishing in large metropolitan areas. Co-founders Mike LaVitola and Taylor Bloom opened Foxtrot in Chicago as a delivery service (they met while working and studying in Austin actually) and turned it into physical stores and cafes also found in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere in Virginia.

Update, February 14, 2023, 10:47 a.m.: This article, originally published on October 7, 2022, was updated with the Burnet opening.