Chicago-based Foxtrot, a new spin on the convenience store, looks to go national In the midst of what analysts have called the retail apocalypse, and the accompanying technological changes reshaping the shopping experience, few types of stores are safe. Even the traditional corner store, or bodega, has been the target of reinvention and Silicon Valley-style disruption.
Amazon Go, a high-tech experiment from the retail giant, seeks to eliminate cashiers and bring the company?s analytical might to the world of convenience stores. And Bodega, a widely panned concept from the tech world, aimed to replace the shopping experience with what amounted to a glorified, app-controlled vending machine.
A startup out of Chicago named Foxtrot sees the same opportunities in today?s shifting retail and technological environment. The small chain of upscale convenience stores focused on local products, which started in 2015 and now has four stores, believes it has an answer for making retail more efficient, profitable, and enjoyable. After a new $6 million funding round, it?s poised to expand to more locations this year, adding three to four more locations in Chicago as well as its first in another city. But instead of totally reinventing the shopping experience, it looks to make it more curated and ?experiential? (and expensive). It?s less revolutionary, and more about simply adapting technology and bringing more analytics to bear on an everyday shopping experience.
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