Three days after Foxtrot and Dom's Market announced their sudden closures, former employees are scrambling to find jobs.
Several rallied Friday for workers' rights, believing the parent company, Outfox Hospitality, might have violated the WARN Act. Outfox Hospitality could not be reached for comment Friday, but according to a message on Dom's Market website the company "explored many avenues to continue the business but found no viable option despite good faith and exhaustive efforts."
The fallout caused a domino of damage to other small and locally owned businesses in Chicago.
“It hurts, I’m not going to lie it’s really going to hurt us," said Corey Kaplan, the owner of Corey's Bagels. "We sold them bagels, we sold them cream cheese, our bagel chips, it was a great relationship.”
Kaplan supplied Dom's Market daily. He first noticed something was awry Sunday when they didn't receive a purchase order from Dom's.
“I went back on Tuesday morning at 7am to find out if anything was going on," Kaplan said. "I went back around 11 and the doors were locked. It was that is verbatim the way it happened, no one knew, the management didn’t know."
Dom's and Foxtrot closed indefinitely that day.
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"I'm still trying to absorb it," he said. "I think there’s more to the story.”
Dom's was the bagel shop's largest account. Now they're out at least $10,000, which Kaplan said he does not anticipate being paid out ever.
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He also said he's not alone in this sudden blow to business.
"This has such a huge effect on so many different people," Kaplan told NBC 5.
And although Dom's and Foxtrot are gone, many of the products they sold in their stores are not. Kaplan hopes customers will visit Chicago brick-and-mortar shops who supplied those grocers in the first place.
"Where are the people that go there buying Corey’s bagels now? Hopefully they'll come here," he said outside of his Old Town location that's been there for 23 years. "Come visit everybody else that you used to get inside that store. Patronize the little guy that helped you get your muffins, your coffee, your cookie, your cakes."
