Less than five months after its abrupt closure, Foxtrot is reopening its first store Thursday on Chicago’s Gold Coast. Here’s what to expect of the resuscitated retail concept.

Now dubbed Foxtrot Cafe & Market and described as a “modern coffee shop” and “upscale corner store chain,” this and all additional locations will feature an expanded coffee experience with exclusive blends as well as retail selections from its local roaster partners including Metric and Kyoto Black. 

A “reimagined food offering” will span breakfast, lunch and dinner options including breakfast tacos, panini sandwiches, salads and bowls, and freshly baked cookies. 

“Our new coffee and food menus are a true reflection of Foxtrot's founding principle: taking the ingredients we’re passionate about, partnering with the best purveyors, and making them a special part of our day — and yours — every day,” said Foxtrot chairman and founder Mike LaVitola in a statement.

Additionally, Foxtrot will once again sell some of its popular store brand items including gummies and gummy mixes alongside a curated assortment of products from small and local makers and innovative emerging brands. A couple of confirmed suppliers are functional beverage maker (and previous Foxtrot collaborator) heywell and tinned seafood brand Fishwife, which both appeared recently in posts on the retail company’s scrubbed and recreated Instagram account.

More Foxtrot locations are set to reopen in Chicago and Dallas through 2025. LaVitola and other former team members have banded together to return the business to its roots after claiming “the old Foxtrot lost its way” under the ownership of Outfox Hospitality.

Keep an eye out for more details and an interview with LaVitola on Nosh this week.

Sorry to all those school kids back from summer vacation, but it is unofficially the first day of fall. The brightside is that there is some fun beverage distribution (and marketing) news to announce. Let’s take a sip:

🍉 Mela Watermelon Water is doubling down on its partnership with 7-Eleven with a new deal in the chain’s Hawaii c-stores.

🥤 Sanzo is taking its Asian-inspired sparkling waters on a Costco roadshow circuit in the SoCal and Los Angeles region.

☕ Robert Downing Jr. is not the only Iron Man with a coffee brand. Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ghostface Killah has launched his Killah Koffee brand into K-cups with a Keurig Dr Pepper partnership.

Pure and naturally alkaline, Eternal Water is quickly rising in popularity as a top premium bottled water in the U.S. Sourced and bottled in America, Eternal Water provides exceptional hydration and health benefits, making it a standout choice in the competitive water market. Learn more

G Fuel is FaZe Clan’s best friend (again). Pro gaming and esports organization FaZe Clan has signed an exclusive partnership deal with energy drink brand G Fuel, reviving a multi-year sponsorship and licensing deal with the company.

↩️ G Fuel, which markets powdered and RTD functional beverages to a consistently heavy consumer base of gamers, initially partnered with FaZe Clan back in 2014. That deal finally ended in 2022, when FaZe moved to a similar relationship with emerging energy brand Ghost.

Wes Henderson, whose whiskey was among the first craft brands to get scooped up by a major spirits group, is building a $92.5 million whiskey distillery in Kentucky. The development was announced by the office of Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, is expected to create nearly 90 jobs and the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved up to $4.19 million in tourism tax incentives for the project, in addition to a separate $1.05 million approval in incentives last year for Saga Spirits.

🤝Henderson founded Louisville-based Angel’s Envy in 2006, which was acquired by Bacardi two years later. He left in March 2022.

🏗️ Now his company, Saga Spirits Group, is expected to break ground this fall on a 150-acre site with a distillery, visitor center, tasting room and restaurant.

🍸 A new piece from The Examination explores the global alcohol industry’s fight to stay ahead as more and more consumers – especially millennials and Gen Zers – increasingly shun alcohol due to the wide array of physical and mental health issues linked to consumption. To boost profits, spirits, beer and wine companies alike are marketing to demographics they’ve long underserved, including women, and looking to new markets in the global south. 

🌶️ “We wanted to create the Cîroq of hot sauce.” Inc. Magazine recently sat down with Truff co-founder Nick Ajluni and advisor Daniel Lubetzky (founder of Kind) to discuss the ongoing journey to turning Truff into a household name. According to Lubetsky, you have to believe in yourself, but not too much – the key is combining qualitative, subjective perspectives with quantitative data.