Dive Brief:

• Foxtrot will open a new convenience store in Austin, Texas, on July 22 inside the City Hall building at 301 W. Second Street, according to a Wednesday press release. 
• This marks Foxtrot’s first store in a civic building and its third in Austin, where co-founders Mike LaVitola and Taylor Bloom were living when they first conceived of the boutique convenience retailer. 
• With this move into Austin City Hall, Foxtrot is one of many convenience retailers opening locations in nontraditional formats — a trend that has quietly gained traction this year.

Dive Insight:

Foxtrot will also try its hand at university life later this year, as it is expected to open a location on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin by the end of 2023. This is slated to be the last of Foxtrot’s currently planned stores in Austin.

The City Hall store features a large, covered patio, hand-painted signs and the company’s signature all-day cafe. In addition to an array of coffee and other drinks, as well as grab-and-go foods, the cafe offers breakfast tacos, chef-prepared salads and more. Items can be ordered to eat on premise, or for takeout or delivery. 

It was designed by Foxtrot’s in-house design team, working with architect Scott Magic of Magic Architecture.

As is also typical of Foxtrot c-stores, the City Hall location will feature an array of local products, including items from Bola Pizza, Chop Chop Ramen and Lick Honest Ice Creams, according to a company spokesperson. The grand opening will include $5 private label wine pours from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and free tote bags for anyone who pays through Foxtrot’s mobile app.

This opening comes a little over a month after Foxtrot’s last Austin location, which was also its largest store to date at 6,000 square feet. 

While the popular image of the convenience store is as the gas station along the side of the road or, for stores like Foxtrot, as a corner shop on the city street, c-stores are stepping into more unusual locations lately. In June, Loop Neighborhood Market tested the waters with a two-year lease in Oakland Arena selling chicken, drinks and more. In April, Allsup’s opened an express location at Texas Motor Speedway, carrying a variety of items for race day. 

With this opening, Chicago-based Foxtrot will have 29 locations in Illinois, Texas and the greater Washington, D.C., area.