Maker Profile: Foxtrot
Foxtrot has a cozy new home, and coffee in tow: read up on some exciting changes for this beloved local brand!
Photos by Nick Geels
Change keeps coming for Foxtrot, and exciting ones at that: we sat down with owner Jordan Fox to hear the latest and chat about his new shop in a neighborhood dear to his heart, Rosedale, and his coffee partnership with Zach Tarhini.
Congrats on the new shop! Tell us why you chose Rosedale?
Thank you! Rosedale is really special to my wife, Emily and I. We have lived here for 5 years now. I love the diversity, the proximity to everything, and the sense of community here. Ever since moving to this part of town we felt that we could add something to it, as there have been vacant commercial properties along Southwest Boulevard for some time, just waiting for something to happen. We hope to spark some of that growth with our business and personal relationships.
Was a coffee shop partner always in the works for the new retail space? How did you partner up with Meta Coffee?
Zach Tarhini, who owns Meta Coffee Roasting, has been a good friend since 2015, when we both started our respective businesses. I bought a bag of his beans at a grocery store years ago and decided to reach out via email about meeting up with him because I loved the coffee so much, and really appreciated his perspective on the craft of roasting coffee. We met up, hit it off, and eventually decided if we could ever put our businesses together somewhere, we should. Six or so years later, we made it happen.
What exciting things do you have coming down the pipeline this year that you can share a bit about?
In addition to Foxtrot, my wife and I also own and operate a boutique plant store, called High and Dry Cactus Co. We’ve been running it on the side since 2018 out of our garage, and we are working on adding a new retail presence for it to the building that houses Foxtrot, so we hope to have both of our businesses under one roof by mid 2022. Another sneak preview for this location is the addition of a cocktail bar (sometime in 2022) in collaboration with some wonderful business friends, and who knows, maybe even an eatery will be added to the mix this year! We love advocating for small business here in Rosedale, so the more the merrier!
What will growth look like to you over the next year? In five years?
Growth to me is more personal than business. Through this brand, I have met many incredible people and through that have come opportunities and friendships. Through those things, business growth can happen naturally if it's taken slowly and the people around you are accounted for equitably. In terms of an outlook, I’m only concerned with doing good work and consciously taking my time with my company.
Can you tell us about a few of your favorite local partnerships and custom projects? We love seeing your work in Crossroads Hotel, Mean Mule and beyond!
The most fun I’ve had in this business is working alongside other brands and businesses to create meaningful things together. Here locally, our work for The Campground, Mean Mule Distilling, Crossroads Hotel, Doane Paper, and Flint and Field have all been a blast. Many of these are ongoing and recurring opportunities that I really enjoy.
What’s your best selling product? And your most unique?
Our best selling products are typically the most simple, like our wallets and watchbands. Over the course of the past seven years I’ve made and sold hundreds of watchbands, and I’m still not tired of it. The most unique is probably our leather tote, which is created without heavy machine stitching, like most of the leather totes you see today. It’s laced together by hand using a super old technique, and the finished product is something I’m really proud of - knowing whoever might have our tote will be carrying it around for years and years, all the while looking better and better with use.
Where do you source the third party products that you stock in your shop, and what do you look for in those brands?
Everything we source as a vendor/third party product in our shop has mostly come through Instagram discovery. Some of my favorite recent additions, like Santa Barbara brand Ace Rivington, have come through stumbling upon their profile, digging in from there to see what their story is, how their products are made, what they’re made from, and where they’re made. I don’t have a specific formula, but I do dig a good story, and the products need to stand up to the test and rigors of time and usage.
What advice do you have for local brands looking to expand? And for artisans just getting started?
My advice is to just begin. Begin, begin, begin. Just create something. Do not let the world around you and what you see on social media dictate how you should go about something. Take your time and move slowly, with intention, and get to know people that are also working toward something. Network and find others and flesh out your ideas together over coffee. Also, and this is a big one: keep pushing and don’t give up. There are so many ideas floating around, with a disproportionate amount of those ideas actually being realized, or even STARTED. Once you have begun, you can then refine and build.
