07/29/2024
Hello Everyone, long-post warning. We have a bit to say.
We've been unusually quiet these past couple of weeks, and it’s time to explain why.
Unfortunately, we have some disappointing news: THE NEW GILBERT LOCATION IS NO LONGER MOVING FORWARD.
We had LoFi’s CryoMarket packed up and ready to move into our new location on July 15th as promised. However, on the day we were set to move in and begin production, the building’s management decided to pull out of the commissary deal and sell the building instead.
For months, we were never informed that this was a possibility. This outcome is the result of poor communication, negotiation, and management decisions from outside our organization.
Despite exhausting all resources and opportunities, proceeding with the Gilbert location is not possible at this time.
This situation is a massive disappointment to our team, customers, employees, and community. We’ve collectively spent hundreds of hours since mid-April preparing for this relaunch. New banners, grand re-opening plans alongside the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, marketing materials, business cards, our website, and much more were designed, printed, and distributed to share news of the expansion. Movers were hired. Past contracts were allowed to close with our plans focused on becoming a Gilbert business. We have informed hundreds of our customers that this would be our new headquarters and walk-in retail would be available once again. And this is another major hit to our growth and development plans.
Last October, we experienced a car accident at our shop followed by disagreements with a shoddy landlord, which kept us closed for over five months. We are very grateful to Andy @ Grub Collective for providing us a temporary space to operate from March to July, when we absolutely needed to get back to work. Now, we are in a similar situation that will leave us in limited capacity until we figure out our next steps.
Overall, we are heartbroken. It's a bummer that we couldn’t salvage this deal. It's unfortunate that transparent and honest communication was lacking for over three months. We're anxious that now, for the second time in a year, we are facing another partial shutdown due to circumstances beyond our control.
Finding safe, healthy, and steady facilities to operate our business in has been a major obstacle since we opened. We will continue to fight and find a suitable environment for us to run this amazing business and serve our community from.
Thank you to everyone for your continued support through another set of hard circumstances. Please note that our production capacity and menu will be limited for the time being. We must be on a rough bad luck streak, but we hope it breaks soon. We will keep our community in the loop as we work to solve this latest puzzle.
This ain’t over. I didn’t hear no bell.
- Chef LoFi
