Time Out Market Chicago to shut its doors this month in Fulton Market

Time Out Market Chicago will close later this month after a drop in sales, the company announced Wednesday.

The food hall at 916 W. Fulton Market opened in 2019, but will shut its doors on Jan. 29. The venue hosted several vendors, events and live programming.

Timeout Market CEO Michael Marlay said the venue was closing due to inconsistent foot traffic following the pandemic, which has led to an "ongoing hybrid working" and an increase in operating costs. It comes the same day the group announced its Boston location would also close, leaving its two New York food halls as the lone brick-and-mortar U.S. locations for the company.

“It has been an honour to serve Chicago, and we have loved our time here—Chicago is a fantastic city with outstanding food and cultural scenes," Marlay said in a written statement.

Time Out Group said its media brand, Time Out Chicago, would continue to operate.

For Dan Banachowski, a West Loop resident and monthly patron of the market, the main draw used to be Polombia, a Polish and Colombian fusion restaurant, though he still came after it left to get dumplings and occasionally attend events at the upstairs bar.

Walking by Wednesday night, he said he was shocked to hear the news of its closure, especially since the owners had cited foot traffic. Banachowski said it was always "decently busy."

"I really liked this place. There were a lot of good spots in here, so I was kind of surprised to hear it was closing," he said. "It was super busy on the weekends. "

His first experience with Time Out Market was at the original location in Lisbon, Portugal, which he said catered more to visitors while the Chicago location kept it local. He was saddened to hear of the Boston location's closure as well, though he wondered if things might be different had they catered to visitors rather than residents.

"The one in Lisbon was unique because it was a super tourist destination. This was very local," Banachowski said. "But it stacks up decently well, though maybe tourism would bring in more business."

Julian Medina, 22, an employee at JoJo's Shake Bar, said everyone was informed Monday of the closure.

He took the job nine months ago to save up money while he waits to transfer colleges. The vendor has other locations, though he's unsure if everyone will be kept on. He has spent the last two days job hunting.

"I'm just shocked because I don't know what I'm gonna do when it closes," Medina said.

Tacotlan co-owner Jessica Peres, a vendor at the market, said her employees will all be brought to the restaurant's original Hermosa location.

She said she feels for other workers who may lose a job. It prompted her to take to social media Wednesday to reach out to industry contacts for job openings; she's already getting responses, and plans to send them out to the vendors to hopefully keep everyone employed.

"I’m already getting a lot of responses," she said.

Peres said she was shocked by the sudden closure. Her restaurant had only been in its space for less than four months, she said. She had chosen the location to bring in extra revenue while their original location was being remodeled, she said.

She hopes a good festival season, including a rebound for the Sueños Festival, helps make up the gap. "I'm scrappy," she said.

“They were really selling me on being in the space," Peres said. "I didn’t expect them to close so soon after."