CHICAGO — Artizone, an online market and delivery service for locally made foods of the small-batch, artisanal kind — Pleasant House Bakery bread and Katherine Anne truffles, among them — has shut down.
"After 5 years, 2 markets, a little over 250 artisans and thousands of customers, we are forced to look at reality and ask ourselves — what have we built?" said a statement emailed Tuesday morning to customers and posted on the company's social media pages.
"We have delivered food from the best shops, farms and artisans, and we hope we were able to elevate your at-home eating experience. But there are days, things can’t continue just the way they are. And today is one of those days."
Dear Friends - today we've announced that we're shutting down https://t.co/N6bWqxwwu2. Hard to say it in 140 chars. We will miss you all.
— artizone.com Chicago (@artizonechi) February 2, 2016
Artizone co-founder and chief operating officer Lior Lavy said the company, which started in Dallas in 2011 and expanded to Chicago in 2012, struggled financially to break even, a fact that became clearer in the last few weeks.
Lavy and his fellow investors own an Israeli software company, which until recently had a major client, the benefits of which helped fund and build Artizone.
Losing that client, "we found ourselves facing a wall," he said.
At its peak, Artizone was delivering products from 120 Chicago vendors, Lavy said. There were 20 employees between the Dallas and Chicago offices. In Chicago, the business was based out of The Plant.
Lavy said the company will refund customers with unused gift cards or memberships.
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